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FOR THE PEOPLE

FOR EDVCATION

FORSCIENCE

LIBRARY

OF

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY

'J ^<r:

ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES

IN

SUSSEX.

Hanliart ipmv

THE OSPREY.

ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES

IN

SUSSEX;

WITH A SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE

OF

THE BIRDS OF THAT COUNTY,

AXD

REMARKS OX THEIR LOCAL DISTRIBUTION.

BT

A. E. KNOX, M.A., F.L.S., &c.

Cfjtrti Etittton.

LONDON:
JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCLV.

S^-i^iA'^.'^s^

LONDON :
T. E. Metcalf, Printer, G3, Snow Hill.

25438

MAR 3 1 1961

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

In sending forth a Third Edition of his " Ornitho-
loOTcal Rambles/' the Author has not thought it
necessary to make any essential alterations in
the former part of the work, but those who may
feel an interest in the occurrence of new or rare
species within the limits of the county, will find
some additional information on this subject in
the Systematic Catalogue at the end of the
volume.

It is, perhaps, unnecessary for him to observe,
that, in a pictorial point of view, this edition
possesses attractions to which its predecessors

VI PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

could lay no claim. The litliogra])lis, after his
own drawings, having been fairly woi-n out in
the service, are now superseded by four spirited
and highly characteristic illustrations from " the
gifted pencil of Wolf."

St. Anne's Hill. Midhurst.
February, 1855.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The following letters were originally addressed
to a friend, residing beyond the Tweed, and owe
their appearance in a collected form to a sub-
sequent suggestion that they might become a
popular contribution to the Fauna of Sussex,
possessing some attractions for the sportsman as
well as the ornithologist.

The Author cannot, however, conceal from him-
self that, having on the present occasion limited
the sphere of his observations to a single county,
it would be vain and presumptuous of him to
expect that they should prove as interesting to
the general reader as to those who, from local

Vm PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

circumstances, might be supposed to feel some-
what of an enduring interest in such records, or
as to an old and intimate friend, in whom " auld
lang syne'' and congeniality of tastes liad ensured
a ready listener.

But to take a wider view of the subject. It
will be admitted that the geographical })osition
of Sussex, as a southern maritime county, with
its long line of sea-coast, is favourable for obser-
vations on the migratory birds, while the remark-
able variety of soil and scenery contained within
its limits appears to have a considerable influence
on the local distribution of many species ; but
without indulging in speculative theories, or at-
tempting to follow up the various links in the
chain, geological, botanical, and entomological,
the Author still ventures to hope that he has been
able to throw some little light on these matters:
that a few sparks may be struck from the follow-
ing pages, which hereafter in abler hands may
be fanned into a flame, and more fully elucidate
this mysterious and interesting subject.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix

With regard to himself he may perhaps be
allowed to say, that an ardent love of Nature
has throughout life been his ruling passion, and
the study of her works his greatest delight ;
while a residence of many years on the coast,
as well as in the interior, of Sussex, has afforded
him advantages which do not fall to the lot of
every local observer.

Although from the desultory nature of these
papers he has sometimes thrown off the restraint
which a rigid adherence to systematic order might
have imposed upon him, yet with the view of
imparting to the work a more scientific character
than it would otherwise possess, and at the same
time increasing its utility for purposes of refer-
ence and comparison, the arrangement observed
by Mr. Yarrell in his admirable work on British
Birds, and the nomenclature adopted by that
distinguished zoologist have been adhered to in
the Catalogue, as appearing to possess in the
highest degree the advantages of correctness and
simplicity.

X PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

That tliis little volume may tend to awaken
a taste for similar pursuits in some who have
hitherto passed unobservant along the shores and
through the woods of this interesting county,
and perhaps serve to assist in the diffusion of
those humane and enlightened views so ably
advocated by Mr. Waterton in his "Essays on
Natural History/" is the sincere wish of

THE AUTHOR

CONTENTS.

Page

Preface to the Third Edition . . . . v

Preface to the First Edition .... vii

Letter I. — Introductory .... 1

II. — Visit to the Heronry at Parham . 14

III.— Golden Eagle and Sea Eagle . . 36

IV.— The Osprey U

v.— The Kestrel or Windhover . .52

VI, — The Sparrowhawk . . . 65

VII.— Migration of Small Birds . . 75

VIII. — Harriers and Owls ... 87

IX. — Hooded and Carrion Crows . . 97

X. — The Peregrine Falcon and Hobby . 105

XL— The Merlin 116

XU CONTENTS.

Page
Letter XII. — Lark-catching near Brighton . 126

XIIL— The Kite and Buzzard . .134

XIV.— The Pet worth Ravens . .148

XV. — Feathered Game and Shooting in

Sussex . . . . .162

Systematic Catalogue, &e 183

ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Osprey ..... FrontispieGe

Heron and Water-rat 31

Falcon and Teal 110

"Othello's Occupation's Gone" . . . 156

ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES,

ETC.

LETTER I.

IXTEODUCTORY.

Early Influences and EecoUeetions — Sussex — Sketch of
the County — The Weald : Its Character and gene-
ral Aspect — Sandstone Formation — Picturesque
Scenery — The South Downs — Maritime Tract —
Chichester Harbour — Selsey BiU — Pagham — Un-
frequented District — Hard Weather — Wild Fowl
Shooting — Coast to the eastward of Brighton —
Chalk Cliffs — Beachy Head — Pevensey Bay —
Wilderness of Shingle — An Oasis in a Desert —
Principal Pivers in Sussex.

My dear E.

I have great pleasure in compl3dng with your
request ; the very idea recalls the memory of
olden time ; already am I carried back in imagina-
tion to those scenes where, besides the instruction
exclusively derived from Alma maters we took
lessons in practical Ornithology under the aus-
pices of dame Nature herself Again, as in by-
gone days, are we wandering together over the

2 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

swampy flats of Port Meadow, or exploring the
sedgy banks of the Isis, near Sandford Lasher,
ahnost forgetting our hastily-moored skifls in a
prolonged search after the nest of the water-hen,
or the airy fabric of tlie reed- warbler. Once more
are we seated beneath the old rook-trees in Christ
Church meadow, and congratulating the dark
proprietors of the village overhead that their for-
tunate settlement is within the protective influ-
ence of academic laws. I have a lively recollec-
tion, too, of our delightful correspondence, when,
in return for my rough notes from the west of
Ireland, I received such an interesting account of
3^our neighbourhood. But, to turn from retro-
spect to reality, I rejoice to think that our inter-
course has only been interrupted, not annihilated,
by the lapse of years.

You are quite correct in supposing that my pre-
dilection for my old pursuits is as strong as ever.
It is true that I no longer listen to the roar of the
Atlantic, as when I used to indite ornithological
epistles to you from the wilds of Erris, but the
influence of early habits has survived every vicis-
situde of time and place.

The eagle and the grouse, indeed, are gone ;
and to the dark, misty mountains, and rock-bound
coast of Mayo, have succeeded the bright Downs,
the wooded valleys, and the smiling shores of

EECOLLECTIONS. 3

Sussex. It is true that such countless myi^iads of
water-birds are not found here during the sum-
mer months as at Down-Patrick Head,* or on the
Stags of Broadhaven,-)- but certain members of the
great natatorial division are met with during the
breeding season on different parts of the coast
between Brighton and Hastings, and several of
the rarer species occur during the winter, occa-
sionally, indeed, in such numbers, as to furnish
ample occupation, and many a valuable acquisi-
tion, to the sportsman and to the collector.

But although Sussex cannot pretend to vie
with the distant shores of the Sister Island, or
the north of Scotland, in the number of hyper-
borean visitors, there is perhaps no portion of
the United Kingdom that contains a greater
variety of the summer birds of passage. A glance
at the map will suffice to show you that our
proximity to the continent, and the long line of
shore from Kent to Hampshire, are favourable
to an immigration of those feathered tribes,
which, having passed the winter in the olive

* A lofty, isolated rock, near the mainland, on the
precipitous coast of Mayo. A regular Babel of sea-
birds during the month of May.

t A cluster of small islands outside the natural haven
of the same name.

b2

4 OENITHOLOGICAL KAMBLES.

groves of Spain, or on the sunny plains of Africa,
once more, wlien

" Solvitur acris liyems grata \ice veris et Favoni,"

turn their faces to their native land, and revisit
the green hedgerows and peaceful valleys of
England : but you can hardly be prepared to
take such an interest as I would fain inspire you
with, in certain ornithological details to be re-
corded hereafter, unless you have previously some
idea of the more prominent geographical divi-
sions of Sussex, the general aspect, and the local
scenery of each. I propose, therefore, to devote
the remainder of this letter to such an introduc-
tory sketch as may in some degree tend to supply
the deficiency.

Sussex, one of the southern maritime counties
of England, is about seventy-six miles in length,
and nearly thirty in its average Ijreadth. The
weald, the limits of which have been restricted
by some geologists to a portion of the eastern
division, may, in a more popular sense, be said to
constitute the great clay valley stretching along
the entire county — including the prima3val forest
of Anderida— commencing near Harting Combe,
on the borders of Hampshire, and gradually in-
creasing in breadth as it advances in a south-

SUSSEX — SKETCH OF THE COUNTY. o

easterly direction towards the county of Kent.
Its appearance is that of a generally flat, but
occasionally undulating, district, overgrown with
brush-wood and masses of trees, among which
the oak predominates in a remarkable degree,
varied with patches of cultivated land, which,
during the course of years, have been reclaimed
from the surrounding forest.

To the south of this tract the country rises
into considerable eminences, of great picturesque
beauty, and even romantic character, where their
northern escarpment, which is abrupt, sudden,
and densely wooded, dips into the valley of the
weald.

Still further to the south, a wide belt of sand
intervenes between this and the Downs, and, like
all the oreolocjical formations contained within the
county, appears to cross it diagonally from north-
west to south-east. Indeed, the great variety in
the character and scenery of these districts is very
remarkable, and cannot fail, especially in the
western division, to have struck the most unob-
servant traveller from the metropolis to the
coast, by way of Petworth, Midhurst, or Arundel.

As he journeys southward from the Surrey
hills, he sees stretched beneath him the wide and
densely- wooded valley of the weald, a region of
stiff clay and forests of oak, extending through

6 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

the entire county. After traversing this district,
where he would be more inclined to fancy himself
in the heart of Germany than within forty miles
of London, he reaches a more elevated country,
where highly-cultivated farms and an occasional
elm tree denote the presence of a richer soil ; and
this is again succeeded by a wide tract of ferrugi-
nous sand, assuming the most striking forms of
liill and valley, or spreading into open heaths.
Nothing can exceed the picturesque beauty of
certain portions of this district; eminences clothed
with heather and gorse and crowned with Scotch
fir and holh', enclose valleys intersected by clear
running brooks, whose course, here rapid and
noisy, rushes over rocks and ridges of sandstone ;
there taking a sudden turn, and stealing away
in a deep and silent current, half undermines
the overhanging banks, ungratefully exposing the
gnarled roots of the old oak trees, that seem to
stretch their branches in a protecting attitude
over the stream; altogether strongly reminding
one of those delicious bits of sylvan scenery which
are scattered, with such a lavish hand, through
the magic pages of Bewick.

Then come the Downs, the famous South
Downs, which White of Selborne was wont to call
"a magnificent chain of mountains," stretcliing
across the county in a south-easterly direction.

MARITIME TRACT. 7

until they reach the sea in the neighbourhood
of Brighton, and form a precipitous coast from
Kemp-town as far as Beachy Head.

But to the ornithologist, perhaps, the most in-
teresting district is the flat, maritime tract which
lies between the Downs and the sea, and extends
jfrom Brighton to the westward, as far as Chiches-
ter harbour, where it reaches its extreme breadth ;
and here, long winding creeks and estuaries,
flanked by wooded promontories, and studded
with swampy islands, sheltered from the storms to
which the higher grounds are exposed, afl'ord a
welcome retreat to our feathered visitors during
the inclement season of the year. The consider-
able peninsula which extends to the south-west of
Bognor, terminating in the headland of Selsey
Bill, is perhaps as little known to the world as
any portion of Great Britain, lying, as it does, far
to the south of the more frequented highways;
but it comprises a great extent of sea-coast,
dotted here and there with patches of brushwood
and rough copses of stunted oak — tempting places
of rest to our vernal migratory birds on their
first arrival from the continent — and also in-
cludes within its limits a wide-spreading inlet of
the sea, known as Pagham harbour, which might
almost be termed a great salt lake ; for the en-
trance to the haven is so narrow and shallow,

8 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

and the channel within so tortuous and uncer-
tain, that none but small vessels of trifling ton-
nage can attempt a passage; and even of these
the number is so small and the arrivals are so
irregular, that they only arrest the attention of
the observer as they cautiously thread their diffi-
cult way to deposit or receive a cargo of coals or
corn at the hamlet of Siddlesham, which is seen
rising, like a little Dutch village, from the flat
shores in the distance.

Here, in the dead long summer days, when not
a breath of air has been stirring, have I fre-
quently remained for hours, stretched on the hot
shingle, and gazed at the osprey as he soared
aloft, or watched the little islands of mud at the
turn of the tide, as each gradually rose from
the receding waters, and was successively taken
possession of by flocks of sandpipers and ring-
dotterels, after various circumvolutions on the
part of each detachment, now simultaneously
presenting their snowy breasts to the sunshine,
now suddenly turning their dusky backs, so that
the dazzled eye lost sight of them from the con-
trast; while the prolonged cry of the titterel,*

* The provincial name for the whimbrel. The word
titterel frequently repeated by a female voice (in alt.)
would nearly resemble the cry of this bird.

pagha:m. 9

and the melancholy note of the peewit from the
distant swamp, have mingled with the scream of
the tern and the tauntinor lauoh of the oull.

