72 A BIRD COLLECTORS: MEDIERY- 
bank, and it is on this side that the Blackcap is generally to be found. The 
Redstart, like the Nightingale, is more frequent as we approach the higher 
ground, but it, too, at times descends into the meadows. 
Leaving the charmed precincts of the triangular meadow, we pass to 
the open fields around. Here breed the Lapwings in abundance, and 
occasionally a Wild Duck’s nest may be found beside the river’s bank. 
Cornerakes, Water-Rails, Moorhens, and Dabchicks are common, and I have 
flushed the Snipe late in April, though I have never succeeded in finding its 
nest. But perhaps enough has been said to indicate the wonderful variety 
of bird life that is to be seen here; in fact, on a bright spring morning few, 
if any, inland walks can offer attractions to surpass those of the Itchen Valley, 
where ear and eye alike drink in the beauties of the scene, where the bleating 
of the lambs is mingled with the varied music of the birds, and the tender 
green of the willows is reflected in the silver mirror of the stream. 
