16 INTEODUCTION. 



the chapters on the birds of an Enghsh city and a Midland 

 village. 



Such are the only works treating of the ornithology of 

 Oxfordshire especially, which I have been able to discover, 

 but occasional notes (chiefly records of the occurrence of rare 

 species) are scattered through, and have been culled from 

 Merret^s Pinax Berum Naturalium Britannicanim (1666), 

 Whitens Natural Hutorij of Selborne (1789}, DaniePs Rural 

 Sports (1807), Pennant^s British Zoology (181 2), Montagues 

 Ornithological Dictionary (1802), and Supplement (18 13), Yar- 

 relFs History of British Birds (4th edition), Harting^s Hand- 

 book of British Birds, Morris^ History of British Birds, Knox^s 

 Ornithological Rambles in Sussex, Clark-Kennedy's Birds of 

 Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, A Catalogue of the Birds in the 

 British Mtiseum, The Zoologist, The Ibis, Loudon's Magazine 

 of Natural History, The Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History, etc. 



Besides these published sources of information, I have re- 

 ceived a large amount of assistance from numerous friends 

 and correspondents, who have contributed valuable informa- 

 tion in the readiest manner. Lord Lilford has kindly sent 

 me a reprint of his communications to the Zoologist, which 

 embody his notes on birds made during the time he was in 

 residence at the University. Mr. W. Warde Fowler has 

 contributed a list of the birds obseiwed by him in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Kingham, supplemented subsequently by much 

 information by letter relating to that district and to Oxford. 

 I am also greatly indebted to him for kindly perusing my 

 manuscript, and for the great assistance generally which he 

 has rendered in the preparation of this work for the press. 

 The Rev. H. A. Macpherson, and Mr, A. H. Maepherson, 

 during their terms of residence at Oriel and Trinity, devoted 

 much attention to the ornithology of the country round 

 Oxford, the result of which was regularly reported to me ; 

 they have also rendered much service by furnishing references 

 to, and extracts from, the older publications, periodical and 

 otherwise. To Mr. E. W. Harcourt I am indebted for notes 

 upon the birds breeding in or visiting Nuneham Park, and of 