Here have I watched the oyster-catcher, as he
flew from point to point, and cautiously waded
into the shallow water ;* and the patient heron,
that pattern of a fisherman, as with retracted
neck, and eyes fixed on vacancy, he has stood
for hours without a single snap, motionless as a
statue. Here, too, have I pursued the guillemot,
or craftily endeavoured to cut off the retreat of
the diver, by mooring my boat across the narrow
passage through which alone he could return to
the open sea without having recourse to his re-
luctant wings. Nor can I forget how often
during the Siberian winter of 1838, when "a
whole gale,'' as the sailors have it, has been blow-
ing from the north-east, I used to take up my
position on the long and narrow ridge of shingle
which separated this paradise from the raging
waves without, and sheltered behind a hillock of

* Some persons, I am aware, argue that as the oyster-
catcher can swim he need not wade. I have never seen
him swim except when wounded and pursued into deep
water. jMr. Dunn, an accurate observer and author of
the " Ornithologist's Guide to Orkney and Shetland,"
says that he " has never seen the oyster-catcher take
the water from choice."

B 5

10 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

sea-weed, with my long cluck-gun and a trusty
double, or half buried in a hole in the sand,
I used to watch the legions of water-birds as
they neared the shore, and dropped distrustfully
among the breakers, at a distance from the de-
sired haven, until, gaining confidence from acces-
sion of numbers, some of the bolder spirits — the
pioneers of the army — would flap their wings,
rise from the white waves, and make for the calm
water. Here they come! I can see the pied
golden-eye pre-eminent among the advancing
party ; now the pochard, with his copper-coloured
head and neck, may be distinguished from the
darker scaup-duck; already the finger is on the
trigger, when, perhaps, they suddenly veer to the
right and left, far beyond the reach of my longest
barrel, or, it may be, come swishing overhead,
and leave a companion or two struggling on the
shingle, or floating on the shallow waters of the
harbour. -

But my recollections of this favoured spot
have induced me to dwell too long on its attrac-
tions. I shall have occasion, however, to refer to
it hereafter, as a locality where many rare birds
have been obtained.

A long line of chalk cliffs extends to the east-
ward of Brighton as far as Beachy Head, which
is the highest of all, and the country in the neigh-

PEVENSEY BAY. 11

bourliood of tliis precipitous coast is hilly and
treeless, and although partially cultivated, ge-
nerally used as sheep-walks; but its character
changes at the mouths of the rivers, and for
many miles of their previous course, the rich pas-
tures dotted with horned cattle, and flat arable
tract adjoining, varied with occasional willow and
alder trees, mark the course of the streams, as
they wind through the naked Downs on their
way to the Channel.

After passing the bold promontory of Beachy
Head, the loftiest precipice of which is said to be
upwards of six hundred feet in height — a fa-
vomite breeding-station of guillemots and razor-
bills— the clifis rapidly diminish until we reach
Eastbourne, where the South Downs appear to
terminate, and a wide-spreading bed of shingle
forms the flat, monotonous coast for many miles
to the eastward, in the direction of Bexhill.
Here extend the shores of Pevensey Bay, which
were defended, during the war, by a long line of
stunted round towers, that look like wind-mills
deprived of all their upper works. On this wild
beach the ring-dotterel, or stone-runner, as it is
frequently termed, deposits three eggs, which can
scarcely be distinguished from the surrounding
pebbles, and many species of terns haunt it in
great numbers during the summer months. But

12 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

amid this barren waste, like an oasis in a desert,
a cluster of green, furze-covered hillocks suddenly
appears, intersected by little fresh- water lakes,
whose swampy banks, clothed with reeds and
rushes, abound, during certain seasons, with many
migratory birds of the grallatorial and natatorial
divisions.

The principal rivers are the Arun, the Ouse,
the Cuckmere, and the Adur, all flowing into the
British Channel.

The Arun rises in the forest of St. Leonard, in
western Sussex, crosses a considerable portion of
the weald, and passes through the Downs be-
tween Bury Hill and Amberley, where, during
the rainy season, it overflows the low meadows
in that neighbourhood to the extent of many
miles, so as to resemble a great lake, and ulti-
mately debouches at Littlehampton.

The Ouse and the Cuckmere rise in the forest
country, and enter the sea through the Downs to
the eastward of Brighton. The former passes
near Lewes, where it waters the flat, alluvial
tract of Lewes levels, and so on to Newhaven, on
the coast. The latter, still more to the eastward,
passing by Arlington, Alfriston, and Littlington,
falls into the sea at Cuckmere haven, to the west-
ward of Beachy Head.

The Adur, which also rises in St. Leonard's

BANKS OF THE ADUR. 13

Forest, enters the sea at Shoreham, about six
miles west of Brighton. Although the mouth of
the harbour is narrow, and difficult of access to
large vessels, except at full tide, yet the waters
within expand laterally to a great extent, so as to
form a tolerably commodious haven for steamers,
colliers and fishing-boats, which the vicinity of
Brighton — to which this place serves as a port —
attracts in considerable numbers ; indeed, the tide
even penetrates so far as to flood many of those
flat grounds, which, lying lower than the sea, run
parallel with it for some miles between Shoreham
and Hove, and are separated from it only by a
liigh ridge of shingle. Various little pools of
water are thus formed, which at certain seasons
are haunted by many of the smaller species of
wading and swimming birds, and the river above
Shoreham, as far as Beeding levels, during the
spring and autumnal months, will generally repay
the patient observer, or the persevering gunner,
who explores its muddy banks, and whose ardour
is not to be chilled by an occasionally fruitless
expedition in search of a rara avis.

14 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

LETTER IT.

■ Jiist then, in sign she favoured their intent,
A long-wing-ed heron great Minerva sent,
This, tlio' surrounding shades obscured their view,
By the shrill clang and whistling wings they knew."

Pope's Homer.

Parham : Its situation — A May Morning — Cross-coun-
try. Ride — Wild Common — Yalley of the Arun —
Amberley Castle — "Wild-Fowl Haunts in Olden
Time — Winter Floods — Heronry invaded — Value
of a Spy-glass — Heron's Nest : Its Warlike occu-
pant— Another Nest — Old Bird feeding its Young
— Rooks versus Herons — The Heron a calumniated
Bird — Heron and Water Rat — Winter Quarters —
Genealogy of the Parham Heronry.

I QUITE agree with you, that next to the falcons
themselves, the heron — the noblest object of their
pursuit — which in days of yore used to stand at
the head of the British game-list, has the strongest
claim to our protection.

While the ranks of this patrician bird, so long
associated in our ideas Avith the old Enoiish hall
and baronial castle, are gradually disappearing

PARHAM. 1 5

before the utilitarian improvements of the nine-
teenth century, it affords me no small pleasure to
record that western Sussex can still boast of one
of the most interesting heronries in the south of
Enoland. It is situated at Parham, the seat of
the Honourable Robert Curzon: there is not a
more beautifully wild and forest-like park in the
county; there, indeed, everything seems imbued
with the spirit of the olden time ; from the ancient
hall itself, with its huge grate, and walls hung
with ancestral armour, to the venerable oak trees
in the foreground, and the dark woods of Scotch
and spruce fir which crown the heathery hills in
the distance.

You may remember that in a former letter 1
alluded to the variety and beauty of the scenery
in that belt of country, on the sandstone forma-
tion, which lies to the north of the Do^vns, be-
tween the latter and the weald, and extends from
Rogate, on the borders of Hampshire, across the
whole of west Sussex. Parham is situated in this
tract, about eight miles, as the crow flies, to the
south-east of Petworth, and the greater portion of
the intervening country is on the same stratum.

I lately made an expedition to this heronry
during the breeding season, an account of which
may perhaps amuse you. The weather for some
months had been cold, wet, and unseasonable, but

16 ORNITHOLOGICAL RA.MBLES.

suddenly changing on tlie 3rd of May, a bright
cloudless sky and a warm sun seemed to infuse
new life into Nature. The swallows, which ever
since their arrival had only occasionally been
seen, either singly or in small parties, skimming
silently and hurriedly over the wet meadows, as
if to make the most of their time during the brief
intervals of sunshine, now suddenly appeared in
vast numbers; the very air seemed peopled with
them; the woods and groves rang with the joyful
songs of the summer warblers : the larks mounted
higher, and sang louder than before ; and every-
thing, even to the barometer, seemed to exult in
the glorious change. On such a morning I started
on horseback from Petworth to Parham. Instead
of pursuing the highway by Pulborough and Stor-
rington, I turned south, and for two or three miles
my path lay through one of those eccentric coun-
try lanes so well known to wayfarers in this part
of England, and which are not less remarkable
for their beauty than for their total disregard of all
modern principles of road-making; here climbing
the ridge of a hill, or descending its most abrupt
slope, when either extreme might easily have been
avoided ; there suddenly turning off in an oppo-
site direction to that which it had previously pur-
sued, and again resuming its original course; and
now eating its tunnel-like way between high sandy

CROSS-COUNTRY RIDE. 17

banks, where the old trees almost meet overhead,
and exclude even the rays of the mid- day sun.

It was on emerging from one of these shady
labyrinths that I came suddenly upon an exten-
sive, undulating common, covered with heather
and gorse, the latter of which, now in full bloom,
seemed to blaze like a field of gold. Here, leav-
ing the beaten track, I pursued my way for some
miles over a wild country, pausing every now and
then to admire the beauty of the scenery, or to
observe the birds that frequented it. The stone-
chat, springing up, mounted to the summit of the
nearest furze-bush, and with fluttering wings and
jerking tail, as if to maintain his position on his
thorny perch, saluted me with his harsh note as I
passed. The cuckoo, whose voice had sounded so
subdued and distant a moment before, fluttered
out of a larch clump close by, skimmed, hawk-
like, across the path, and disappeared over the
brow of the hill. In every little copse where the
dwarf oak and blackthorn had grown together in
wild luxuriance, the nightingale sang vigorously ;
but I listened in vain for the note of the grass-
hopper warbler; it had not yet arrived; but be-
fore many days its cricket-like chirp will be heard
in these valleys; the fern owl,* too, will ere long

* Or uight-jar, Caprwiulgus Euivpceus.

18 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

appear in these his favourite haunts, and his mo-
notonous " churr '' be prolonged during the still
summer evenings.

After leavinc^ this wild tract, and striking the
high road between Pulborough and Ai'undel, the
view that suddenly burst upon me was singularly
beautiful. The great alluvial plain, watered by
the Arun, lay spread beneath. Far to the right,
on the opposite side of the river, were the old
ruins of Amberley Castle, its dark, grey walls
standing in bold relief from the smooth Downs,
which, bounding this side of the picture as far as
the eye could reach, seemed at last to mingle,
cloud-like, with the distant horizon, and the hol-
low valleys that lay between them were filled
with a soft, half transparent mist, the effect of
which, with the summits of the hills bathed in
sunshine, it would be impossible for the pen to
describe, and Copley Fielding alone could depict
with the pencil.

But how diff'erent was the appearance of the
intervening plain sixty years since. Those wide
meadows, clothed with long, rank grass, where
herds of black cattle now lazily chew the cud,
were then covered with dense woods, where the
adventurous sportsman delighted to contend with
the tangled brushwood, and wade, knee-deep,
through the marshy jungles that extended for

MARCH OF AGRICULTURE. 19

miles on either side of the river, affording shelter
and sustenance at all seasons to various tribes
of water-fowl which haunted its recesses. Then
might the booming of the bittern have been
heard during the summer nights ; and many a
rare species whose occurrence, like the visits of
an angel, can now be recorded only as " few and
far between/' was either a constant resident or
a regular migrant to these congenial swamps.
But, alas I the wild character of such scenery,
with all its associations, is gradually disappear-
ing before the strides of civilization, while the
march of " agricultural improvement" steadily
progresses : the advanced guard, indeed, with the
axe and the plough, long since performed its part,
and gave the first notice to quit to the feathered
inhabitants of the marshes, and the huge army
of reserve, with its mills and steam engines, and
red legions of draining tiles, will slowly but
surely complete the work of extermination.
Nevertheless, during the winter months, the
floods still exercise undisputed sway, and laugh
to scorn the efforts of man to curb their power ;
for the entire plain, as far as the eye can reach,
becomes one vast sheet of water, frequented
during severe storms, by wild-fowl and sea-birds,
while the dark, pine-crowned hills of Parliam
arise like a beautiful island in the distance.

20 ORNITHOLOGICAL EAMBLES.

After crossing tlie river by Greatham bridge,
and passing rapidly over the flat, dyke-inter-
sected plain that lay beyond, where the black-
headed bunting sat perched on the wooden-rails,
and the sedge warbler scolded inveterately among
the reeds on either side of the road, I reached
the higher grounds, when, following a dry, sandy
track across a common, and afterwards skirting a
plantation of larch trees, whose graceful branches
hung over the path, fresh in all the bright ver-
dure of early May, I at last arrived at Parham,
traversed its beautiful park, dismounted from my
horse, and soon afterwards found myself creeping
cautiously through the thick wood of Scotch and
spruce firs in which the heronry is situated, my
object being to approach so near as, if possible, to
obtain a good view of the birds between the in-
tervals of the trees, before they had become con-
scious of my presence. As I advanced, I could
hear the indescribable half croaking, half hissing
sound uttered by the young birds when in the
act of being fed by the old ones, but a treacherous
stick snapping beneath my foot, all was changed
in an instant; the unfledged inhabitants of the
nests became suddenly mute, and every adult
member of the colony was at once on the wing.
Some ascended into the air to a considerable
height, screaming loudly, others flapped heavily

HEROXRY DISTURBED. 21

round the summits of the trees, as if unwilling to
leave the place until they had discovered the
cause of the general alarm ; while a few of the
less timid even resumed their position on the
high boughs. I now raised my glass, and had a
capital view of one splendid fellow as he stood,
like a guardian angel, over his nest, upright as
a falcon, his long, graceful neck extended to the
utmost, and his keen glance directed all around,
as if it could pierce even through the gloom of
the dark wood.

