72 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. 



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. 

 Corncrakes, 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. 



