THE CHIFFCHAFF AND WILLOW WARBLER 165 



of them were standing close to the spinny, within 

 a couple of yards of the ribes bush at the foot 

 of which the nest was situated. Yet, notwith- 

 standing their presence, the parent birds never 

 ceased to feed their young ones, going and 

 returning every few minutes with some fresh 

 dainty. I watched the performance for some 

 three days, but, alas ! on the fourth I discovered 

 that the entire nest had been ruthlessly abstracted 

 doubtless by some youths whom, at my request, 

 the park-keeper had ejected for having attempted 

 to shoot the birds with a catapult. These parks 

 are rich in birds, but it is much to be regretted 

 that the generosity of the University authorities 

 in throwing them open to the public should be so 

 shamefully abused. On one occasion I flushed 

 a woodcock in these grounds at the time when 

 a football - match between the University and 

 Cooper's Hill was being played within a hundred 

 yards of the spot, and there must have been many 

 hundreds of people watching the progress of the 

 game. 



The willow warbler is, as I have remarked, 

 somewhat larger than the chiffchaff, measuring 

 five inches in length. This bird is also called 

 the willow wren, though why it has earned the 

 sobriquet of * willow ' it is difficult to understand, 

 since it is not to be found more frequently in the 

 vicinity of those trees than that of others. It 

 does not arrive in this country much before the 

 middle of April, and leaves us in September. It 



