Common objects by the Cherwell. 65 



that of the little Fly-catcher, who sits on a bough 

 at hand, and occasionally performs the same feat 

 with native lightness and deftness. But these 

 are for the most part young Sparrows of the year, 

 who have been brought here perhaps by their 

 parents to be out of the way of cats, and for the 

 benefit of country air and an easily-digested 

 insect diet. How long they stay here I do not 

 know ; but before our Autumn Term begins they 

 must have migrated back to the city, for I seldom 

 or never see them in the willows except in the 

 Summer Term. 



These seats by the Cherwell are excellent 

 stations for observation. Swallows, Martins, and 

 Sand-martins flit over the water ; Swifts scream 

 overhead towards evening ; Greenfinches trill 

 gently in the trees, or utter that curious lengthened 

 sound which is something between the bleat of a 

 lamb and the snore of a light sleeper ; the Yellow 

 Wagtail, lately arrived, walks before you on the 

 path, looking for materials for a nest near the 

 water's edge ; the Fly-catcher, latest arrival of all, 

 is perched in silence on the railing, darting now and 



then into the air for flies ; the Corn-crake sounds 



F 



