THE WINCHESTER WATER MEADOWS. 69 
silent, unobtrusive way in which it decamps before you get near it that 
causes it to be so often overlooked. 
As April advances, we hear the strange and unmistakable note of the 
Wryneck. 3ut for its call, the bird, though not exactly shy, would 
often escape detection, owing to its skulking habits and the sober colour of 
its dress. As it flies along a hedge it might sometimes be mistaken for 
IN THE TRIANGULAR MEADOW. 
a dull hen Yellowhammer or Cirl-Bunting, but the dark chocolate triangle 
on the shoulders will always make identification easy, if one can once get a 
clear view of the back. Though it is most often found hopping clumsily 
about a hedge, or creeping up a branch, somewhat after the manner of 
a Woodpecker, the Wryneck can perch easily enough when it chooses, and I 
once watched one seated on a smooth, thin piece of wire fencing, where it 
seemed to retain its balance without any suggestion of its being a gymnastic 
feat. Towards the middle of the month the numbers of the other migrants 
begin to swell, and now is the time to visit that most charming of all the 
