108 THE BIEDS OF OXFORDSHIRE. 



a common bird all over the county^ though generally speakmg 

 not so plentiful as in the district already spoken of, and in 

 some parts it is far less so. 



Robert D^Oyly the second founded Osney Abbey, near 

 Oxford, because ' a company of Pyes ' which had repaired to a 

 certain tree standing in the meadows there, were ' alwaies so 

 clamorous ' when the Baron's wife passed the tree, and she 

 consulting with one Radulphus, Canon of St. Frideswide^s, 

 was advised by him that it signified that she should build some 

 Church or Monastery where the tree stood. (Plot^s Natural 

 History of OxfordsJiire, p. 169.) 



THE JAY. ' ' 



Garrnlus glandarius. 



The Jay is a common but not abundant resident, breeding 

 only in the woods, but generally diffused from autumn to 

 sjjring, when it is a regular visitor, in small numbers, to some 

 districts in which it does not breed. 



In the aiitumn and winter of 1882, Jays were unusually 

 abundant, a dozen or twenty together being noticed on 

 several occasions in localities where the Jay is usually a scarce 

 bird. It is probable that these were migrants from the 

 European continent, as a flight of Jays passed over Heligo- 

 land in October of that year, and they were observed in 

 unusual numbers in many parts of England {vide Zoologist, 

 1883). 



THE SWALLOW. 



U 



Hirundo rustica. 



The Swallow is an abundant summer visitor, arriving 

 about the second week in April ; in the north of the county 

 the 17th is the average date on which I have noticed it 

 during the last eleven years, but at Oxford it is a little 

 earlier. 



When the first broods are strong on the wing they flock 



