NOTES FROM OXFORDSHIRE. 343 



On one of the lines of posts and rails crossing Bestmoor I saw a 

 large hawk ; it was a long way off and I had no glass, but the after- 

 noon was very clear, and I could see the bird well : it seemed to be 

 all grey (a companion who is not an ornithologist, but is a sports- 

 man*, independently remarked upon this), and I have no doubt it 

 was a male Hen Harrier. Walking home along the canal, in 

 the dusk, we saw a Short-eared Owl beating along the bank. 

 Examined an adult Sheldrake, shot at North Aston Mill in the 

 winter of 1889-90, and an adult Common Tern, shot at the same 

 place in the late autumn (October or November, 1889). 



16th. Some Chaffinches have apparently returned ; several in 

 song this morning, but hardly full yet. 



17th. At a sale at Adderbury House I purchased an adult 

 male Golden Oriole set up in a small old-fashioned box-case. 

 I fancy it is the work of a birdstuffer named Goodway, formerly 

 of Banbury, but now dead. As far as I can discover, no one now 

 living can give the history of this bird, but I have little doubt 

 that it was killed upon the estate. The only other stuffed birds 

 in the house were a Kingfisher (in a similar small box-case, by 

 the same hand), and some Partridges and Pheasants, all evidently 

 set up many years ago. 



22nd. A Grey Wagtail in the village brook for the first time 

 since the frost. 



March. 



2nd. My sister-in-law (who is acquainted with the appearance 

 of the bird from two stuffed specimens in the house) saw two 

 Great Grey Shrikes in a tall hedge at Bodicote. The observer, 

 who described them as of a pearl-grey, with black on the wings, 

 and a fan-shaped tail in flight, was first attracted by the small 

 birds, which were mobbing the Shrikes. As soon as the first 

 Shrike took flight and uttered a curious note, the small birds were 

 silenced and made off. 



6th. A few Peewits appeared on the arable lands where they 

 breed. 



11th. Examined a male Hawfinch, with the blue beak of 

 summer, which flew against a window on the outskirts of Ban- 

 bury, and was picked up stunned ; it had remained stunned for 

 an hour and looked rather " dazed" when I saw it; but I heard 

 some time afterwards that it was alive and perfectly well. 



12th. Mr. Wyatt had a male Brambling in the flesh, and, a 



