Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Jerk

Jerky as a ride on a buckboard.
—Anonymous

Jerking … like the lid of a boiling pot.
—Bliss Carman

Jerked his head like a bird.
—Charles Dickens

Jerky as a cinematograph.
—Jerome K. Jerome

Jerky like a clockwork snake.
—H. G. Wells