ITS BIRDS.
87
to my whistle every morning to be fed at an old mul-
berry-tree in my garden. They would run down the
branch to within a yard of my outstretched hand, but
never quite ventured to take the nuts I offered them
until I laid them down."—A. L.
Hoopoe. More than one example of this rare bird has been
observed in the neighbourhood. One bird frequented
a garden at Knotts Green for several days about four
years ago.
Tree Creeper. Resident and common in the Forest, and in
Wanstead Park.
Cuckoo. A common summer visitor.
Kingfisher. Not unfrequently seen by the ponds and streams
of the Forest. The last I saw was a few weeks ago,
when one flashed out like a streak of blue lightning from
a ditch close to the Forest Hotel at Chingford.
Crossbills. The late Mr. Doubleday, of Epping, procured
examples of both the common and European white-
winged crossbills at Epping, and in September 1861 three
specimens of the parrot crossbill were killed at one shot
by a boy at Lambourne (see The Zoologist, 1861, p.
7759). A pair of the common crossbill nested in some
firs at the Bower, close by Epping Railway station.
House Sparrow. Everywhere.
Tree Sparrow. Common about the pollard willows near
the River Roding.
Brambling. More frequent in the winter than is usually
supposed. A few years since there were large flocks
feeding upon the beech-nuts.
Greenfinch. Common.
Hawfinch. Common in the Forest, but very shy, and conse-
quently rarely seen. The nests are so loosely built that
the eggs may often be seen from below through the
bottom. Mr. E. Barclay informs me that in 1878 a pair
nested in Cook's Folly and brought off five young ones.
Occasionally seen in my garden in winter feeding on
hawthorn berries. In June, about twenty years ago, I
shot a young bird which was feeding on my peas in
company with one or two more. An interesting note
on the food and habits of the hawfinch, as observed at
Epping by the late Mr. Doubleday, will be found in
The Zoologist for 1843, p. 40, and 1856, p. 5098.
He remarked that this bird is particularly fond of the
seeds of the hornbeam, and is always more common in
the Forest when a fine warm spring has favoured the
flowering of the hornbeam and produced a plentiful
crop of seeds.