Bird*. 2539 



Bewick's Swan {Cygnus Bewickii). In the same winter in which 

 the foregoing species was so abundant, two specimens of Bewick's 

 swan were killed near Oxford. Several instances of the mute swan 

 (C. olor), in an apparently wild state, also occurred during that season : 

 these, it is true, might have been tame birds, which had forsaken their 

 usual haunts to join the wandering bands of their allies : be this as it 

 may, in their habits they altogether differed from the really tame 

 swans, which often visit us in parties of three and four during the 

 spring. It was also reported that the Polish swan {C. immutabilis) 

 had* been met with near Oxford about the same time, but of this we 

 have no certain information. 



Common Shieldrake {Tadorna Vulpanser). We seldom pass through 

 the winter without a visit from this fine bird. A few specimens also 

 of the shoveler {Anas clypeata) are generally killed during the season. 



Gad wall [Anas strepera). In January, 1833, we obtained a male, 

 and in the following winter a female of this species, both of which had 

 been shot near Stanlake. It has also been met with in other parts of 

 the county. 



Bimaculated Duck {Anas glocitans). We insert this species on the 

 authority of Dr. Latham, in whose account of the bimaculated duck, 

 in vol. x. p. 331, the following notice occurs, — " Taken in a decoy 

 near Sir G. Turner's, at Ambroseden, Bucks, in 1771." The place 

 here alluded to we suppose to be the decoy at Boarstall, near Otmoor, 

 which is at no great distance from Ambroseden Park. 



Eider Duck (Somateria mollissima). " Once killed at Sunning, 

 near Reading, during a very severe frost. 1 ' — Dr. T. 



Velvet Scoter {Oidemia fusca). Rare : we have seen specimens 

 from the neighbourhood of Oxford during severe winters. " A pair 

 w T ere shot near Wargrave, Berks, in January, 1795." — Dr. T. 



Common scoter {Oidemia nigra). Both this species and the pochard 

 {Fuligula ferina) very frequently visit us during the winter. 



Ferruginous Duck {Fuligula Nyroca). " A bird of this species was 

 shot on a fish-pond at Cornwell, near Chippingnorton, December 3, 

 1847." — G. A pair were killed near Oxford in the year 1832. — K. 



Scaup Duck {Fuligula Marila). This is one of our commonest 

 winter visitors. On Christmas-eve, 1829, a scaup duck was caught in 

 the basin in the quadrangle of Christchurch College, Oxford, where 

 it had settled in company with two others. 



Long-tailed Duck {Harelda glacialis). In the winter of 1840 a 

 young male of this species was killed near Standlake, in this county. 

 — G. Also on the Isis, near Kennington, in January, 1846. — K. 



