72
EPPING FOREST
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. I have seen them flash out like a streak
of blue lightning from the ditches close to the Forest
Hotel at Chingford. They come to one of my ponds
every spring.
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
KINGFISHER.
by a boy at Lamborne (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. Large flocks may be seen assem-
bling on the tops of trees, at dusk, in the winter.
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