12 Oxford: Autumn and Winter. 



Bullfinch's bill is not an instrument to be lightly 

 passed over. It places him apart from all other 

 common English birds, and brings him into the 

 same sub-family as the Crossbill and the Pine- 

 Grosbeak. It is short, wide, round, and parrot-like 

 in having the upper mandible curved downwards 

 over the lower one, and altogether admirably 

 suited for snipping off and retaining those fat 

 young juicy buds, from which, as some believe, 

 the Bullfinch has come by his name. 1 



Parsons' Pleasure, i. e. the well-concealed bath- 

 ing-place which goes by this name, stands at the 

 narrow apex of a large island which is formed 

 by the river Cherwell, itself here running in 

 two channels which enclose the walk known as 

 Mesopotamia, and the slow and often shallow 

 stream by which Holywell mill is worked. The 

 bird-lover will never cross the rustic bridge which 

 brings him into the island over this latter stream, 

 without casting a rapid glance to right and left. 

 Here in the summer we used to listen to the 



1 The name is sometimes said to be a corruption of bud- 

 finch. But Prof. Skeat (Etym. Diet., s. v. Bull} compares it 

 with bull-dog, the prefix in each case suggesting the stout build 

 of the animal. 



