4 INTRODUCTION. 



Rich meadows, growing heavy and luxuriant crops of hay- 

 grass, divided by tall, thick hedges, now take the place of open 

 marsh ; but the country has still a character of its own. The 

 scarcity of trees, save for rows of poplars, with here and there 

 an ash, and the long lines of willows bordering many of the 

 meadows, cannot fail to strike the observer coming down into 

 this broad belt of flat meadow from the more varied scenery 

 about Witney. Several streams converge about Tadpole 

 Bridge, and wide, deep ditches, growing the beautiful Water 

 Violet [Hotonia palustris), are not infrequent. The Sedge 

 Warbler is naturally an abundant bird here, and the willow- 

 and reed-grown banks of the Isis shelter many pairs of the 

 scarcer E-eed Warbler, while over the surface of the river the 

 Sand Martins are constantly gliding and hovering. Peewits 

 breed commonly in the roug-her meadows in pasture, the 

 grating call of the Corncrake sounds from the long grass, and 

 Herons may generally be seen. 



This belt of flat alluvial meadow, although becoming 

 narrower in extent and less marshy in character, is continued 

 down the stream past Godstow, 



* . . . through those wide fields of breezy grass 

 Where black-wing'd swallows haunt the glittering Thames,' 



to Oxford, widening out before reaching the city to form the 

 large wet common known as Port Meadow. 



Oxford must have been the scene of the earlier observations 

 of not a few of our British ornithologists, and many will be 

 able to say with the late Mr. A. E. Knox, ' Again, as in by- 

 gone days, are we wandering together on the swampy flats of 

 Port Meadow, or exploring the sedgy banks of the Isis near 

 Sandford Lasher, almost forgetting our hurriedly-moored 

 skiffs in a prolonged search after the nest of the water-hen, 

 or the airy fabric of the reed-warbler. Once more are we 

 seated beneath the old rook-trees in Christ Church meadow, 

 and congratulating the dusky proprietors of the village over- 

 head that the fortunate settlement is within the protective 

 influence of academic laws.^ {Orniihologkal Rambles in Sussex, 

 pp. 1-2.) 



Oxford itself, with its quiet, shady gardens and smooth, 



