ITS BIRDS. 87 



to my whistle every morning to be fed at an old mul- 

 berry-tree in my garden. They would run down the 

 branch to within a yard of my outstretched hand, but 

 never quite ventured to take the nuts I offered them 

 until I laid them down." — A. L. 



Hoopoe. More than one example of this rare bird has been 

 observed in the neighbourhood. One bird frequented 

 a garden at Knotts Green for several days about four 

 years ago. 



Tree Creeper. Resident and common in the Forest, and in 

 Wanstead Park. 



Cuckoo. A common summer visitor. 



Kingfisher. Not unfrequently seen by the ponds and streams 

 of the Forest. The last I saw was a few weeks ago, 

 when one flashed out like a streak of blue lightning from 

 a ditch close to the Forest Hotel at Chingford. 



Crossbills. The late Mr. Doubleday, of Epping, procured 

 examples of both the common and European white- 

 winged crossbills at Epping, and in September 1861 three 

 specimens of the parrot crossbill were killed at one shot 

 by a boy at Lambourne (see The Zoologist, 1S61, p. 

 7759). A pair of the common crossbill nested in some 

 firs at the Bower, close by Epping Railway station. 



House Sparrow. Everywhere. 



Tree Sparrow. Common about the pollard willows near 

 the River Roding. 



Brambling. More frequent in the winter than is usually 

 supposed. A few years since there were large flocks 

 feeding upon the beech-nuts. 



Greenfinch. Common. 



Hawfinch. Common in the Forest, but very shy, and conse- 

 quently rarely seen. The nests are so loosely built that 

 the eggs may often be seen from below through the 

 bottom. Mr. E. Barclay informs me that in 1878 a pair 

 nested in Cook's Folly and brought oft" five young ones. 

 Occasionally seen in my garden in winter feeding on 

 hawthorn berries. In June, about twenty years ago, I 

 shot a young bird which was feeding on my peas in 

 company with one or two more. An interesting note 

 on the food and habits of the hawfinch, as observed at 

 Epping by the late Mr. Doubleday, will be found in 

 The Zoologist for 1843, p. 40, and 1856, p. 5098. 

 He remarked that this bird is particularly fond of the 

 seeds of the hornbeam, and is always more common in 

 the Forest when a fine warm spring has favoured the 

 flowering of the hornbeam and produced a plentiful 

 crop of seeds. 



