WCP4062

[1]

Frith Hill, Godalming.

April 1st. 1882

My dear Newton¹

I found your letter² on my return home from Ireland a few days ago.

I have written nothing of on the Wryneck’s habit you refer to. Hissing sounds are so common in birds that unless accompanied by some very definite motions or other imitations of a snake, I sh^d. hardly think it a clear case of mimicry. On this point it would be interesting to know whether, within the wrynecks range, [2] there are any snakes which frequent holes in trees. If so, the sounds & motions would no doubt tend to preserve the eggs or young birds from monkeys or other enemies.

Such a peculiar form as the wryneck is sure to date back to a period when monkeys ^{(and many more snakes than now)} inhabited Europe, so we need not confine ourselves to the actual conditions to account for the development of the habit.

Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

[3]²