BIRDS 137 



of a large bunch of Mistletoe in 1864. Nearer our own time, 

 Mr. Warde Fowler* has drawn attention to the presence of 

 the Thrush tribe throughout the autumn : " In the Gardens 

 the thrushes and blackbirds have become so tame from 

 constant quiet and protection, that, like the donkeys at Athens 

 of which Plato tells us, they will hardly deign to move out 

 of your way. . . . Missel-thrushes are also to be seen here ; 

 and all these birds go out of a morning to breakfast on the 

 thickly-berried thorn-bushes at the Cherwell end of the Broad 

 Walk, where they meet with their relations the Redwings, 

 and now and then with a Fieldfare." 



The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopus minor, nested 

 in a hole in an old tree not long ago (H. A. Evans, 1905). 

 The great Poplar which fell a year ago across the Cherwell 

 beyond the southern boundary was a favourite tree with the 

 Owls, which also often sit in the south-east corner of the 

 Garden. 



The Goldcrest, Regulus cristatus, has frequently built 

 in the Garden, and even the Firecrest, R. ignicapillus, 

 has been recorded there on February 13, 1882, by A. R. 

 Battye. 



And last, but not least, I have been informed that Mr. G. 

 Tickner, who knows Oxford birds well, states that he saw 

 a Black Redstart sitting in a tree near the water, and, after 

 some search, found its nest in one of the creepers against the 

 South Wall, whence he took an egg for his collection 

 (June 16-20, 1902). 



" In the summer of 1886 the Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus 

 streperuS) was quite abundant in and round Oxford. If I 

 am not mistaken, a nest was built in the reeds of the fountain 

 at the south end of the Botanic Garden, a perfectly secure 

 spot. I heard the song there as late as the end of July " 

 (W. W. F.). 



And the same authority informs me in a letter that " in 

 * " A Year with the Birds." 



