64 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



its way across the field. It was only a bird after 

 all — only the wryneck; and that mysterious 

 faculty I spoke of, saying that we all of us pos- 

 sessed something of it (meaning only some of 

 us) was nothing after all but the old common 

 faculty of imagination. 



Later on I saw it again on half-a-dozen occa- 

 sions, but never succeeded in getting what I call 

 a satisfying sight of it, perched woodpecker-wise 

 on a mossy trunk, busy at its old fascinating oc- 

 cupation of deftly picking off the running ants. 



It is melancholy to think that this quaint and 

 beautiful bird of a unique type has been growing 

 less and less common in our country during the 

 last half a century, or for a longer period. In the 

 last fifteen or twenty years the falling-off has been 

 very marked. The declension is not attributable 

 to persecution in this case, since the bird is not 

 on the gamekeeper's black list, nor has it yet be- 

 come so rare as to cause the amateur collectors 

 of dead birds throughout the country systematic- 

 ally to set about its extermination. Doubtless 

 that will come later on when it will be in the same 

 category with the golden oriole, hoopoe, furze- 

 wren, and other species that are regarded as 



