The Woodpecker. 27 



Magazine, " R. W. R.," states that this bird bred 

 outside his window at Trinity a few years ago, 

 "but has not done so lately for reasons of his own, 

 of which I approve." Another correspondent, how- 

 ever, reports him from Addison's Walk ; and Mr. 

 Macpherson of Oriel, whose eye is not likely to 

 have erred, believed that he saw one in the Broad 

 Walk a few years ago. I myself have not seen 

 the bird nearer Oxford than Kennington ; but I 

 am pretty sure that it is commoner and also less 

 shy than is generally imagined, and also that the 

 ornithologist who sees it is not likely to mistake 

 it for another bird : its very small size it is not 

 so large as a sparrow its crimson head, and its 

 wings, with their black and white bars, making it 

 a conspicuous object to a practised eye. 1 



Christchurch Meadow is a favourite home of the 

 Titmice. I believe that I have seen all the five 

 English species here within a space of a very few 

 days : English, not British, for there is one other, 

 the Crested Tit, of which I shall have more to 

 say in another chapter. A family of Longtails, 



1 In May, 1886, I saw one in a pollard willow at the northern 

 edge of the Parks, near the new boathouse. 



