62 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



3rd. — We have four round the village, perhaps five, besides 

 those at Milcomb gorse. 

 4th. — Garden Warbler. 



6th. — Saw a Swallow sitting on the top twig of a fairly high 

 hedge. Mr. Blea told me about the numbers of Golden Plovers 

 which used to visit the high-lying arable land on this side of 

 Chipping Norton thirty or forty years ago. 



June 4th. — Arrived home after four weeks' absence. Song- 

 Thrush singing while sitting on the ridge of the house-roof. 

 Red-backed Shrike near Springfields, Banbury, close to one of 

 the three favourite localities of this bird about here. 



5th. — Song-Thrush again singing from the roof-ridge, and my 

 man says that it has done so for three days, sitting there for 

 hours from late in the afternoon. 



6th. — Examined a Red-backed Shrike shot near Banbury. 

 8th. — Some young Rooks still in the nest. 

 10th. — Shot some branchers out of two or perhaps three nests. 

 15th. — Found at Kingham a half-finished Marsh-Warbler's 

 nest. I saw it again on the 22nd, when it contained four eggs. 

 This nest was hung to two stems of the meadow-sweet, and was 

 close to an osier-bush. The "handles" by which the nest was 

 hung to the stems were very remarkable ; the attachment of one 

 of them to the stem was nearly two inches above the lower, or 

 normal, portion of the rim of the nest; of the other (most of 

 which was passed round the stem), over one inch. The nest was 

 formed of round stems of grass, with two bits of cotton-thread 

 (one of several strands) about the rim ; it was lined with finer 

 grass and some hair. No moss in this nest. 



17th. — Some Gulls seen in the Cherwell meadows near the 

 weir-lock, Adderbury. They are very unusual visitors at this 

 season. 



22nd. — Young Rooks "squawking" from a nest in the 

 Middle-ground rookery, and still there on the 24th. 



24th. — There is a small oak spinney in this parish which I 

 have known well all my life. I always wondered that the Wood- 

 Wren did not visit it, and many a time I have looked for the bird 

 in vain. To-day I was passing the spinney at some little distance 

 when the well-known song caught my ear. I watched the bird 

 for an hour or two, and I believe searched every foot of ground 