I need not tell you what a valuable assistant
a good spy-glass proves to the practical ornitho-
logist ; you have often heard me speak of its
advantages in former times; it is, indeed, my
constant companion ; for although blest with as
keen sight as most of my fellow creatures, and al-
though so well acquainted with birds as generally
to be able to distinguish a species by the cha-
racter of its flight at any reasonable distance,
yet in investigating the habits of many of the
less accessible tribes during the breeding-season,
in observino; the birds which haunt the summits
of the Downs, or the great congregations of sand-
pipers and flocks of wading birds on the coast,
and satisfactorily making out, not only the
various species, but even different gradations of
plumage in each, I am deeply indebted to my

22 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

pocket Dollond ; nor shall I be persuaded to dis-
pense with its services nntil I become endowed
with such a telescopic vision as is attributed to
the bushmen of Southern Africa. It is true that
I had but little scope for its use at this moment
— the nests and their occupants being situated
among the thick branches of the evergreen firs —
but by its aid I could perceive that the heron
which had attracted my attention was a very old
bird, as indicated by the long crest and the
pure white plumage of the breast and neck, with
which the rows of jet black spots on the sides
of the latter contrasted beautifully.

Being anxious to examine the young birds, I
selected one of the spruce firs, on the summit of
which was a heron's nest, and which appeared
to command a view over many other lower trees
immediately adjoining, and similarly occupied.
The only danger — if such it could be called —
was that of losino^ a firm footino^ on the brittle
branches near the nest, nor can I say that I
experienced a pleasing sensation when the tall
and narrow stem, already well loaded with the
enormous, wide-spreading fabric at the top, began
to sway to and fro from my additional weight, as I
endeavoured, by walldng out on one of the boughs
immediately underneath, to outflank it so fixr as
to enable me to reach the edge, and while sup-

NEST EXPLORED. 23

porting myself with one hand, partially explore its
contents with the other. Having, however, suc-
ceeded in this, I soon felt the decomposing and
flattened bodies of two young herons, and above
them the warm plumage of a living bird, wliich
did not appear to avoid the touch of my hand.
An effort with both arms now brought my face to
a level with the nest, but I had scarcely time to
perceive that it contained a healthy and perfectly
fledged young bird, sitting complacently on the
bodies of his defunct brethren, before he darted
violently at my eyes, although he had previously
evinced no displeasure at the introduction of my
hand, and I w^as only able to protect them by
bobbing my head suddenly, and receiving the
attack in a less vulnerable quarter. As if roused
by the sudden exertion, he then scrambled out of
the nest to the extremity of an adjoining bough,
from whence — being unable to follow him — I
endeavoured to shake him off, but for a long
time in vain. The obstinacy with which he
maintained his hold was extraordinary, and even
after losing his equilibrium, and hanging, head
downwards, for a few moments, just as I fancied
he was about to drop, he suddenly clutched the
branch more firmly than ever, and writhing his
elastic neck upwards, he seized a twig with his
beak, which he held with all the tenacity of

24 OENITHOLOGICAL EMIBLES.

a parrot. I therefore continued to shake the
bough, and after persevering in this manoeuvre
for some minutes, he gradually relaxed his hold,
and half fluttering, half tumbling through the
horizontal branches of the tree beneath me, at
last reached the ground in safety.

I had now leisure to examine the nest, the
lower and external portions of which were com-
posed of sticks from the larch and fir, the mate-
rials becoming finer towards the interior, which
was lined throughout with very thin birch twigs,
closely matted together. It was much wider than
that of the rook, and shallower in proportion,
being, as nearly as I could guess, about four feet
in diameter, while some of those in the neigh-
bouring trees, when viewed from beneath, seemed
even larsrer than this.

The two dead birds appeared to have perished
about a week before, probably owing to the un-
usual severity of the weather during the past
month. Their decomposing bodies did not seem
to have incommoded the old birds, as they might
easily have removed the annoyance, if inclined to
do so, by throwing them out of the shallow nest,
in the interior of which I found nothing else, ex-
cept the back-bones of two or three fish, which
might have originally weighed half a pound each.

My operations having for the present disturbed

YOUNG HERON. 25

the elder members of the heronry, who seemed
unwilling to return to the trees while I remained
there, I left the place for a couple of hours, and
then cautiously retracing my steps, fastened my
horse to a shrub at some distance, and taking
off my shooting coat, from one of the capacious
pockets of which the head and neck of the living
heron* protruded, I slung my spy-glass over my

* This bird reached home in safety, none the worse
for his rough ride and uncomfortable saddle. During
the first three months his diet consisted exclusively of
fish ; indeed, he showed a repugnance to any other kind
of food. He is in excellent health, and possesses as
much liberty as a partially clipped wing will permit
him to enjoy. Although capable of taking short
flights, he evinces no inclination to wander beyond
the precincts of a large stable-yard, nor any uneasi-
ness at the approach of dogs or strangers.

He lives on familiar terms with three tame ravens,
who occasionally pass through the gate, or perch on
the roofs of the outbuildings. He is now even more
omnivorous than his sable friends, but condescends to
partake of their meals, devouring raw and cooked
meat, bread, boiled potatoes, and the ofial of hares and
rabbits, with indiscriminate voracity.

When his appetite happens to be unusually fastidi-
ous, he stations himself on the edge of a small tank,
in which a constant supply of live fish used formerly
to be kept for his especial use, and throws many a

26 OKNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

neck, and as silently as possible ascended a Scotch
fir wliicli commanded from its upper brandies
a good view of a large nest in a neighbouring
tree. The evergreen boughs, moreover, were so
well clothed with leaves, that I found less diffi-
culty than I had expected in concealing myself;
but notwithstanding all my care the old birds
had taken the alarm when I began to climb, and
I had to wait a long time before either of them
returned. I had, however, a good opportunity of
examining with my glass the grotesque inhabit-
ants of the nest: they were three in number,
appeared to be not more than a week or ten days
old, and were partly clothed with a hairy down,
resembling hemp or flax in colour and appear-
ance; their heavy heads, crowned with tufts of
this, and raised occasionally as they opened their
enormous mouths in expectation of food, and then

wistful glance on the now vacant water ; but his
favourite position is in a corner of the yard, cheek-
bj^-jowl with a large watch-dog. Here, with his head
drawn back between his shoulders, and muffled up in
a collar of loose feathers, he passes the greater portion
of his time, apparently lost in an absent fit ; but as his
dinner-hour approaches, he gradually rouses himself,
his long neck is unfolded, his plumage becomes com-
pact and smooth, he screams with delight, and stalks
about the yard.

HERON ALIGHTING ON ITS NEST. 27

sudden 1}^ dropped again; their great staring eyes,
writhing necks, and naked bodies ; altogether con-
tributed to render their appearance irresistibly
ludicrous : but their excitement seemed to have
reached its utmost when one of the old birds,
which had flapped round the nest for some time,
at last prepared to alight, gradually allowing his
outstretched legs to fall from the horizontal to
the perpendicular, and working his Avings with
increased violence and rapidity until he found a
firm footing on the margin of the nest, w^hen,
opening his beak, he immediately disgorged seve-
ral small eels, which were greedily devoured by
the three young birds. The eels appeared to be
very small; but I had ere long an opportunity
of observing that even when a fish is of a tole-
rable size, the heron contrives to conceal it within
the elastic pouch to which, in so many birds, the
dilatable skin of the throat can be readily con-
verted ; for many minutes had not elapsed before
I saw an old heron alight on a more distant tree,
and opening his mouth, drop a fish, which ap-
peared to be above half a pound weight, into the
bottom of his nest. I had, it is true, only a pass-
ing glimpse of it as it fell, and therefore at the
moment could make only a rough guess at its
weight and species, but it appeared to be a
bream, or large roach, and of such a shape and

c 2

2S ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

size as I slioitkl scarcely have supposed to have
been stowed away within that graceful neck, if
I had not been aware, from former observations
on the habits of cormorants and divers, how great
are the expansive properties of the gullet in all
piscivorous birds. After dropping it on the
floor of the nest, he commenced by repeated
blows of his beak, to lacerate and tear the flesh
from the bones, and seemed to accomplish his
task in an incredibly short space of time by
means of the admirable tool with which Nature
had furnished him, performing at once the double
duties of pickaxe and pincers ; then followed the
feeding of the young birds, and so economical
a housekeeper and skilful carver did he prove,
that when I had afterwards the curiosity to
ascend to his nest, I found, as the remains of the
repast little else than the back-bone of a fish
which might have weighed nearly a pound, with
only a few ragged bits of flesh adhering to it;
even the head had been devoured.

Having secured this remnant, and taken a last
lino'erine' look at the inhabitants of the nest, who
were hardly fledged and allowed me to handle
them without resistance, I thought I had caused
sufficient disturbance among my feathered friends
for one day, and being well aware of the capri-
cious nature of this species, entire establishments

BOOKS VERSUS HERONS. 29

of which have been known to desert their ances-
tral abodes, diso-usted at the fellinfy of a single
tree; and knowing with what anxious care they
are regarded by their benevolent owner; I left
the heronry, and ascending the rising ground a
few hundred yards off, but still in the same
wood, I came to the rookery: here the herons
had originally taken up their position, but were
expelled after a few years by the rooks.*

By the way, I forgot to mention, that while
perched at the top of the Scotch fir, I witnessed a
curious chace, for combat it could not be called,
between a rook and a heron. The latter, return-
ing, I presume, from a foraging expedition among
the brooks in the neighbourhood of Pulborough,
was obliged either to fly directly over the rook-
ery, or take a circuitous route to avoid it. In
this dilemma he seemed to make up his mind to
choose the less prudent, though nobler alterna-
tive, but he had hardly appeared above the tops

* It would appear that such contests are not inva-
riably attended with similar results. Bewick quotes
an instance in which hostilities were carried on during
two successive seasons, and after many of the rooks and
some of the herons had lost their lives, the latter re-
mained in possession of the disputed trees.

Perhaps in these struggles numerical superiority may
decide the victory.

oi) ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

of the trees, "before an old black warrior attacked
him furiously, following him up beyond the pre-
cincts of the heroniy, and buffeting him vigor-
ously, while the poor heron, far from making an}^
resistance, screamed with terror, and only occa-
sionally arrested his flight to throw himself into
an attitude of apparent pain and distress. Per-
haps you will regret that I have recorded this
little incident, as it may induce you to form
rather a low estimate of the moral qualities of a
bird whose physical organization would certainly
appear calculated to enable him to resist such
attacks eiiectually.

I have long felt satisfied that the injury which
herons commit on fish-ponds is far less than is
generally imagined: indeed, the depredations of
all birds which can by any possibility be sup-
posed to interfere with the comforts or luxuries
of man, from the lordly eagle to the republican
sparrow, are greatly exaggerated, and a short-
sighted proscription is the result. Nay, those
very habits which should entitle some species to
his especial protection, are frequently, either from
gross ignorance, or a wilful distortion of reason-
ing, converted into a capital charge against them,*

* This remark will apply to the kestrel, to the
v/oodpeckers, and to the whole family of titmice.

^

HERON AND WATER RAT. 31

which entails unmerited persecution and the gra-
dual diminution of the race. Even the heron is
not such an unmitigated poacher as many persons
are inclined to believe; I have had good oppor-
tunities of observing him here, and still better in
Ireland, and I have rarely known him to take a
fish of greater weight than one pound. His
structure adapts him for wading to a certain
depth into the shallow waters on the borders of
lakes, ponds, and ditches, while his spider-like
patience in watching for his prey, and his cat-like
activity in securing it, enable him to thin the
shoals of gudgeons, eels, roach, and minnows, that
pass along the margins, and occasionally venture
wdthin his reach: but the deep waters beyond are
an unknown region to him; there the carp and
tench may swim in security, as far as he is con-
cerned, and the trout and perch pursue the fly, or
spring into the air, within a tantalizing distance
of his hungry beak : so long as they do not ven-
ture within the range of that unerring weapon
they are safe. But how will it fare with that
water rat, which, returning to its subterranean
habitation from a visit to yonder meadow, is now
about to cross the brook, —

" ripse ulterioris amore 1 "

How fearlessly it commits itself to the stream !

32 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

So unconscious is the little animal of danger that
it does not attempt to dive or alter its course,
but with snout projecting from the surftice, and
tail extended, it swims steadily across to where
the motionless bird awaits its arrival. The
slightest movement would prematurely reveal
the presence of the latter, and disappoint him of
his prey; but what forbearance does he not ex-
hibit! No hasty step is taken in advance to
anticipate its arrival ; that snake-like neck is still
coiled up, and not a muscle betrays a conscious-
ness of the victim's approach. Onward it comes ;
ha! it disappears; for a passing breeze has ruffled
the plumage of its enemy ; now then, the danger
is over, and you feel sure that it has successfully
eluded the vigilance of the feathered tiger, and
reached its hole in safety; but a sudden splash
makes you start, and you are convinced of your
mistake when you see the little quadruped writh-
ing in the mandibles of the bird, as he flies away
to gorge it at his leisure.

The heron is also partial to frogs and snakes,
which he destro3^s in considerable numbers, but I
repeat that I have very rarely known him cap-
ture a fish of a pound weight. His stock in
trade consists of small fry, with the occasional
exception of a stout roach or a fresh- water bream,
a bony, worthless species, which delights in bask-

SUMMER OCCUPATIONS. 33

ing among the shallows near the margins of large
ponds; and I firmly beheve that far greater de-
vastation is committed among the finny inhabit-
ants of preserved waters by one leviathan of a
pike — who is, moreover, an uncompromising can
nibal — than by the united exertions of all the
members of any one heronry in the world.

The herons at Parham assemble early in Fe-
bruary, and then set about repairing their nests,
but the trees are never entirely deserted during
the winter months ; a few birds, probably some of
the more backward of the preceding season, roost-
ing among their boughs every night. They com-
mence laying early in March, and the greater
part of the young birds are hatched during the
early days of April. About the end of May they
may be seen to flap out of their nests to the adja-
cent boughs, and bask for hours in the warm sun-
shine ; but although now comparatively quiet
during the day, they become clamorous for food
as the evening approaches, and indeed for a long
time appear to be more difficult to wean, and less
able to shift for themselves, than most birds of
a similar age. They may be observed, as late as
August, still on the trees, screaming for food, and
occasionally fed by their parents, who forage for
them assiduously; indeed, these exertions, so far
from beinsr relaxed after the settins^ of the sun.

