Birds. 2429 



this bush we looked round and saw three golden-crested wrens hop- 

 ping about it : presently one of the party discovered a twig, above 

 which two or three oak-leaves had formed a canopy, just high enough 

 to permit of his sitting under it : on this twig he immediately hopped, 

 and, finding it an eligible roosting-place, communicated the fact to 

 his companions, who joined him without delay, and, side by side, 

 pressing close together, formed one of the snuggest and most pictu- 

 resque little groups imaginable. 



Blue Titmouse (Parus caruleus). I once shot a curious variety of 

 this species, in which all the feathers of the wing were more or less 

 marked with large brown spots. 



Long-tailed Titmouse {Parus caudatus) . The regularity with which 

 this little wanderer will return to the same place to build is very 

 curious. A pair of them, and probably the same pair, have for some 

 years built their nest in our garden, and frequently in the same tree. 

 We have often been amused by their vigorous efforts to twist the raw 

 materials into the beautiful form of their nest, and, as the work pro- 

 ceeded, by the skill with which they fitted small pieces of lichen into 

 a close covering on the outside. They seem by no means shy, and 

 will allow us to watch them at their work for as long as we please. It 

 appears rather extraordinary, that although eight or ten, or even more, 

 are annually bred here, the number of nests in one season has never 

 increased ; one pair only having hitherto built in this spot. 



Skylark (Alauda arvensis). At the commencement of very severe 

 frost vast flocks of larks leave this part of the kingdom for the south ; 

 on some days, from light till dark, the air is never free from them : the 

 multitude which must pass during that time is almost incredible. 

 Pied larks have sometimes been killed here. 



Hawfinch {Coccothraustes vulgaris). We feel some hesitation in 

 classing the hawfinch as a resident, on account of its rarity in this 

 part of the kingdom ; but since its appearance has occurred at all 

 seasons of the year, and its nest has also been found near Oxford, it 

 does not seem properly referrible to any other class. We met with a 

 small flock at Wytham, near Oxford, in January, 1842, and succeeded 

 in killing a male and two females. This party was feeding on the 

 seeds of the tulip tree. 



Siskin (Carduelis spinus). Our remarks upon the hawfinch are 

 also applicable to the present species : it is, however, more plentiful 

 than that bird, and the instances of its nidification more frequent. 

 In the winter of 1847 siskins were unusually abundant near Oxford. 



Lesser Redpole (Linota linaria). This is again a rather doubtful 

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