446 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



6th. — Examined adult female Hobby, shot at Tusmore on 

 May 16th. 



7th. — In Fifield village House-Martins breeding in some 

 numbers, and so low down that the nests can almost be touched 

 by anyone standing on the ground. In the woods noticed 

 Nightjar, and saw in the bracken the spot where eggs were 

 taken two days before ; also two Sparrow-Hawk's nests used 

 this year, and heard a Nightingale. Had news of a Buzzard 

 shot in the neighbourhood two months ago. 



8th. — On the open arable land of the Crown Farms about 

 Langley (formerly the forest) stone walls largely take the place 

 of hedges, and nesting accommodation is scarce and crowded. 

 In the small "Dovehouse" close at Langley, which had a big 

 hedge on two sides of it, we found the following nests to-day : — 

 House- Sparrow, three nests with eggs ; big deep domed nests 

 at the top of the hedge. Chaffinch, one nest with eggs. Linnet, 

 three nests with eggs, three nests ready for eggs, and two nests 

 with young. Greenfinch, two nests with eggs and one with 

 young. Song- Thrush, one nest with eggs. Turtle-Dove, one 

 nest with eggs ; this nest was formed entirely of the dry creeping 

 root-stems of "squitch." I also saw a Pied Wagtail's nest in 

 the side of a straw-rick, which was then empty, but at 7.15 a.m. 

 the next day contained one Wagtail's and a Cuckoo's egg. 



To Bampton, and on this and the next day I noticed many 

 Peewits on such of the big open meadows along the Isis which 

 had been pastured ; some had already gathered into small flocks. 

 Moorhens are very numerous about the rush-beds, Dabchicks 

 common, and there are a few breeding Wild Ducks. I noticed 

 the Eeed- Warbler in willow-beds near Tadpole and Badcot 

 bridges, but the Beed-Bunting is the characteristic small bird 

 of the belt of rushes, reeds, and other water-plants lying between 

 the river and the rarely-used towing-path. I heard four Corn- 

 Crakes, two of them in one large meadow. In the arable land 

 between the marshy village of Clanfield and Bampton, which is 

 nearly as flat as the fens, I was surprised to meet with a pair of 

 Stonechats, the male sitting on a gate. The local Corn-Bunting 

 is fairly common on this land, but I had found it far more so on 

 the high ground as I came from Burford, where this year the 

 " curlock" is rampant, and the fields shine out — a light golden 



