14 THE BIRDS OF COOKHAM AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
to a frame, and was resting his arm on the side, the Robin 
perched on his arm, not in any way timidly, but with the utmost 
confidence, and there sat and sung. Thinking he would fly, tho 
gardener got tired of waiting, so he began to move his arm, 
when the little fellow fluttered up on to his shoulder, and was 
carried some little distance in that way before he flew off. Tho 
history of ‘‘ Bobby’s ”’ pranks would fill pages, could I remember 
them all, but space will not allow me to write more. As is usual 
with pets, he came to an untimely end, being maimed in one of 
my brick-traps, into which he had gone some fifty times without 
being hurt ; and as his broken wing did not heal quickly, we fear 
he fell a victim to a cat. 
Fam. Orton”. 
Oriolus. 
Oriolus galbula. The Golden Oriole. 
This bird has been observed once in the neighbourhood of 
Cookham by Mr. Briggs. He was walking on the estate at 
Billing-bear, when his ear was attracted by a note which he was 
convinced he had never before heard. Following the sound, he 
traced it to a thicket, where, by dint of crawling carefully along, 
he was able to come near the object of his search, and there sat a 
beautiful Golden Oriole, within a short distance of him. He was 
able to observe it undisturbed for two or three minutes, before it 
flew away. 
Fam. Turpip&. 
Turdus. 
a. Turdus. 
Turdus viscivorus. The Missel Thrush. 
The Missel Thrush visits Cookham in large flocks every 
October. On their first arrival, the birds betake themselves to 
the yew trees in the Cliefden Woods, descending in the early 
morning to the fields round Formosa. They are exceedingly shy 
and difficult of approach, and even in the sharpest weather are 
the hardest to shoot. The Missel Thrush breeds sparingly in the 
neighbourhood, and is one of the earliest to build its nest. I saw 
one in the early part of March, 1866, with the hen bird sitting 
hard, and scarcely a leaf to be seen on the trees. 
To be continued, R. B. SHARPE. 