34 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

appear to be redoubled during the night ; for I
have frequently disturbed herons when riding by
moonlight among the low grounds near the river,
where I have seldom seen them during the day,
and several cottagers in the neighbourhood of
Parham have assured me that their shrill cry may
be heard at all hours of the night, during the
summer season, as they fly to and fro overhead,
on their passage between the heronry and the
open country.

The history or genealogy of the progenitors of
this colony is remarkable. They were originally
brought from Coity Castle, in Wales, by Lord
Leicester's steward, in James the First's time, to
Penshurst, in Kent, the seat of Lord de Lisle,
where their descendants continued for more than
two hundred years ; from thence they migrated to
Michelgrove, about seventy miles from Penshurst,
and eight from Parham ; here they remained for
nearly twenty years, until the proprietor of the
estate disposed of it to the late Duke of Norfolk,
who, having purchased it, not as a residence, but
with the view of increasing the local property in
the neighbourhood of Arundel, pulled down the
house, and felled one or two of the trees on which
the herons had constructed their nests. The mi-
gration commenced immediately, but appears to
have been gradual ; for three seasons elapsed be-

WINTER QUARTERS. 35

fore all the members of the heronry had found
their way over the Downs to their new quarters
in the fir-woods of Parham. This occurred about
seventeen years ago.

The number of the nests now appears to be
rather increasing than diminishing, although an
unusually severe winter never fails to thin the
ranks of their occupants. The ponds, brooks, and
ditches, which they have been in the habit of fre-
quenting, being then frozen up, the poor birds
are driven to the sea-coast and the salt marshes
at the mouths of the rivers, beyond the Downs:
there the murderous fowling-piece stops the ca-
reer of many a straggler in his winter quarters,
and the ensuing spring finds several nests unten-
anted; but a favourable season soon sets all to
rights; the gaps are filled up; and the kind-
hearted proprietor of Parham, in return for his
care and protection, can now boast of possessing
one of the finest establishments in the kino-dom
of this magnificent and interesting species.

36 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

LETTER III.

Nam jam pendebat in auras,

Et modo factus erat fulvis Haliasetus alis."

Ovid's Metamorpuoses.

Sea Eagle often mistaken for the Golden Eagle — Dis-
tinctive Characters — Erroneous Nomenclature —
Markwick probably mistaken — Common reports
to be received with caution — Various instances of
the Sea Eagle in Sussex — A sharp Look-out —
Catching a Tartar.

I THINK it is Colonel Hawker who complains
that every canine brute as big as a jackass and
as hairy as a bear is denominated a fine New-
foundland dog. In the justice of this remark
every one will be disposed to acquiesce ; and the
ornithologist may observe that as great a liberty
has frequently been taken with the golden eagle,*
for there is not a wider difference between the
real Labrador animal and the huge mongrels stig-
matized by the " prince of sportsmen/' than be-
tween the royal tyrant of the Scottish hills and

lla chrysaetos.

GOLDEN EAGLE AND SEA EAGLE. 37

the bird which has so frequently been made to
usurp his title in the south of England. The fact
is, that whenever an immature sea eagle,* in his
juvenile dress of shabby brown — ere his cinereous
coat and white tail pronounce him to have arrived
at years of discretion — has wandered from his
native haunts, in the vain hope of getting a living
on our shores, and has fallen an easy victim to
the watchful shepherd or the wily gamekeeper, a
paragraph detailing the occurrence forthwith goes
the round of the local papers, and the bird is
gravely pronounced to be " a magnificent speci-
men of the golden eagle.''

Strange as this may seem to those who are
now well acquainted, not only with the general
characters of the two species, but with their ana-
tomical distinctions, yet to the uninitiated the dif-
ference does not appear so striking as might be
imagined. I remember on one occasion visitino-
a museum with a friend — a superficial observer —
in whose eyes the young sea eagle seemed to bear
a greater affinity to the mature golden than to the
adults of its own species ; the dark beak and the
prevalent brown colour of the plumage in this
bird at once attracting his attention, while the
unfeathered tarsi and scutellated toes escaped his

Hcdiceetus cdbiciUa.

38 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

notice. However well and thoroughly understood
these characters have since become, we must not
forget that even our own Bewick, so accurate in
most respects, assigned specific rank to the young
of both the birds in question, erroneously distin-
guishing them from their respective adults by the
names of the brown or sea eagle, and the ring-
tailed eagle ; but truly his admirable and life-like
figures of the birds themselves may well induce
us not only to forgive, but even to rejoice in the
scientific error.

Markwick, whose " Catalogue of the Birds ot
Sussex'' appeared in the Linnean Transactions,
A.D. 1795, says, in reference to the golden eagle,
" Several years ago I saw a bird of this species
which was shot in this neighbourhood;" but he
makes no allusion whatever to the cinereous or
sea eagle, and indeed the passage which I have
quoted above comprehends all his notice of the
rarer species. Now, I have taken considerable
pains to ascertain, if possible, one well-authenti-
cated instance of the death or capture of this bird
in Sussex: I have on more than one occasion
journeyed to a distant part of the county, tempted
by some high-sounding paragraph or plausible
communication, to inspect a veritable Aquila
cJirysaetos, but in every instance I have been
doomed to disappointment, the so-called " golden

KEPORTS TO BE DISTRUSTED. 39

eagle'' invariably tiiming out to be nothing more
than a young bird of the common species. Taking,
therefore, into consideration the imperfect state
of the science in Markwick's time, and the vague
and incorrect ideas on the subject of nomencla-
ture generally, which prevailed, indeed, to a much
later period ; bearing in mind also that the golden
eagle — the eagle to which he alludes — has appa-
rently never since been met with in the wild state
in Sussex, while the white-tailed — which he does
not even mention — has occurred in several in-
stances ; and remembering that Bexhill, where
his eagle was said to have been killed, is a village
on the coast between Pevensey Bay and Hastings,
and therefore a more probable locality for the sea
eagle ; I think we may fairly conclude that Mark-
wick's bird was in reality the Halioietus albicilla.
It is not without a considerable sense of disap-
pointment that I feel myself compelled conscien-
tiously to relinquish all claim to the golden eagle
as a Sussex bird ; but although I readily plead
guilty to a strong desire to open the door to as
many of our feathered visitors as can, from my
own personal knowledge, or on unquestionable
authority, be admitted to a place in our local
fauna, yet I am well aware of the extreme caution
with which all oral information respecting birds
or their habits should be received : the numerous

40 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

errors and exaggerations which have crept into
some of our earlier histories are frequently attri-
butable to a want of care in this respect, or too
gi'eat a share of credulity on the part of their
authors; the verification of facts should be a
grand object with all who labour in the wide field
of Natural History; and the observer who con-
fines himself even to one district, however limited,
will find ample materials for investigation and
record, without having occasion to press into his
service either apocryphal anecdotes or doubtful
species.

A sea eagle, in immature plumage, was shot
some years ago by the proprietor of the Dolphin
Inn, at Shoreham. It was observed preying on
a dead fisli which had been thrown up by the
waves on the beach, and being gorged, was killed
without difiiculty. In January, 1844, a sea eagle
was shot near Windmill Hill, in the parish of
Wartling, and during the winter of 1841 a bird of
the same species was observed in the neighbour-
hood of Rottingdean for nearly a month ; he was
unusually wary, and generally haunted the banks
of a small sheep-pond on the high Downs, where
he could command a good view of an approach-
ing enemy; and when the tide was out he would
appear on the shore in search of dead fish, always
keeping away from the cliffs, and taking prompt

CATCHING A TARTAR. 4 J

alarm at an approaching boat, in which, pei^iaps
some ardent gunner might lie concealed. Not-
withstanding all his vigilance, however, one day,
when he was dozing on the borders of the ele-
vated pool above mentioned, a lark -shooter suc-
ceeded in approaching within a tolerable distance,
but the discharo^e of his gun was not suificient to
disable the bird, which succeeded in making his
escape.

A fine example of the same species, but also in
imperfect plumage, was shot about four years ago
by a man in the employment of the superintend-
ent of Pevensey Levels. Being only winged, the
bird contrived to scramble into a corner formed
by two fences or low walls, where he took up his
position, and turning his face to his foes, like
Siccius Dentatus, he defended himself so reso-
lutely that he kept his persecutors at bay for a
leno^th of time, one and all deciinino; to come to
closer quarters with such a formidable antagonist.
Having tried in vain to turn his flank, an ally
in the form of a sheep-dog was called in, who
commenced his attack in the most courageous
manner, little anticipating what a warm recep-
tion he was about to meet with; but he soon
found that he had "caught a Tartar ;'' for he was
nearly killed by the eagle before his rescue was
effected. His attack, however, caused a diver-

42 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

sion by withdrawing the attention of the Lii'd
from his Liped tormentors, and just as the talons
of each foot were respectively lodged in the ribs
and throat of the howling cur, and when another
moment would have seen one of his eyes cleverl}'
scooped out, a blow on the back of the head laid
the poor eagle

" stretched upon the plain,

No more through rolling clouds to soar again.

Note. — While these pages are passiug through the
press, I have received information from Sir Charles
Taylor that a large eagle, lately observed in his neigh-
bourhood, had been subsequently trapped in one of the
great woods on the Cowdray estate. Being naturally
anxious to examine, or perchance obtain a specimen of
an eagle found so near me, I was just preparing to
start in quest of it, when Lord Egmont kindly anti-
cipated my wishes by sending it to me. It proved to
be a male cinereous or sea eagle, in immature, but un-
injured plumage. I have ascei^tained that the last
chapter in his biography was as follows : — The bird
had for three weeks frequented the wooded district
in that picturesque portion of the weald which lies
l)etween HoUycombe and Henley Hill, about twenty
miles from the coast, and was evidently hitherto in-
debted for his escape rather to the impracticable nature
of his haunts than to any cunning or vigilance of his
own. He had been seen several times near some old

SEA EAGLE. -io

pollavd oak trees, among wliich, it was afterwards as-
certained, he had roosted. Having, at length, impru-
dently ventured to make a foray upon a neighbouring
farm-yard, and carried off a goose, matters began to
assume a serious aspect. A council of war was called :
the farmer, the game-keeper, and the rat-catcher met
in conclave; an alliance offensive and defensive was
formed ; the eagle was denounced ; and all measures,
whether of force or stratagem, were declared lawful,
to destroy such a marauder; the first subscribed a
l)igeon, the second a trap, and the third a rat. Opera-
tions were commenced by laying down the pigeon near
the supposed retreat of the robber, as if to test his
gullibility : this was immediately carried off : the trap
was then set on the same spot, baited with the rat, and
by means of this ignoble lure was the poor eagle de-
luded and captured.

4:li ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

LETTER IV.

" I think he'll be to Rome

As is the osprej' to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature."

Co RIO LAN us.

The Osprey miscalled Sea Eagle — An Outlaw — Hue
and Cry — Unholy Alliance — Occurrence of the
Osprey in Sussex — The Mullet Hawk — Rival
Fishers — The Osprey at Pagham — Anecdote —
The Biter bit.

While the term "golden'' is often applied erro-
neously to the cinereous or sea-eagle, the osprey,
or fishing-hawk (Pandion haliceetus) is as fre-
quently honoured with the title of the latter
bird, at least in this part of England, where,
although far from abundant, it is of much more
fi-equent occurrence than its gigantic namesake.*
The old oak trees in the neighbourhood of some
of the well-stocked ponds in the district of the

* Mark wick does not allude to the osprey, either by
that name or under any synonyme, in his " Catalogue
of Sussex Birds."

OSPREY IN SUSSEX 45

weald would appear to offer many spots favour-
able to its nidification, and were it not for the
unceasing warfare carried on against all the tribe,
I might have had the pleasure of recording here
at least one instance of its sojourning with us
during the breeding-season: but no sooner does
an osprey make his appearance in such a situa-
tion, soaring aloft in graceful and repeated circles,
dashing into the deep, or suddenly arresting his
downward career, and hovering over the surface,
than he becomes the object of general persecu-
tion ; the proprietor of pike is alarmed, issues his
merciless edict for his death or expulsion, guns
and traps are put into immediate requisition, and
the keeper, in his undiscriminating hatred of
everything in the shape of a hawk, vies with the
guardian of the waters in his efforts to destroy
the beautiful strang^er.

During the months of May and June, 1843, an
osprey was observed to haunt the large ponds
near Bolney. After securing a fish, he used to
retire to the stump of an old tree on the more
exposed bank to devour it, and about the close of
evening was in the habit of flying off towards
the north-west, sometimes carrying away a prize
in his talons, if his sport had been unusually suc-
cessful, as if he dreaded being disturbed at his
repast during the dangerous hours of twilight.

46 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

Having been sliot at several times without effect,
his visits to these ponds became gradually less
frequent, but the surrounding covers being un-
preserved, and the bird itself too wary to suffer a
near approach, he escaped the fate of many of his
congeners, and even re-appeared with a compa-
nion early in the following September, to whom
he seemed to have imparted his salutary dread
of man — his mortal enemy — for during the short
time they remained there it was impossible to
approach within gun-shot of either of them.

Adult specimens have occurred in Sussex dur-
ing the winter and spring months, those Avhicli
have been obtained in the summer and early part
of the autumn being generally immature birds, as
indicated by their speckled upper plumage. A
very fine old female was killed lately at Pond
Lye, near Cuckfield Place. I had an opportunity
of examining this bird immediately afterwards,
when it was sent to Brighton to be preserved:
the stomach contained a trout, which had par-
tially undergone the process of digestion.

Specimens have also been shot on the Adur at
Shoreham, and at Beeding: it has also occurred
in the neighbourhood of Chichester; and farther
eastward, near Brighton, Pevensey Levels, and
Rye harbour.

