2736 Birds. 



The Birds of Oxfordshire and its Neighbourhood. 

 By the Reverends Andrew and Henry Matthews. 



(Concluded from page 2626). 



Additional Notes. 



Greenfinch {Coccothranstes chloris). A beautiful and very extra- 

 ordinary variety of this species was killed near Weston, in January, 

 1849. At first sight it much resembles a canary, and from the regu- 

 larity of its markings has not at all the appearance of a casual variety. 

 The following is a description of its plumage in detail : bill and legs 

 of a pale flesh-colour; crown of the head white; cheeks and neck 

 mottled with cinnamon-brown ; back yellow, marked down the mid- 

 dle and on the scapulars with cinnamon-brown ; rump bright yellow, 

 marked with dusky green towards the sides ; upper tail-coverts yellow, 

 the two longest tipped with brown ; tail bright yellow, with the two 

 middle and the two outermost feathers on each side tipped with black ; 

 greater and lesser wing-coverts yellow, widely and regularly tipped 

 with cinnamon ; primaries with the outer web bright yellow, inner web 

 white, tipped with black ; secondaries and tertials pale yellow, more 

 or less marked with brown and black ; under-parts yellow, shaded 

 with cinnamon- brown. 



Common Sandpiper (Totanns hypoleucos) . On the 1st of July, 

 1849, we found a pair of this species on the margin of the lake in 

 Kirtlington Park. From their unwillingness to quit the spot, we were 

 led to suppose that their nest was not far distant, though we could 

 not at the time discover it. On the following day we left home for 

 nearly a month, and when we next visited the spot the sandpipers 

 were not there. The fact, however, of having seen them at that 

 period of the year, materially corroborates our opinion, expressed in 

 a former note, that this bird occasionally breeds in the neigh- 

 bourhood. 



Wood Lark {Alauda arhorea). From observations made during 

 the past season, we have little doubt that this species resides through- 

 out the year in certain spots on the Chiltern range, near the borders 

 of this county. These localities are but few in number, and the bird 

 itself very sparingly distributed over them. 



Pink-footed Goose (Anser phcenicoptis). Our note upon the Anser 

 ferus seems more properly to refer to the present species, which we 

 have every reason to believe is the most abundant of the two. 



