Plenty of this immoral exhortation may be heard in the trees. One young pigeon taken from the nest proved incorrigibly wild and ready to flutter to death whenever any one came near it.
Turtle-Dove (Columba turtur).—This pretty delicate creature with speckled neck builds in bushes lower than the wood-pigeon, and the mournful note resounds in the trees.
Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus).—Not a real native, but cultivated to any extent. A cock pheasant with the evening sun gilding his back is a rare picture of beauty.
Partridge (Tetrao perdix).—Numerous.
Heron (Ardea cinerea).—Sometimes flies far overhead, the long legs projecting behind.
Sandpiper (Totanus hypoleucus).—Seen walking over a mass of weeds in the Itchen canal.
Snipe (Scolopax gallinago).—Brought in by sportsmen from the water meadows.
Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola).—Not common, but sometimes shot.
Jack-Snipe (Scolopax gallinula).—Not common, but sometimes shot.
Land-Rail (Crex pratensis).—Corn-Crake. May be heard “craking” in the long grass in early morning before the hay is cut.