The river Arun flows throusfh an extensive

THE MULLET HAWK. 47

tract of level meadow-land reclaimed from tlie
original swamp, just before it passes through a
wide gap in the Downs, Bury Hill being on the
right, and the ruins of Amberley Castle on the
left. A little farther to the south it waters the
ancient and picturesque town of Arundel, cele-
brated even in old Isaac Walton's time for its
gi'ey mullets.* This fish would appear to have
peculiar attractions for the osprey, which, indeed,
in the adjoining county of Hampshire is called
the mullet hawk,*}- a partiality which wdll account
for the more frequent occurrence of the bird dur-
ing the mullet season than at other times of the
year, and in localities where that species of fish
more particularly abounds. I have an immature
specimen which was shot during the summer of
1836, near Amberley Castle, by a man who rented
the fishing on that part of the river; he had no-
ticed it for several days, and from an observation
of its habits, had come to the conclusion that it was.
a very formidable rival in his own trade; he said
that it had destroyed a great quantity of mullets.
About the same time another was killed at

* "And just so does Sussex boast of several fish:
as namely, a Selsey cockle, a Chichester lobster, an
Arundel mullet, and an Amberley trout."

The Complete Angler.

t YarrelFs "British Birds," vol. i., p. 23.

48 ORNITHOLOGECAL RAMBLES.

Siddlesham, on the borders of Pagham harbour,
which, from a former letter, you will recognize as
a favourite haunt of this bird. During the sum-
mer and autumn of 1839, I enjoyed many oppor-
tunities of observing an osprey, and of contem-
plating the unchecked display of his powers on
this fine sheet of water. There were no wild-fowl
shooters at that time of the year to interfere with
him, and I need hardly say that he experienced
no interruption from me.

He seldom ventured far out to sea, but at low
tide, when the waters had receded from the beach,
he would make an expedition to the south, sur-
vejdng the shores from a great height, and occa-
sionally dashing down to seize a fish just beyond
the white surf that marked the outline of the
coast as far as the eye could reach.

The oft-told, but frequently doubted, story* of
an eagle, i. e., an osprey, having been carried
under water and drowned by a large pike, into
whose broad shoulders the bird had fixed his
talons, derives some credibility from the circum-
stances attending the capture of an osprey a few
years since near Rottingdean, a little village about
three miles from Kemp-town. The facts were
as follows : — A shepherd's boy, while tending his

* Lloyd's " Field Sports of the North of Europe."

THE BITER BIT. 49

flock near the cliffs, observed an osprey rising
with difficulty from the sea, and bearing in his
claws a large fish, with which he alighted near the
edge of the precipice. Running up hastily to the
spot, and perceiving the distress of the bird, who
appeared equally incapable of carr3dng off his prize,
or of disengaging himself from it, but looked,
as the boy expressed it, " as if he was stuck in a
trap,'' he disabled and subsequently despatched
him with his crook. I saw this specimen after it
had been set up by a clever taxidermist,* who, to
commemorate the particulars of its capture, liad
mounted it on a large fish, with the claws firmly
imbedded in its scaly back.

What a singular fate for any predacious animal
to meet vvdth when obeying the dictates of what

■^ Mr. Swaysland, of Brighton, who has done much
within the last few years to elevate the character of his
art. From a correct knowledge of the proportions and
attitudes of birds — the result of out-door observation —
he succeeds in restoring to each its peculiar form and
expression. Indeed, his specimens exhibit a life-like
spirit which I have seldom seen surpassed, and contrast
advantageously with those unhappy families of wood-
peckers and kingfishers which one sometimes sees trying
to stand in impossible attitudes within the shop- window
of the ordinary bird-stufFer.

D

50 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

has been called " an unerrino^ instinct ! " Acci-
dents of this kind are doubtless of rare occur-
rence, and may be placed in the same category
with the sudden death of a civic dignitary who
had incautiously swallowed a turbot-bone at a
Lord Mayor's dinner. Seldom, indeed, does the
bird seize a fish which he is unable to carry off
with ease, and as rarely would a bone of such
deadly dimensions escape the aldermanic eye ;
but these things have occurred nevertheless, and
to any one who has examined the foot of a re-
cently killed osprey the matter will appear quite
possible, as far as the bird is concerned : the ex-
treme length and sharpness of the claws, and their
almost semicircular curvature — exceeding that of
any of our raptorial birds — added to the versatility
of the outer toe, which enables it to clutch its
prey with greater firmness, must at the same time
render the sudden extrication of its talons propor-
tionably difficult, should an urgent necessity for
such an attempt occur; but that it is not volunta-
rily practised on ordinary occasions would appear
from the observation of Mr. Yarrell, who, in re-
ference to the habits of a living specimen in the
gardens of the Zoological Society, says, that after
" digging in the claws, it held the fish most firmly
by four opposite points, not relaxing its hold or

OSPEEY IX /^rERICA. 51

altering tlie position of the toes, but picking out
the portions of flesh between them with great
ease and dexterity/'*

* Nevertheless, the fact that this bh-d has generally
the power of relaxing his hold of his slippery prey will
be familiar to all who have read Wilson's graphic ac-
count of his habits in America. There the white-
headed or bald eagle, as partial to fish as the poor
ospre}^, but too lazy to forage for himself, sits patiently
on the bough of some gigantic tree commanding a view
of the ocean, and when the osprey rises from the surface
with a prize, he instantly gives chace, and frequently
compels him to relinquish it.

D 2

d'2 ornithological rambles.

LETTER V

" Sufferance is the badge of all oui tribe."

Merchant of Ve.vice.

The Kestrel or Windhover : Its unmerited Persecution :
Destructive to fcur-footed Yermin, Reptiles, &c.
— Seizure and Execution of a Rat — Serpent-killer
— Mr. Waterton on the Migration of the Wind-
hover— Problem and attempted Solution — Distri-
bution of the Kestrel — Periodical appearance " en
potence'' in Autumn — Probable Cause — Commis-
sariat Department — Reappearance of considerable
numbers in Spring.

Of the various birds which figure undeservedly
on the black list of the gamekeeper, there is none
for which the benevolent author of the Essays*
has pleaded more eloquently than the poor kestrel
or windhover (i^a^co tinnunculus), and, I may add,
none more deserving of his powerful intercession.
Of all our Eaptores it is — perhaps with the excep-
tion of the barn-owl — the most efficient destroyer
of mice, and as a general check upon the increase

* " Essays on Natural History," by C. Waterton, Esq.

THE KESTREL OR WINDHOVER. 53

of noxious small quadrupeds and reptiles, its ex-
ertions far surpass those of any other British bird
of prey. Its favourite food appears to be the
long-tailed field-mouse (Mus sylvaticus), whose
depredations on the bark and upper roots of
young timber and fruit trees are notorious ; it is
also known to consume vast quantities of beetles,
which in the larva state are injurious to vege-
tation; and I have myself seen a female of this
species seize, carry off, and ultimately kill a full-
OTOwn rat. I was walkino- at the time on a hio-h

O O O

road near Petworth, which was flanked on either
side by a deep ditch; about a hundred yards in
front lay a large heap of stones, and in the imme-
diate neighbourhood were several newly gleaned
stubble fields : over one of these hovered a female
kestrel; I was admiring her graceful evolutions,
and the apparent ease with which, in the face of
a strong westerly breeze, she remained poised as
it were in the air, when she suddenly darted over
the hedge which separated the field from the road,
and seized a rat which had evidently just issued
from the heap of stones, and was running at the
top of its speed to the opposite ditch. So rapid
was the swoop, that it had not accomplished half
the distance before the bird was on its back : fix-
ing the talons of both feet across its shoulders and
loins, she arose, and although evidently retarded

54} ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

by her writhing and squeaking burden, cleared
the hedge, fluttered across a field, and alighted on
a mound of earth at the farther side. By making
a slight detour, and masking my advance with
an intervening oak tree, I contrived to approach
within thirty yards, and could perceive that she
was endeavouring to destroy the life of her victim
by severing with her beak the spine about the
middle of the back. Once, as if to try how far
her exertions in this respect had been attended
with success, she relaxed her hold of the rat, and
hovered over it in the air for a few seconds, while
the latter, whose vocal powers were now quite
extinguished, and all its hinder parts paralyzed,
attempted to crawl, with the assistance of its fore
legs, down the sloping side of the hillock, when
the kestrel, as if satisfied that it could give her
but little more trouble, or perhaps ashamed of
prolonging a cruel experiment, more worthy of a
cat than a falcon, again seized it with both feet,
and resuming her position on the summit of the
mound, began to devour it, commencing at the
head or back of the neck. Having suddenly
made my appearance at this moment, she flew off,
carrying the now dead and mutilated rat in one
foot with comparative ease; and as I looked after
her, I could see her continuing her flight across a
wide meadow, until she topped a low hedge at the

MR. WATERTON ON THE WINDHOVER. 55

opposite side, near a large wood, in the recesses
of which she could continue her repast without
further interruption.

You will perhaps think that I have described
this little incident with unnecessary minuteness;
I had two reasons for recording these apparently
trifling details : it was the first instance I had met
with of any raptorial bird relaxing its grasp of
the quarry, and even quitting it, before life was
extinct ; and it serves to prove that, besides being
an efficient destroyer of mice, the kestrel is also
a check upon that most odious of all four-footed
vermin, the rat.

Ornithologists are aware that the slow-worm
(Anguis fragilis) is constantly devoured b}'- this
hawk, but it has even stronger claims to the title
of " serpent-killer.'' A specimen was shot in this
neighbourhood in the act of killing a large adder :
the bird and reptile are both in my collection.

Tlie perusal of Mr. Waterton's interesting re-
marks on the windhover in Yorkshire has induced
me to pay increased attention to its migration in
Sussex. It occurred to me that a careful obser-
vation of its habits and distribution in different
parts of this southern county, during the various
seasons of the year, might tend perhaps — in con-
nexion with what lie had written on the subject —

56 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

to throw some additional light on this portion of
its history.

Mr. Waterton says, " Perhaps it is not generally
known that the windhover is a migratory bird ;
but whether the greater part of these hawks leave
England in the autumn, or merely retire fi^om
their breeding place to some other part of our
country more congenial to their habits, is a pro-
blem whi^>h remains yet to be solved. For my
own part, I am of opinion that a very large pro-
portion of those which are bred in England leave
it in the autumn, to join the vast flights of hawks
which are seen to pass periodically^ over the Medi-
terranean Sea, on their way to Africa.

"Last summer I visited twenty-four nests in
my park, all with windhover's eggs in them. The
old birds and their young tarried here till the de-
parture of the swallow, and then they disappeared.
During the winter there is scarcely a windhover
to be found. Sometimes a pair or so makes its
appearance, but does not remain long. When
February has set in, more of the windhovers are
seen, and about the middle of the month their
numbers have much increased. They may be
then heard at all hours of the day ; and he who
loves to study Nature in the fields, may observe
them now on soaring wing, high above in the

ITS DISTRIBUTION IN SUMMER. 57

blue expanse of heaven, now hovering near the
earth, ready to pounce upon the luckless mouse,
and now inspecting the deserted nests of crows
and magpies, in order to secure a commodious
retreat wherein to perform their approaching in-
cubation. Allowing, on an average, four young
ones to the nest, there must have been bred here
ninety-six windhover hawks last summer : add
the parent biixls, and we shall have, in all, one
hundred and forty-four. Scarcely five of these
birds were seen here from Michaelmas to the
latter end of January.

"The periodical disappearance of the wind-
hover from its breeding-place might give rise to
much ornithological inquuy ; but I suspect that
when every cii'cumstance shall have been duly
weighed, we shall still be in the dark with regard
to the true cause of its departure. The want of
food cannot be supposed to force it away ; for
food the most congenial to its appetite is found
here in great abundance at the very time when it
deserts us. Neither can supposed inclemency of
weather be alleged in support of its migration, as
the temperature of England is remarkably mild
long after the sun has descended into the southern
hemisphere.''*

* " Essays on Natural History," first series, 3rd edi-
tion, p. 261.

D 5

58 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

Throughout the whole of the ^yeald, which
comprehends about half the county of Sussex,
the kestrel or windhover is moderately dispersed
during the breeding-season. In this wooded dis-
trict it adopts the deserted nest of the carrion
crow or magpie ; but although I have taken consi-
derable pains to ascertain, from constant personal
observation during several years, the extent of its
distribution here at this season, even in those
localities where it was obviously of more frequent
occurrence than in others, I could never find that
it was numerous as a species in any portion of
this reoion. For instance, on a well- wooded manor
of nearly two thousand acres, where game and
gamekeepers had been equally scarce for many
years, I could not discover more than four esta-
blishments of the windhover during an entire
spring and summer, although I explored every
crow's nest that I could find, and fi^ightened
many a magpie out of its own lawful habitation.
Now, admittmg that an equal number had escaped
my detection — which I think is scarcely possible
— still this species must be considered as compa-
ratively sparingly distributed throughout this
part of the county during the spring and summer
months. At the same season I have repeatedly
examined other districts, and from my own obser-
vation, and the concurrent testimony of local ob-

APPEARANCE IN AUTUMN. 59

servers on whom I knew I could rely, I conclude
that this bird is then much less numerous in all
parts of this county than in the north of England.
During the months of May, June, and July, I
have occasionally found it among the parks and
plantations situated on the sandstone formation
between the weald and the Downs; also among
the beech woods of the latter, and in the neigh-
bourhood of the heathery commons immediately
to the north of that range of hills. They are,
however, more plentiful on the coast to the east
of Brighton than in some other districts of Sussex
at this season; although even there they do not
appear to congregate to such a degree as in simi-
lar situations in other parts of England, and they
are certainly less abundant on those chalk preci-
pices, which, commencing at Kemp-town, termi-
nate at Beachy Head, than among the grey cliffs
of the wealden rock which lie to the eastward of
Hastings : but as autumn draws near their num-
bers gradually increase in all parts of the county,
and at the very period when Mr. Waterton
describes them as leaving his neighbourhood —
that at which the swallow takes its departure —
they are perhaps more numerous here than at any
other time of the year. The maritime tract ex-
tending from Brighton to Chichester, the whole
line of the Downs, the highly cultivated district

60 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

between them and the weald, and the open por-
tions of the forest range in the eastern division,
abound with numbers of this species, which seem
to accumulate in the neighbourhood of the coast
as the winter approaches. Many of these are, of
course, birds of the year, but a considerable pro-
portion are adult, and I am convinced that I have
seen more of the latter during a mornmg's walk
among the fields, about the latter part of October,
in the neighbourhood of Worthing, than could
have been found in half the county during the
breeding-season.

