SUMaiER MIGRANTS. 
205 
SUMMER MIGRANTS. 
NOTICE OF THE ARRIVAL OF MIGRATORY BIRDS IN 
NORTH OXON IN THE SPRING OF 1883, WITH NOTES. 
BY OLIVER V. APLIN. 
It will be unnecessary to remind your readers that the early spring 
of 1883 was very cold, but for the sake of drawing a comparison 
between this year and last I may mention that the mean temperature 
of March, 1882, was 43'9°, of the same month in 1883, 35-2°, of April, 
1882, 46'7° as against 45’8° of April last; also that in March and April, 
1882, snow fell on one day only, while in the same months of this year 
it fell on fifteen days, and remained on the ground for several more. 
Still more striking was the difference in the state of vegetation, 
the hawthorn hedges being from three weeks to a month later in 
assuming their vernal dress of green, and the blackthorn observed last 
year to be flowering on March 12th was not noticed this season until 
April 17th. But with all this marked difference in the season it is 
surprising how little our summer migrants were affected by it. The 
Chiffchaff {Phylloscopus collybita) is perhaps a solitary instance of 
retarded appearance, but this may possibly be accounted for by the 
fact that it is generally the welcome note of the bird that first makes 
its presence known to the observer, and that therefore the bird may 
well be with us for some days until a genial and sunny day brings 
forth his song. Some idea of the general lateness of the observations 
made upon this bird may be gathered from the fact that among all the 
valuable records which appear annually in the Field newspaper I failed 
to discover a single March note, and the only record of it during that 
month that I have been able to find this year was in Devonshire on the 
25th. Here I did not observe it until April 7th (a fine warm morning), 
when I noticed two in song. A careful observer in the north-west of 
Oxfordshire (near Chipping Norton) observed it the day before, but 
remarked that it was silent. Two days after I found a pair of 
Redstarts {Ruticilla phoenicurus) in some willows beside a small stream, 
where they remained all the summer; this is, I think, an early 
arrival; the male was singing gaily. I have recently examined an 
example of this species in very curious plumage for the time of year 
at which it was killed—viz., April or May. It was in almost exactly 
the same plumage as a male bird of the year which has completed the 
autumnal moult before leaving this country. The white edges to the 
black feathers on the throat were especially noticeable. It would 
appear that this individual (as is supposed to be the case with some 
wagtails coming to Europe in spring) was hatched in the winter 
quarters of the species. On the 14th I heard a Tree Pipit {Anthus 
trivialis), but it was not till three days after that I saw the bird; the 
white bar across the wing is very conspicuous, and I think has not been 
