INTRODUCTION. 7 



borough, Hanwell, Shotover, and various spots among- the 

 Chilterns. The few remaining acres of Wigginton, or 

 Tadmarton Heath, may be taken as an example. Here 

 the bracken, broom, and gorse flourish, and the ling still 

 survives in patches ; and here the Stonechat, Whinchat, and 

 Grasshopper Warbler breeding annually, the abundant Lin- 

 nets, and the Sand Martins with their tunnels bored in the 

 soft, ferniginous sandstone in the face of the pits, give the 

 place a character of its own. Inclosure and tillage are 

 gradually breaking up the heaths, and they will soon become 

 things of the past. 



Among the more interesting spots in the county, from an 

 ornithological point of view, is Clattereote Reservoir, a sheet 

 of water some twenty acres in extent. Surroiinded on three 

 sides by thick hedgerows, and well furnished with rushes, 

 flags, and other water-plants at the sides and upper end, 

 it forms an attractive resort for ducks and other waterfowl. 

 The following water-birds have reared their young there in 

 recent years, viz. Wild-duck, Teal, Coot, Moorhen, Great 

 Crested Grebe, and Little Grebe ; the Kingfisher and Water 

 Rail inhabit the pool but have not been detected breeding 

 there, while the Peewit, Reed Bunting, Sedge and some other 

 species of Warblers have their nests in the surrounding under- 

 growth, or in the immediate vicinity. I have also observed 

 the Reed Warbler, but it is scarce. At the close of summer 

 the waterfowl with their young throng the water, and mingle 

 with others which visit the pool at that season, especially 

 if the water is low. An extract from my journal relating 

 to the 3rd and 4th of August will give some idea of the 

 bird life to be seen at that season. The water was very 

 low, and, at the upper end, mud flats extended far beyond the 

 reed-beds ; little streams trickled through the mud, and some 

 deeper parts formed pools, while the growth of water-plants 

 produced little wet islands. On the mud were nine or ten 

 Herons, in every possible attitude. Three Green Sandpipers 

 fed along the edge of the water, and at a little distance a 

 couple of Common Sandpipers, while numbers of ]\Ioorhens, 

 both adult and immature, were dotted about over the mud; 



