﻿ORNITHOLOGY 
  OF 
  OXFORDSHIRE. 
  365 
  

  

  23rd. 
  — 
  The 
  first 
  really 
  warm 
  day 
  this 
  summer. 
  

  

  25th. 
  — 
  Partridge's 
  nest 
  of 
  thirteen 
  eggs, 
  just 
  ready 
  to 
  hatch, 
  

   mown 
  out. 
  

  

  26th. 
  — 
  Another 
  of 
  twelve 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  clover-field 
  about 
  half 
  

   incubated. 
  

  

  27th. 
  — 
  To 
  Kingham 
  to 
  see 
  Marsh-Warbler's 
  nest 
  in 
  osier-bed. 
  

   The 
  "handles 
  " 
  not 
  so 
  high 
  as 
  usual. 
  Nest 
  substantially 
  made, 
  

   supported 
  b} 
  r 
  two 
  osier 
  and 
  two 
  nettle 
  stems, 
  the 
  handles 
  being- 
  

   attached 
  to 
  the 
  osiers. 
  The 
  nest 
  was 
  lower 
  down 
  than 
  usual 
  

   (about 
  two 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  ground). 
  A 
  little 
  hair 
  in 
  the 
  lining. 
  

   It 
  contained 
  four 
  eggs 
  (laid 
  by 
  the 
  24th 
  or 
  earlier), 
  which 
  had 
  

   the 
  ground 
  colour 
  almost 
  white, 
  marked 
  with 
  a 
  zone 
  of 
  dark 
  

   clear 
  markings. 
  

  

  28th. 
  — 
  The 
  last 
  week 
  has 
  been 
  hot, 
  with 
  a 
  wind 
  (chiefly 
  E.) 
  

   almost 
  as 
  dry 
  as 
  sirocco. 
  For 
  some 
  days 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Whitethroat 
  

   has 
  sung 
  regularly 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  windows 
  in 
  a 
  bird-cherry 
  tree. 
  

   For 
  the 
  third 
  }-ear 
  in 
  succession 
  a 
  Eed-legged 
  Partridge 
  has 
  

   hatched 
  her 
  eggs 
  on 
  a 
  straw-rick 
  at 
  a 
  field-barn 
  in 
  Broughton 
  

   quarter. 
  

  

  July. 
  

  

  2nd. 
  — 
  Cuckoo 
  in 
  full 
  song. 
  A 
  Song-Thrush 
  has 
  sung 
  for 
  

   some 
  time 
  (chiefly 
  in 
  the 
  evening) 
  from 
  the 
  ridge 
  of 
  the 
  stable- 
  

   roof. 
  

  

  4th. 
  — 
  Starlings 
  feeding 
  young 
  in 
  a 
  hole 
  in 
  the 
  walnut-tree. 
  

   Starlings 
  nested 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  hole 
  in 
  April. 
  

  

  9th. 
  — 
  Mr. 
  Pi. 
  W. 
  Calvert 
  and 
  I 
  heard 
  the 
  Cuckoo 
  in 
  full 
  song 
  

   at 
  Langley 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  morning, 
  and 
  again 
  in 
  the 
  evening. 
  This 
  

   is 
  the 
  latest 
  date 
  on 
  which 
  I 
  ever 
  remember 
  hearing 
  it. 
  Probably 
  

   the 
  cold 
  spring 
  (it 
  was 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  coldest 
  May 
  for 
  sixty 
  years) 
  

   retarded 
  the 
  Cuckoo's 
  breeding. 
  On 
  the 
  17th 
  Mr. 
  Fowler 
  wrote 
  

   word 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  a 
  young 
  Cuckoo 
  in 
  a 
  Whitethroat's 
  nest 
  at 
  

   Kingham. 
  In 
  the 
  cold 
  wet 
  summer 
  of 
  1879 
  I 
  heard 
  the 
  Cuckoo 
  

   on 
  July 
  4th, 
  and 
  in 
  1888 
  (another 
  cold 
  season) 
  on 
  the 
  5th. 
  

  

  11th. 
  — 
  A 
  most 
  destructive 
  frost 
  ! 
  It 
  damaged 
  potatoes, 
  

   vegetable-marrows, 
  and 
  kidney-beans 
  in 
  many 
  gardens, 
  and 
  in 
  

   the 
  allotments. 
  But 
  iu 
  my 
  home-garden, 
  which 
  lies 
  high, 
  I 
  got 
  

   no 
  frost. 
  The 
  thermometer 
  on 
  the 
  wall 
  only 
  down 
  to 
  42°, 
  i. 
  e. 
  

   about 
  38° 
  on 
  the 
  ground. 
  A 
  frost 
  like 
  this 
  would 
  probably 
  kill 
  

   some 
  young 
  birds 
  on 
  the 
  low 
  ground. 
  

  

  