70 THE BIRDS OF OXFORDSHIRE. 



THE WREN. 



Troglodytes parvulus. 

 The Wren is a common resident, and, as far as I am aware, 

 not here at all affected by migration. Always brisk and 

 lively, even in the hardest frosts and most Siberian seasons, it 

 seems to defy winter, and, among birds, is the personification 

 of self-reliance and independence. It needs but a few gleams 

 of sunshine and the semblance of a less rigorous condition of 

 things to bring forth its song, loud, rapid, cheery, and 

 sprightly, typical of the bird itself; but one cannot but wonder 

 where the sound comes from in so small a bird. 



THE TREE- CREEPER. 



Ceiihia familiaris. 

 The Tree-creeper is a common but not numerous resident. 

 From its quiet and unobtrusive habits it is but little observed 

 when the trees are in full foliage, but in winter and early 

 spring it is often to be seen creeping about the trunks 

 and larg-er branches especially of orchard trees and pollard 

 willows, to which it is very partial. 



THE NUTHATCH. '^ 



Sitta ccesia. 

 The Nuthatch is a resident in some numbers, but somewhat 

 local in its distribution, especially in the breeding season, when 

 it chiefly frequents wooded j)arks, ornamental grounds, and 

 other situations which afford large timber. In such localities 

 in the parks at Broughton, Wroxton, Great Tew, Wickham, 

 Sarsden, Nuneham, and Blenheim, and at Bloxham Grove, the 

 Nuthatch is numerous, and also about many villages where 

 old elms are found, such as Kingham, and Bodicote, where it 

 is a frequent visitor to my brother^s garden. A cedar of 

 Lebanon there is a favourite feeding spot, the crevices in the 

 bark being stuck full of the shells and husks of various larp-e 



