NOTES FEOM OXFORDSHIRE. 283 



which time they ate a little — lasted the greater part of the 

 summer, and by degrees entirely ceased in the month of August : 

 they had slept throughout the greatest heat of June and July. 

 Towards the end of this lethargic sleep they became considerably 

 attenuated, though less so, however, than one would have 

 expected. Their body temperature taken during their lethargic 

 sleep was from 20 to 22 degrees centigrade. 



" From these facts it clearly results that the so-called winter- 

 sleep of the Dormouse cannot be directly due to the lowering 

 of its temperature ; perhaps the state of their nutrition— the 

 amassing of fat in their tissues — is the cause, or one of the 

 principal causes. But it seems that this condition, whatever its 

 cause, is akin to catalepsy and hypnotic sleep. On this account 

 it seems to me that the study of hypnotism in the Dormouse 

 possesses considerable interest, and I should be glad if the 

 perusal of these remarks were to give rise to further useful 

 experiments." 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM OXFORDSHIRE IN 1886. 

 By Oliver V. Aplin and A. H. Macpherson. 



January. — On the 2nd, besides fifty or sixty Mallard and 

 Duck, sixty-five Pochards and five Tufted Ducks were seen upon 

 Clattercutt Eeservoir. A male Merlin was shot close to Oxford 

 in the early part of the month. Sparrowhawks were common 

 throughout the winter about Oxford, when they might almost be 

 called winter visitors, as they are very scarce in summer. A 

 variety of the Song Thrush, having the top of the head pure 

 white, was shot on Headington Hill, and is now in M.'s collection. 

 A male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was shot at Great Bourton 

 on the 9th. A Coot, frozen out, was captured in a garden on the 

 outskirts of Banbury on the 21st. A grey Goose of some kind 

 was seen flying over Banbury on the 23rd. A large flock of 

 Fieldfares at the end of the month frequented the vicinity of 

 Clattercutt Reservoir, coming down to drink at one or two un- 

 frozen holes, the ice around being considerably discoloured by 

 them. A rather light-coloured Short-eared Owl, the only one 

 heard of during the winter, was shot near Wroxton on the 27th. 

 Some very large flocks of Wood Pigeons were observed in the 



