VI PREFACE. 



through the assistance of friends and correspondents who 

 have paid attention to the birds of the county at various 

 times, a considerable amount of information relating to the 

 subject has been amassed. 



With the exception of occasional and casual observations 

 made during visits to the other districts, my own personal 

 investigations have been confined to the northern part of 

 the county, where I have lived most of my life. In tracing 

 therefore the history of our more common species, my re- 

 marks, unless the contrary is expressed, must be understood 

 to apply more particularly to that district, although probably 

 true of the whole of the county. 



Correct as far as it goes it is believed that the present 

 essay will be found to be, but complete I can hardly hope 

 that it is. For it is highly probable that there are preserved 

 in the county specimens of many of our more uncommon 

 visitors, the existence of which there has been no opportu- 

 nity of discovering, and of whose capture no record is now 

 forthcoming, while a still larger number of rare birds 

 have doubtless been procured at different times which 

 were not preserved, and have been forgotten. A more 

 exhaustive research into the zoological and antiquarian 

 literature of this country than I have been able to make, 

 might also reveal records bearing upon the subject; while 

 from certain outlying corners of the county I have failed 

 to obtain from resident observers as full information as 

 I could wish. 



Any notes or observations upon the ornithology of Oxford- 

 shire will always be gratefully received, and carefully pre- 

 served ; meanwhile it is hoped that in its present form this 

 volume may, in some measure at least, fulfil the objects for 

 which it was commenced, and that the material here col- 

 lected may prove serviceable as a basis for a fuller account 

 of the birds of this inland county, should another edition be 

 called for. 