When the corn has been reaped, and the process
of gleaning — or leasing, as it is here termed —
finished, the kestrel may be seen hovering over the
stubbles: then, and for a long time afterwards,
those fields abound with their favourite prey.
Let us bear in mind that the arboreal beetles
(Lucanidce, Melolonthidce, Cetoniadce, &c.*), and
the large moths and grubs of diff'erent kinds, which
constitute so great a proportion of their daily food
during the summer months, have now in a great
measure disappeared, or are becoming difiicult to
discover: accordingly, as the season advances, we
find the windliover leaving our woods and forests
for the open fields, especially where the sickle has

* Stag-beetles Cockchafers, Kosechafers, &c.

COMMISSARIAT DEPARTMENT. 61

revealed the long-concealed runs of the field-
mouse (i/its sylvaticus), and where the scattered
grain attracts wandering parties of the short-
tailed vole {Arvicola agrestis). This, the most
destructive of our diminutive quadrupeds, equally
injurious to the farmer, the gardener, and the
proprietor of young plantations, is now devoured
in considerable numbers by the kestrel. With
the view of satisfying myself on this point, I have
occasionally shot and dissected the bird at this
season, when the contents of the stomach re-
moved all possibility of doubt. I have also
found the harvest mouse {Mus messorius), which,
as well as the young of the long-tailed species, is
frequently bolted whole by this hawk, after the
manner of an owl : but scarcely any kind of
large insect or diminutive quadruped comes amiss.
It luxuriates in grasshoppers. On one occasion I
observed a male kestrel beating a small meadow
for nearly an hour, flying much closer to the
ground than usual, every now and then dropping
down, and occasionally, but not invariably, se-
cm'ing something in the grass. On paying still
closer attention to his manoeuvres, although I
felt convinced that nothing but insects could
furnish such an uninterrupted succession of vic-
tims, I was still at a loss to discover the particular
species to which he seemed so partial I there-

62 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

fore went into the house for my gun, and return-
ing in a few minutes, found him still engaged,
and so entirely was his attention absorbed by
his sport, that I had no difficulty in walking up
and shooting him directly. The stomach con-
tained a mass of half-digested grasshoppers, and
the proventriculus was literally crammed with
them, and with nothing else.* Food of this kind
of course soon becomes scarce as the autumn ad-
vances ; the same may be said of reptiles ; and of
the different species of mice which constitute its
staple support, some retire on the approach of
winter to their subterranean burrows under the
roots of trees, or occupy the deserted cellars of the
mole ; others, which had taken to the meadows
in the early spring, or haunted their favourite
corn-field during the summer, and afterwards
perseveringly gleaned the stubble as long as a
grain of wheat or barley was to be found, now
take up their winter quarters in the comfortable
rick close by, beyond the precincts of which they
seldom venture during the inclement season of
the year. Here, then, the supplies are cut off with

* For further confirmation of the insectivorous habits
of the kestrel, see " The Zoologist," vol. ix, p. 3112. See
also an interesting Paper by Rusticus, entitled The
Feathered Mousers, in " Chambers' Edinburgh Journal."

DISTRIBUTION DUEING THE WINTER. 63

a vengeance, and as the windhover invariably
prefers far to feather, seldom, as far as my expe-
rience goes, killing even a young lark — which,
however, occasionally forms an exception to the
rule — where mice are to be obtained, it is not dif-
ficult to imagine that if half the numbers of this
prolific hawk which are bred in England, were to
remain with us during the dead of winter, the
country would fail to furnish such a quantity of
their natural aliment as would satisfy the wants
of all, and they would either starve or be com-
pelled to do violence to their tastes, and to prey
upon many species of birds which they had here-
tofore left unmolested. Bat although several
kestrels remain scattered at intervals through
our woods and over our moors durino; this sea-
son — when I have known an instance of a female
killing and devouring a wounded partridge — ^yet
the great body of those which gradually con-
centrate near the coast during the autumn, and
afterwards disappear, certainly seem to be on
their passage from the more northern and cen-
tral parts of the island, preparatory to their
migration from this country to some southern
region, where their favourite food may possibly
abound during the winter. As early as the latter
end of February, or the beginning of March, we
again notice a considerable addition to their

64 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

ranks; but in the ensuing month, the woods in
the interior, and the cliffs on the coast, contain
only the usual number that sojourn with us
dming the breeding-season; and, on the whole,
the species appears to be but moderately dis-
tributed throughout this county until the arrival
of new migratory parties from the north during
the folio wincr autumn.*

* It has been my anxious wish to exclude as much
as possible from these pages all matters of a controver-
sial nature, and I have generally abstained from enter-
ing into the subject of migration, as a "qucestio vexata,"
which would appear to have baffled or puzzled so many
great zoologists. Still, one's views and opinions will,
however carefully kept in check, occasionally ooze out,
as it were, in spite of one's self Even so I find that
I have been unconsciously attempting to account for
the migration of the kestrel. Should these remarks
ever meet the eye of the distinguished author whom I
have just quoted, and whose mteresting and truthful
descriptions must endear him to every lover of Nature,
I hope he will not think that I am ambitious of run-
ning a tilt with him in a field where he has aheady
gathered so many laurels.

SPARROWHAWKc 65

LETTER VI.

" The thieves have bound the true men : Now could thou and I rob
the thieves !" — King Henry IV.

The Sparrowhawk pre-eminently a Bird-destroyer —
Adaptation of Structure to Habits — Separation of
the Sexes during Winter — Recklessness when in
pursuit of its Prey — Anecdote — Injurious to fea-
thered Game in the Breeding-season — Remarkable
Instance of Voracity — A Family of Poachers :
their depredations — Capture of the Gang.

As the windhover is the most insectivorous, harm-
less, and even nseful of onr native Falconidse, so
the sparrowhawk (Accijnter nisus) in proportion
to its size and powers, is the most carnivorous of
the family. Unlike the kestrel, it prefers birds
to quadrupeds, and from its great courage and
audacity, as well as a silent and stealthy mode of
approaching its unsuspecting victims, its depreda-
tions among the feathered tribes far exceed those
of any of our raptorial birds. By the way, the
form of the foot and length of the toes appear to
furnish a tolerable indication of the characteris-
tic propensities of several species in this family.

66 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

which vary considerably in the different genera.
Thus, the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) , a true fal-
con— as indicated by the prominent tooth in the
upper mandible and the dark iris — is more nearly
allied in its habits and the nature of its prey to
the buzzards and harriers (BiUeo, Circus, &c.),
than to its congener, the peregrine ; while the
sparrowhawk {Acciiyiter), which in many parti-
culars departs from the type of the true falcon —
such as in having the upper mandible furnished
with a smooth festoon instead of a tooth, in the
iris being of a bright yellow, the tarsi slender and
elongated, and the wings short and rounded — yet
approaches the peregrine in its decided predilec-
tion for feathered prey, as well as in the general
fearlessness of its character: but although pre-
senting so many points of difference in external
aspect and structure, yet in one important respect
these two birds agree ; in both, the toes are ex-
ceedingly long, and admirably adapted for grasp-
ing and penetrating the dense plumage of birds ;
while the buzzards and harriers, which, in com-
mon with the kestrel, prey chiefly on quadrupeds,
reptiles, and beetles, and requke rather strength
than elongation of the prehensile organs, are all
furnished with comparatively short and stout toes.
The sparrowhawk is generally diffused through-
out Sussex, but is much more numerous during

HABITS OF THE SPARROW HAWK. 67

the summer in the weald than elsewhere ; and al-
though subjected to at least an equal share of
persecution with other members of the family,
yet either from the nature of that thickly-wooded
country, or the anti-Malthusian propensities of
the bird itself, it still appears to hold its ground,
and to defy that power which has nearly extermi-
nated so many of its congeners, and almost swept
from our fauna such a list of comparatively harm-
less and interesting species. In none is the supe-
rior size and strength of the female so conspicuous
as in this bird; the disparity indeed is so great
that some ornithologists were formerly inclined to
believe in the existence of more than one species.
When foraging for their young, the female attacks
the game-preserve, the poultry-yard, and the dove-
cot, while her diminutive partner skims along the
hedge, and picks off the terrified yellowhammer
or the crouching bullfinch from the bushes, or
plunges into the evergreens after the sparrov/, and
emerges on the opposite side with his screaming-
victim in his talons.

During winter the adult females still keep to
the great woods, the game-preserves, and the
neighbourhood of the farm-yard, but the males
are more frequently met with in those parts of the
county which are partially enclosed, and where
flocks of larks and lesser conirostral birds haunt

68 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

the fields on the borders of thick hedges and cop-
pices. With hard weather and prolonged frost
the sexes separate still more widely, the female
remaining in the interior, and the male following
to the coast the swarms of small birds of all
kinds which then congreo^ate in the fields near
the shore. In the severe winter of 1S38-9, when
I passed much time in the pursuit of wild-fowl at
Pagham, I noticed one morning as many as twenty
male sparrowhawks hanging on the skirts of a
miscellaneous army of little birds, which extended,
with slight interruption, for some miles, between
Aldwick and Selsey, and harassing their outposts
]ike a hostile party of Cossacks. There was not a
female sparrowhawk among them, and these males
were known to the people on the coast and its
neighbourhood by the name of stone-falcons.

The following is a striking instance of the blind
impetuosity of this bird when in pursuit of its
prey. In May, 1844, I received from Burton
Park an adult male sparrowhawk in full breeding
plumage, which had killed itself, or rather met its
death, in a singular manner. The gardener was
watering plants in the greenhouse, the door being
open, when a blackbird dashed in suddenly, taking
refuge between his legs, and at the same moment
the glass roof above his head was broken with a
loud crash, and a hawk fell dead at his feet. The

ANECDOTE. 69

force of tlie swoop was so great that for a moment
he imagined a stone, hurled from a distance, to
have been the canse of the fracture. On dissecting
the bird, I found that there was a good deal of ex-
travasated blood on the upper surface of both lobe^
of the brain and around the optic nerves, the eyes
being also much suffused, but no portion of the
body or limbs presented any marks of violence,
except a slight laceration of the alular feathers on
one wing and the plumage of the breast.

I have already alluded to the destructive habits
of the sparrowhawk : the depredations of this little
tyrant of our woods and groves certainly surpass
those of any other British bird of prey, in propor-
tion to its size ; and unfortunately, as I have said,
many of our rarer and comparatively harmless
birds are compelled to suffer for its misdeeds.*

* The cuckoo, as every one knows, bears a strong
resemblance to the male sparrowhawk at a distance —
its general form and manner of flight being very simi-
lar— when the beak and feet are not seen. In a remote
part of Sussex I once encountered a native who exer-
cised the double calling of bailiff and " varmint "-killer,
and who, on my remonstrating with him for having
shot and crucified so many innocent cuckoos, assured
me very gravely that, although those birds were called
cuckoos throughout the summer, they became hawks in
the winter, the bill and claws gradually assuming the
true falconine character. This was near the coast.

70 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

I could relate many instances of its almost incre-
dible voracity wliich have come under my notice,
but let one suffice. It occurred in the summer of
1842, as I find by reference to my journal for that
year, from which the following details are literally
transcribed. I should premise that I was at that
time living in the weald, about six miles to the
north-east of Pet worth, and that I had taken con-
siderable pains to increase the number of pheasants
in the wild, picturesque hangers and woods with
wliich my residence v/as surrounded, and where,
when once established, they become really ferce
naturd, finding abundance of insect-food during
the summer and quantities of acorns in the autumn
and winter, and affording an attractive object of
pursuit to those who prefer wild sport and hard
fagging to assisting at the slaughter of the barley-
fed victims of a battue. I Vv^as endeavouring, as
I said, to encourage this species of game in my
neighbourhood, having due regard at the same
time to the welfare of my friends the kestrel and
the jay, much to the disgust of my keeper, who
made his appearance one morning in a state of
considerable excitement, his countenance pre-
senting an expression of horror and indignation,

where the sparrowhawk is rare m the former season,
but where the males abound, as I have shown, during
the latter.

FAMILY OF POACHERS. 71

through which, however, I coulcl detect a smile of
secret satisfaction when he informed me that a
hawh — with an emphasis on the hated mono-
syllable— had carried off several young pheasants
from the coops on the lawn; but here let the
journal speak for itself

^^ June 23, 1854. Denyer the keeper has just
come up to the house, to tell me that during the
last two days he has missed several of the young-
pheasants. He vv^ent at daybreak this morning to
the coops, in the neighbourhood of which he lay
concealed. Soon afterwards a loud screaming and
cackling among the hens announced the arrival of
an enemy, and by the time that D. had emerged
from his hut of oak boughs, gun in hand, he had
the mortification of seeing a hawk, out of shot,
carrying off one of the young pheasants in its
claw^s. I have no doubt that the thief is a sparrow-
hawk, and that unless we can extirpate the family
we shall lose several of our tame birds. He ob-
served the direction in which the hawk flew with
its prey, and I have therefore recommended him
to search the woods carefully in that quarter for
the nest, and to keep a sharp look-out near the
coops in the early morning, at which time the
previous attacks appear to have been made. I
regret much that an engagement at a distance,
compelling me to be absent fr'om home for two

7Z ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

days, will prevent me from taking a personal shar e
in these operations.

" June 26. Returned home yesterday evening,
and the first object that met my eyes on dri\dng
up to the hall door was a row of dead sparrow-
hawks, seven in number, which D. had impaled,
each upon its own peculiar stick, with its wings
spread and tail expanded, as if to make the most
of it : there were the Patagonian old female, and
the little cock, with his blue back and red breast,
and five immature birds, some of them larger than
the latter.

