YUNX, Lin. &c. WRYNECK.
Bill short, straight, in the form of a depressed cone, and very slender at the tip ; the mandibles unnotched, nostrils basal, naked, partly closed by a membrane; the two fore toes united at their origin, the hind ones divided ; the tongue capable of elongation, as in the woodpeckers, but not barbed.
The wrynecks have many of the habits of the preceding family, but are not so capable of climbing trees, and chief ly fix on the bark, to extract insects from the crevices. They are also frequently observed on ants' nests, preying on the ants and their larva;. There are only three known species.
Y. torquillu, Lin. &c. Wryneck, Prov. Long-tongue, or Emmet Hunter. Grey, varied with black and fuscous above ; abdomen rufescent white, with blackish spots; tail feathers spotted, and harred with waving black stri?. No pen or pencil can furnish a perfect idea of the minute and elegant markings of this bird, which is about the size of a lark, measures seven inches in length, and nine and a half in stretch of wing, and weighs about ten drachms. The hues of the female are rather paler than those of the male. A pure white, and a yellowish-white variety, sometimes occur.
The wryneck is so called, from the singular manner in which, especially when surprised, it turns its head over its shoulders, perpetually looking about, while the black list on the back of the neck gives it a twisted appearance. On such occasions it also erects the feathers on the head. It inhabits Europe, Asia, and Africa, occurring ffom Greece and Italy to Sweden, and even Lapland, in Sibe ria, and Kamtschatka, and, according to Kolben, at the Cape of Good 1 lope ; and Edwards assures us that it is /net with in Bengal, It is not uncommon in the southern and eastern parts of England, but is more scarce on the western side of the island, and is rarely, if ever, found in Cornwall. It is partial to poplar, and to old and decayed
pollard elms, and will perch on a detached tree in a hedge, usually frequenting woods, or thick inclosed countries ; yet, towards the close of summer, it may be observed hopping alone, in the pathways which traverse fields of wheat, barley, or oats, when it becomes excessively fat, and is reckoned a great delicacy for the table, Its food principally consists of ants and other insects, of which it finds abundance lodged in the bark and crevices of trees, or in other retreats. So shy and unsocial are these birds, that, except during the breeding season, they are never found in the company even of their partners, and, when the domestic union is dissolved in September, they retire, and seem to migrate by themselves. The female lays from eight to ten very white and transparent eggs, for the most part on the dust of a hole, in a decayed tree, which she scrapes together with her bill and feet ; but sometimes she constructs on it an artless nest of dried grass. The entrance into the hole is so small as scarcely to admit the fingers; so that the eggs are not readily procured. During incubation the male fetches ants and other insect food to his mate. If surprised in her nest, the female stretches herself at full length, erects the feathers on the crown of the head, and exhibits a snake-like motion, in which she is imitated by the young, who moreover emit a hissing sound ; and thus intruders are sometimes scared, believing that they have come in contact with a brood of serpents. In spring, the wryneck frequently repeats a sort of noise, like that of the smaller species of hawks.