CHAPTER II. 



Oxford : Speing and Eaely Summbe. 



A LL the birds mentioned in the last chapter are residents 

 in Oxford, in greater or less numbers according to the 

 season, except the Fieldfares and Kedwings, the Grey Wagtail, 

 and the rarer visitors : and of these the Fieldfares and Eedwings 

 are the only true winter birds. They come from the north 

 and east in September and October, and depart again in 

 March and April. When we begin our Summer Term not 

 one is to be seen. The berries in the meadow are all eaten 

 up long before Lent Term is over, and though these are not 

 entirely or even chiefly the Redwing's food, the birds have 

 generally disappeared with them. 



They do not however leave the country districts till later. 

 "When wild birds like these come into a town, the cause is 

 almost certain to be stress of weather; when the winter's 

 back is broken, they return to the fields and hedges till the 

 approach of summer calls them northwards. There they 

 assemble together in immense flocks, showing all the rest- 

 lessness and excitement of the smaller birds that leave us in 

 the autumn ; suddenly the whole mass rises and departs like 



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