" It was not long before Denyer made his
appearance v/ith a game-bag in his hand, and
gave the following account of his successful expe-
dition : —

" Having, with the assistance of Puttock the
gardener and a bird-nesting lad, carefully ex-
amined the great wood of Dunhurst, in which
direction the old sparrowhawk had flown with the
young pheasant, they at last found the nest in
a thick oak tree : it was very broad and fiat,
constructed on that of a carrion crow, but appa-
rently much enlarged, being considerably wider,
although not so deep. Hearing the cries of one of
the young hawks at a little distance, he concealed
himself in the underwood, and waited until the
old male arrived nt the nest with a lark in his

CAPTURE OF THE GANG. 73

claws ; him lie shot, and then mounted the tree to
examine the nest, which he found nearly filled with
dead birds which the old hawks had procured
during their foraging expeditions for their young.
The latter were absent, but D. could hear their
sharp cries from different parts of the wood. His
next care was to set a trap in the nest without
removing any of its contents, and he had not
waited lono- before he cauo^ht the female with a
young chicken in her talons. He then proceeded
to empty the nest, and could scarcely trust his
eyes at the sight — here he shook out upon the
grass for my inspection the contents of the bag —
there were fifteen young pheasants, about the
size of quails — some rather larger — four young
partridges, five chickens, a bullfinch, two meadow
pipits and two larks, all in a fresh state. Put-
tock, the gardener, who helped D. to remove
them from the nest, corroborated his statement,
and I certainly saw and counted the victims my-
self, all of which had evidently been killed by a
bird of prey.

''The last operation of Denyer was to shoot
the young sparrowhawks, which, although nearly
fullgrown and capable of flying, were unable to
provide themselves with food. This he effected
by remaining quietly under the tree, until the
birds, whose gradually increasing hunger was

74i ORNITHOl.OGICAL EAMBLES.

evinced by tlieir louder and more frequent cries,
by degrees approached nearer to the nest, and
were shot one after another to the number of
five."

Now, what strikes me as more especially worthy
of notice in this case, is the fact that the young
birds are not supplied with food at a distance
from the nest after they have left it, but that
while these yet haunt its neighbourhood, and are
still incapable of providing for themselves, the old
ones convert it at once into a larder and refec-
tory, which they stock with a constant supply of
freshly-killed prey, to which the others resort
when pressed by hunger, and are there fed by
their parents, and probably receive their first les-
sons in the art of plucking and breaking up their
dinner.

This will appear to be a wise provision of Na-
ture, if we reflect upon the difficulties and delays
that would attend the operation of feeding the
young birds separately at this stage of their
existence — when their appetite is probably the
keenest — far from the nest, and at a considerable
distance from each other.

MIGEATION OF SMALL BIRDS. 7o

LETTER VII.

" Wlien Autumn scatters his departing- gleams.
Warned of approa-jhing Winter, •'

O'er the cahn sky, in convolution swift,
The feathered eddy floats ; * * *

* * into wanner climes convey'd

With other kindred birds of season, there
They twitter cheerful, till the vernal months
Invite them welcome back ; for, thronging, now
Innumerous wings are in commotion all."

Thomson's Seasons.

Periodical transit of Flocks of small Birds through
the County — Various Species — The Goldfinch —
" Harbour-Birds " and " Flight-Birds " — Anxiety
of the Bird-catcher — Pied Wagtail — Arrival on
the Coast in Spring — Plumage — Pilgrim Fathers
— ProgTess to the Interior — Return towards the
Coast — Determined Direction of Flight — Geogra-
phical Considerations.

I HAVE for a long time been inclined to believe
that many British birds, usually supposed to be
permanent residents, as well as those generally
admitted to be summer or winter visitors, per-

e2

76 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

form a double migrafcion every year, and I may
add that repeated observation has tended to
strengthen me in this conviction. The numerous
flocks of certain species which pass in rapid succes-
sion along the southern parts of this county in an
easterly direction during the early autumn, when
they are captured in great numbers by professional
bird-catchers in the neighbourhood of our mari-
time towns, have apparently congregated from the
more distant parts of the island, and are evidently
bound for the Continent, to which, like bipeds of
a nobler race, they have no objection to make a
short cut by the Straits of Dover; but whether
impelled to the performance of this pilgrimage by
a desire to take up their winter quarters in a more
genial climate, or by the appreliension of an in-
sufficient supply of the favourite food of the tribe
if its superabundant numbers were not relieved
by timely emigration, or by an irresistible instinct
of which they are unconscious, but which doubt-
less has been implanted in them by an all-wise
Providence; certain it is, that during the period
occupied by the autumnal movement of these
flocks, a far greater number of the species which
they comprise pass along the shores of our county
in a single day, than would be found to occupy its
entire area at any previous or subsequent time of
the year.

VARIOUS SPECIES. 77

The advanced guard of this emigrant host
usually makes its appearance in the neighbour
hood of Worthing, Shoreham and Brighton about
the latter end of August or early in September,
and is generally composed of detachments of mea-
dow pipits* (Anthus pratensis), pied wagtails
(Motacilla Yarelli), tree-pipits (Anthus arboreus),
and yellow wagtails {Motacilla flava), the two
first-named species being generally understood to
be permanent residents in England during the
whole year. Many of these birds certainly do
remain with us during the winter, but I am dis-
posed to think that these are the natives of more
northern and western counties, which, having pro-
ceeded thus far towards the south-east, are, as it
were, satisfied with this partial migration, and
do not cross the Channel, unless subsequently
compelled to do so by unusual severity of wea-
ther at a much later period of the year.

But the troops of these autumnal voyagers do
not consist merely of dentirostral or exclusively
insectivorous birds; the conirostral tribe furnishes

* Some idea may be formed of the number aud ex-
tent of these flocks, from the fact that one skilfvd bii'd-
catcher, a few years ago, took, in the neighbourhood of
Brighton, as many as twenty-four dozen of meadow pipit.s
in a single morning. This was early in September.

78 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

many recruits, goldfinches (Carduelis elegans),
grey linnets (Linota cannabina), and green gros-
beaks (Coccothraustes chloris), pass in consider-
able numbers; and such multitudes of the first-
named species are occasionally taken,* that the
market of the song-bird dealers is literally glutted
with them, even their most capacious family-cages
being quite filled with recently- captured gold-
finches; and from this circumstance, as well as
from the comparatively trifling value attached to
these birds at this season — when, from the imma-
turity of the greater proportion of the little pri-
soners, and the deficient state of their plumage,
the sex cannot be satisfactorily ascertained — they
are frequently doomed to death, and being after-
wards tied up with yellow wagtails, green gros-
beaks and grey linnets, in variegated bundles,
from which their own little crimson heads pro-
trude like ripe berries, they are hawked about
by the juvenile members of the bird-catching
fraternity, and occasionally sold to those who

* May not this account in some degree for the total
disappearance of the goldfinch from certain inland coun-
ties during the winter months'? Herefordshire, for
example; a fact to which the editor of the "Zoolo-
gist " has directed the attention of his correspondents.
"Zoologist," vol. iii., p. 984.

THE GOLDFINCH. 79

can find it in their hearts to purchase such an
ornithological bouquet.

I have already said that many of our conirostral
or hard-billed birds, as well as others of the den-
tirostral or insectivorous division of the Insessores
hitherto supposed to be constantly resident, at
least in the south of England, leave this coun-
try in considerable flocks about the beginning of
autumn, and return to it in diminished numbers
during the ensuing spring. It would be taxing
your patience too much if I were to transcribe
from my journal all the notes and records com-
mitted to paper within the last few years, which
bear upon this particular subject; such an inflic-
tion might test even ^^our ornithological zeal too
severely, and would necessarily exceed the limits
of many letters ; but feeling, as I do, that the sub-
ject is one of more than common interest, I pro-
pose to select two well-known examples, which
have heretofore been supposed to be constant
residents in our island, the goldfinch and the
pied wagtail; the one a hard-billed bird, the
other soft-billed: and an account of their mio-ra-
tions will be sufficient to illustrate my theory,
and perhaps comprehend as much as would prove
interesting to you on this subject.

Of the departure of large flocks of goldfinches
in the autumn I have already spoken, a few, how-

80 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

ever, remain in different parts of the county
throughout the entire year, and in winter are
generally found on wild, bushy ground, among the
remote valleys of the Downs, or on hedges near
waste land or commons. The periodical arrival
of fresh birds in the spring is well known even to
the most inexperienced bird-catchers in the neigh-
bourhood of Brighton, and anxiously expected by
them for many days previously: the goldfinches
which have remained all the winter are called by
them "harbour birds/' meaning that they have
sojourned, or harboured — as the local expression
is — here during that season; those which arrive
in April are called "flight-birds.'' When the latter
are expected, the bu-d-catcher watches his nets
with an anxious countenance, and his disappoint-
ment is great, if upon disengaging from the meshes
a newly captured prisoner, he perceives by the
dull-coloured back, dirty-red forehead, and general
shabbiness of the plumage, that it is only what
he contemptuously terms "a harbour bird." Far
different are his feelings when he entraps one with
a light-coloured back, snow-white cheeks, and
bright vermilion forehead! he knows then that
" the flight " has commenced, and the hour of sun-
rise finds him at his post on the following morn-
ing, eager to avail himself of the precious moments.
It is worthy of remark that the "harbour birds"

THE PIED WAGTAIL. 81

are much more shy than the newly-arrived " flight
birds/' which, with their plumage advanced to that
of the breeding season — the effect of a warmer
climate — are comparatively tame and easily
caught ; they are at once attracted by the decoy,
and fly into the net in unsuspicious haste.

Goldfinches again become numerous in October,
when detached parties, including the young of the
year, which have been spread through other por-
tions of the island during the summer, draw to-
wards the sea, and pass eastward in succession,
until they find — in some part of Kent, as I imagine
— a favourable spot for crossing the Channel.

The pied wagtail* arrives from the continent on
the shores of Sussex about the middle of March.
Although several spend the winter here, these
bear but a small proportion to the numbers that
visit us in the spring. On fine days during this
season I have frequently seen them approaching
the coast, aided by a gentle breeze from the south,

* A few years have elapsed since I was first struck
by the incorrectness of the received opinion that our pied
wagtail was migratory only in the noithern, but station-
ary in the southern, counties of England; and a portion
of the following remarks on that bird appeared at the
time in a communication made by me to the '"Zoologist,"
which was subsequently noticed by Mr, Yarrell, in the
second edition of his " History of British Birds,"

82 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

their well-known call-note being distinctly audible
under such fiwourable circumstances, from a con-
siderable distance at sea, even long before the
birds themselves could be perceived.

The fields in the immediate neighbourhood,
where but a short time before scarcely an indi-
vidual was to be found, are soon tenanted by
numbers of this species, and for several days they
continue dropping on the beach in small parties.
The old males arrive first, presenting the beautiful
jet black and clear white plumage of the breeding
season, while the females, and the males of the
preceding year which still partially resemble their
partners — the feathers on the back being of an
iron-grey colour — do not make their appearance
until a few days afterwards. It may be observed
that the white on the forehead and cheeks of
these newly-arrived birds is much more pure at
this time than in those which winter in England,
and altogether they have a fresher and cleaner
look than even they themselves present a short
time after their arrival in this country.

Some of the old males seem to have made their
nuptial contract before their departure from the
continent; for after alighting on the shore they
exhibit many signs of restlessness and anxiety,
performing short flights, and incessantly calling
for their mates.

PLUMAGE. 83

It is ^Torthy of remark that those pied wagtaiJs
which remain with us during the winter, do not
assume the summer garb at so early a period as
their travelled brethren; indeed, on the arrival
of the latter, which have already attained the full
nuptial plumage, the former have but partially
commenced the change, only a few black patches
beginning to shew on the throat, and the light
grey of the back being varied with occasional
feathers of a darker hue. In about a fortnio-ht

o

afterwards, this process is complete, and at the
expiration of that time the pied wagtails which
have arrived from the continent, and those which
have sojourned in England during the winter,
present the same appearance.

After remaining in the neighbourhood of the
coast for a few days, these birds proceed inland in
a northerly direction ; and any practical observer
in the interior of the county may perceive how
much their numbers increase at this period. There
is scarcely a pool, road- side ditch, or village horse-
pond, where they may not be seen in pairs, and
this in districts where, but a week before, the
species was thinly distributed.

Pied wagtails moult soon, about the end of
July or early in August. The black feathers gra-
dually disappear from the throat in both sexes,
and the dorsal plumage becomes of a lighter

84 ORNITHOLOGICAL R.UIBLES.

colour in each; the back of the male being
scarcely darker than that of the female during
the summer, which now assumes a still paler
grey. Young birds of both sexes resemble the
latter.

About the middle of August there is a general
move towards the sea-coast, and these birds now
first appear to become gregarious.

At this season I have frequently noticed them
in considerable numbers on village commons and
similar localities in the interior of the county,
where tlie}^ remain but a few days, making way
for fresh detachments, which, in their turn, pur-
sue the same route towards the south. About the
latter end of the n:ionth, or in the beginning of
September, an early riser, visiting the fields in
the neighbourhood of the coast, may observe them
flying invariably from west to east, parallel with
the shore, and following each other in constant
succession. These flights continue from daylight
until about ten o'clock in the forenoon; and it is
a remarkable fact, that so steadily do they pursue
this course, and so pertinacious are they in ad-
hering to it, that even a shot fired at an advancing
party, and the death of more than one individual,
have failed to induce the remainder to fly in a
different direction ; for, after opening to the right
and left, their ranks have aixain closed, and the

GEOGRAPHICAL CONSIDER ATIOXS. S5

progress towards the east has been resumed as
before.

I have observed that their proximity to the
coast during this transit from west to east seems
to depend in some degree upon the character and
extent of the country intervening between the
Downs and the sea. For instance, in the more
westerly portion of the alluvial district, which may
be said to extend from Chichester to Brighton,
the flocks of pied wagtails are evidently less
numerous, appear to be more scattered, and to
occur at greater distances from the coast, than at
its eastern extremity. This, I think, may be cic-
counted for. In the neighbourhood of Chichester,
Pagham and Bognor, that flat, maritime tract at-
tains its greatest breadth; tall hedges, well-shel-
tered meadows, and highly cultivated fields lie
around, and ofier many inducements to these pil-
grim bands to divide their forces, and even to
pause in the midst of their journey, while at the
same time their movements are here in some mea-
sure concealed from ordinary observation. But
as they advance towards Brighton, where the
bleak, naked Downs approach the sea, and the
intervening plain becomes narrower, the fields
being more open, and the fences low and trifling,
these migratory flocks seem to accumulate — to
become, as it were, more concentrated — as they

86 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

proceed in a continuous stream towards the
east.

