BIRDS OF OXFORDSHIRE. 253 



tail-coverts plain, unbarred, bright rufous, was picked up close to 

 Banbury at the end of December, 1890. 



Snipe . — Mr. Lambert flushed one in long grass — ankle- 

 deep in water in places — on Otmoor, near Beckley, on May 5th, 

 1889. The bird went away, and I do not think would be breeding. 

 This is the only note I have of the Snipe in Oxfordshire in May, 

 and I have none for June. In the '• Shooting (Moor and Marsh) " 

 volume of the Badminton Library, particulars are given of the 

 heavy bags made at Blenheim, in the upper, marshy end of the 

 lake, when the water is low. In Bewick's ' British Birds' (1821, 

 vol. ii. p. 77, note), it is stated that Mr. Tunstall mentions a very 

 curious pied Snipe, shot in Botley Meadow, near Oxford, by a 

 Mr. Court on Sept. 8th, 1789. I do not know where Tunstall's 

 original record is ; I do not find it among his notes in Fox's 

 * Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum.' 



Dunlin. — Two were seen on Port Meadow on Oct. 2nd, 1889, 

 by Mr. Lambert. One, in winter dress, was shot from a bunch 

 of five from a wet ditch in the " marshes " at Banbury on Nov. 

 29th, 1890, and came into my possession. Mr. Lambert saw 

 about fifteen on Port Meadow on April 22nd, 1890 ; they wanted 

 the black breast. They were probably immature birds. 



Little Stint. — Mr. Lambert saw on Port Meadow on Oct. 2nd, 

 1889, two birds which, from his description, must have been 

 either Little or Temminck's Stints. They were flying with two 

 Dunlins, which they resembled in shape, but were of the size of 

 a Sparrow. 



Common Sandpiper. — I observed one on the banks of the' 

 Cherwell at Bodicote on April 20th, 1889 ; this is the earliest 

 date at which I have ever met with it. Mr. W. G. Reeve, of 

 Trinity College, wrote me word on June 8th, 1890, that a pair 

 had " been living for upwards of a month on the shingly banks 

 of the river between Sandford and Nuneham." Mr. Lambert saw 

 them on Port Meadow as early as April 21st, 1890. 



Greenshank. — A Greenshank was shot in the Cherwell, 

 opposite Bodicote, on Aug. 14th, 1890, and was brought, in the 

 flesh, to me the same day. In company with another, it frequented 

 the " scours" in the river (which was rather low) since the 10th. 

 The same day I went with the man who shot the bird to look for 

 the other, but we could not find it ; I saw four Common Sand- 

 pipers, very tame, and I think birds of the year. 