It would appear tliat these birds — the greater
part of which are tlie young of the year, at this
time but a few months old and unequal to pro-
tracted flights —in thus steadfasfcl}^ pursuing this
course, are impelled by a wonderful instinct to
seek the shores of the neighbouring county of
Kent, from whence the voyage to the continent
may be performed with ease and security. At
any rate, from this period throughout the whole
county, the species continues to be comparatively
but sparingly distributed, until augmented by
fresh arrivals from the south during the wai-m
days of the ensuing spring.

NO GAP IN NATURE. 87

LETTER VIIL

"Nature to them, without profusio7i, kmd,
The proper organs, proper power assig-ned ;
Each seeming' want compensated of course,
Here with degrees of swiftness, there of force ;
Ail in exact proportion to their state,
Notliing- to add, and notliing to abate."

Pope.

jSTo Gap in Nature — Harriers — Variety of Plumage —
Different Species — Examples in Sussex — Owls —
Eagle-owl — Living Collection at Arundel Castle —
Donjon-keep — Breeding in Confinement — Pri-
soners at large — Tawny or Wood Owl — Gradual
Disappearance — Utilitarian Spirit antagonistic to
tlie Picturesque — Ivy unjustly condemned — Short-
eared Owl — Scops-eared Owl — Occurrence in the
County — White, or Barn Owl — Innocence vindi-
cated— The Sanctuary — Bites of Hospitality.

How truly it may be said that there is no gap
ill Nature ! To the general student of Natural
History this fact is beautifully displayed at every
step ; but even in the comparatively limited
sphere of British Ornithology, we have ample
opportunities of observing how close is the affi-

83 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

nity between the various families of birds^ and
how insensible are the transitions from one genus
to another. Thus, the short-eared owl (Otus hra-
diyotos) — Strix accipitrina of earlier authors —
appears in some respects more like a hawk than
an owl, — as in the incomplete development of the
facial disk, the rapidity of its flight, the boldness
of itvS attack, and its diurnal habits ; while the
hen harrier {Circus cyaneus) — Falco cyaneus of
Linnaeus — seems to be as nearly allied to the
owls.

Of the three species of Circus, the marsh har-
rier or moor buzzard (Circus ceruginosus), the
hen harrier, and Montagu's harrier (Circus Mon-
tagui), the second is by far the most general)}^
distributed, although all three must now be con-
sidered comparatively rare in Sussex, even on the
heather-clad Downs, exposed moors, and marshy
commons where they once abounded.

The great variety of plumage presented by
birds of this genus, now clearly ascertained to be
referrible to age and sex, might easily have in-
duced a belief in the existence of many species,
at a period when this portion of British Orni-
tholog}^ had been but little investigated. The
males of the two last nauied, after the first au-
tumnal moult, gradually assume the adult dress,
which appears to be at least three years in arriv-

HARKIERS — VARIETY OF PLUMAGE. 89

ing at perfection ; tlie upper parts being then
generally of a bluish grey, and the lower white ;
Montagus bird, however, is distinguished not
only by its lighter and more elongated form and
tern-like flight, but by a dark belt across the se-
condaries, and several ferruginous bars on the
under wing-coverts. The females are respectively
larger than the males, of a brown colour, varied
less or more with several shades of yellowish red,
the longitudinal spots or streaks on the lower
paiis becoming more narrow and distinct, and
the ground of a lighter tint, as they advance to-
wards maturity. The young of the year resemble
the females, but the plumage is less streaked of
variegated. The male of the marsh harrier or
moor buzzard, although, like others of the genus,
subject to a change which may be dated from the
first autumnal moult, yet never arrives at that
gull-like state of plumage characteristic of the
other two species ; the wings and tail alone, even
in very old birds, assuming the bluish grey hu€,
the head and throat being whitish, and the re-
maining portion of the body presenting diflferent
shades of dark and ferruginous brown.

Although formerly of common occurrence on
the uncultivated heaths of this county, many of
which still continue in their primasval state, the
marsh harrier is now one of the rarest of our

90 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

Falconidce. I do not know of an adult male
having been procured during the last ten years
in Sussex, and but few specimens of female, or
immature birds. Montao^u's harrier, althouojh a
scarce bird, is more frequently met with. A male
and female are in the possession of a gentleman
at Brighton, which were shot at Wiversfield, in
June, 1847. As both were mature, and had been
observed together for some time previously, it is
probable that their nest was in the immediate
vicinity. In September, 1844, a male was shot by
the Duke of Norfolk's head keeper, near Arundel,
and another in December of the same year by a
gentleman at West Wittering. I have seen a
beautiful specimen, an adult male, at Hollycombe,
which was obtained in that neighbourhood on
the borders of Wolmer Forest ; and another, a
female, which had been taken in a trap baited
with a rabbit's scut, at Oafliam, in March, 1842.

The hen harrier is, as I have said, the least
rare of the three species; and examples, chiefly
immature, are shot or trapped every year, and
figure either in the gamekeeper's larder or the
cabinet of the collector.

Through this group of the Falconidce we pass,
by an easy gradation, to the owls ; for the loose
and yielding character of the phunage, the pre-
sence of a flicial disk, or ring of short, curled

THE EAGLE OWL. 91

feathers which partically defines the outlme of the
face, and a general lightness and buoyancy of
frame, evince an obvious departure from the cha-
racter of the falcons and hawks, and an approach
to those birds of night which have not unaptly
been termed the moths of the feathered race.

The eagle owl {Bubo maximus) is said by Mon-
tagu, Yarrell, and Jen3nis, to have been met with
in Sussex: such high authority is of course suffi-
cient to entitle it to a place in our local Fauna;
but although I have not been able to ascertain a
second instance of its occurrence here in the wild
state, I cannot refrain from alluding to the unri-
vailed living collection of these magnificent birds
at Arundel Castle, existing in a condition more
nearly approaching to a state of Nature than, I
believe, ever before fell to the lot of any animal
which liad been partially deprived of its liberty by
man. They inhabit a considerable space circum-
scribed by the massive ivy-covered walls of the
old Donjon keep, where they withdraw to rest
during the broad day, and emerge from these
retreats on the approach of evening. The fict
that these owls have here not only performed the
duties of incubation, but even reared their young
occasionally — the only instance, I believe, on re-
cord of any bird of prey breeding when deprived
of its liberty — would alone prove their perfect

92 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

reconciliation to the very qualified captivity to
wliicli they are subjected.

The tawny or wood owl (Syrnium aluco) is still
found in the thick covers of the weald, and in old
parks, to which this bird now appears to be
chiefly restricted. Although in its persecution at
the hands of the keeper it does not present such
a case of injured innocence as the barn owl — a
young leveret or rabbit occasionally varying its
nocturnal sport — yet I believe that feathered
game is rarely or never molested by it; while
rats, mice, small birds, reptiles, and large insects
constitute its regular prey.

This species was, even a few yeai^ since, more
numerous than at present in our great woods;
which I attribute not so much to special persecu-
tion as to the disappearance of nearly all the aged
oak trees which used to form such a distinguisliing
feature in our woodland scenery, and in the hollow
recesses of which the tawny owl deposited its eggs
and reared its young. An opinion has for some
time been prevalent among proprietors in these
districts, that under the existing state of duties on
foreign timber,* and the present high value of oak
bark, it " pays better," as the phrase is, to fell the

*" This was written before the late alteration in the
tariff.

LOXG-EARED OWL — 1\^. [)6

trees when comparatively young, than to suffer
them to arrive at maturity, as their ancestors did.
Under these circumstances there is but little
chance, as there used to be, of some huge son of
the forest, whose premature decay perhaps had
escaped the notice of the woodman, affording an
asylum to tliis bird, and the same cause has
tended to diminish the numbers of the whole fa-
mily of woodpeckers, and of the long-eared owl
(Otus vulgaris), which used to build its nest in
the dense masses of ivy with which the more aged
trees were clothed. In the utilitainan spirit of the
present day, which repudiates all perception of
the picturesque, these survivors of centuries have
been grubbed up and condemned as cumberers of
the ground; and an erroneous idea having been
propagated that ivy is injurious to the growth of
timber trees, as tending to absorb a portion of the
sap from the bark which it encircles — although it
is through its own root alone, which is in the
gi'ound, that the plant derives any nourishment*
— we see trees which a few years ago were clothed
with perennial masses of ivy, now covered with
brown patches of its dead and decaying leaves,
and on a closer inspection perceive the fatal

* For a triamphant defence of the ivy, see " \Yater-
ton's Essays," 2nd series, p. 6S.

94^ ORNITHOLOGICAL RAI^TBLES.

wound where the unrelenting bill-hook of the
woodman had severed the bole of the beautiful
evergreen.

The short-eared owl (Otus hracltyotos) occurs
on our open heaths about the latter end of Octo-
ber, and its appearance here, as elsewhere, is
generally hailed as the harbinger of the first flight
of woodcocks ; but although I have frequently met
with it in such situations, and occasionally in tur-
nip and stubble fields, I believe it to be much less
generally distributed here than on. the eastern
coast of England. It is an autumnal visitor from
the north, appears to be less incommoded by day-
light than any of its congeners, and flies, even
during sunshine, with a degree of boldness and
decision which alone would serve to distinguish it
from the others. Its prey appears to be similar to
that of the kestrel. The stomachs of three which
I examined contained the remains of field mice,
young rats, and the elytra of different species of
beetles.

The eggs and nest of this bud have been found
in Norfolk, but I believe that it has never been
known to breed in this county.

Of the occurrence of that rare visitor, the
Scops-eared owl (Scops Aldrovandi), I can record
only one instance in Sussex. It was shot some
years ago at Shillinglee, the seat of the Earl of

EITES OF HOSPITALITY. 95

Winterton, and was subsequently in the possession
of a member of the family.

The white or barn owl {Strix flammea), pre-
eminently typical of the genus, is the most gene-
rally distributed, although by no means so common
as in some other counties. Our farmers have at
last discovered that the occasional disappearance
of poultry from the yard, or of pigeons from the
dovecot, is not to be laid to its charge, and that
even the vaunted services of the cat in purging
the barn and the haggard of rats and mice, fall
far short of those performed by its powerful ally,
this useful and really valuable bird.

Some of these owls have lately found a sanc-
tuary in the yews and ivy of the churchyard at
Petworth; and their hard breathing, late in the
evening, has more than once arrested the atten-
tion of the passers by, who fancied that some
jovial neighbour had been "brought to," and was
reclining in an adjacent gutter, under the somni-
ferous influence of the potations dispensed at the
beer-shop, having there taken advantage of the
legal indulgence "to be drunk on the premises."

I have the satisfaction of exercising the rites of
hospitality towards a pair of barn owls, which have
for some time taken up their quarters in one of
the attic roofs of the ancient, ivy-covered house in
which I reside. I delight in listening to the pro-

96 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

longed snoring of the young when I ascend the
old oak stairs to the neighbourhood of their nur-
sery, and in hearing the shriek of the parent birds
on the calm summer nights as they pass to and fro
near my window; for it assures me that they are
still safe ; and as I know that at least a qualified
protection is afforded them elsewhere, and that,
even their arch-enemy the gamekeeper is be-
ginning reluctantly, but gradually, to acquiesce
in the general belief of their innocence and utility,
I cannot help indulging the hope that this bird
will eventually meet with that general encourage-
ment and protection to which its eminent services
so richly entitle it.

CARRION CROW. 97

LETTER IX.

" Omnes eodem cogimur."

Horace.

Carrion Crow : His Haunts and Habits during the
Summer — Hammer-ponds — Crow-Mussel — Win-
ter Haunts of the Hooded and Carrion Crows —
Partiality of several Corvidce to the Sea-coast at
this Season — Local separation of two nearly-al-
lied Species — Probable Cause.

The carrion crow (Gorvus corone) is a well-
known bird in most parts of Sussex, but more
especially frequents the wooded districts north of
the Downs during the spring and summer, where,
notmthstanding the dangers to which he is occa-
sionally exposed from bird-nesting boys and vigi-
lant game-keepers, the species seems to have found
a strong hold, and does not appear to be sensibly
diminishing.

After the bursting of the leaf it is difficult to
discover his haunts ; so shy and solitary are his
habits, that two nests are seldom to be found in

98 OKNITHOLOGICAL EAMBLES.

the immediate neighbourhood of each other : and
here, amidst forests of oak, and dense thickets,
interwoven with briars and brushwood, he dwells
in comparative security, and has ample opportu-
nities of indulging his vagrant habits and his
predilection for all kinds of animal food. Besides
the young of small quadrupeds, carrion of all
kinds, and the eggs of pheasants, partridges, and
poultry, he is exceedingly fond of a species of
fresh- water mussel {Anodon anatina), which
abounds in all the brooks and ponds in the clay
district of the weald of Sussex, and from this
circumstance, has among the country people ac-
quired the local name of " crow-mussel/'

After continued and heavy falls of rain, the
meadows in the vicinity of these brooks are inun-
dated to a considerable extent, and quantities of
this shell-fish, disturbed from the muddy bed of
the stream, are carried over and deposited on
the banks, where they remain high and dry after
the falling of the water. On such occasions the
carrion crow is not idle : as the floods retire he
may be seen issuing from the neighbouring woods,
expressing his delight, or announcing liis disco-
very to his mate by his frequent croakings ; flying
steadily along the edge, but checking his progress
every now and then to seize and devour a newly
exposed prize; while another may be observed

HAMMER-PONDS. 99

parading up and down the banks, wading knee-
deep in the shallower parts of the stream, and
anxiously watching the receding waters ; or occa-
sionally plunging in his head and dragging out a
mussel, which he demolishes forthwith : the shell
being brittle, two or three smart blows of his
beak suffice to break it, and the contents disap-
pear in a moment.

Immense quantities of this bivalve are found in
the numerous ponds which form so distinguishing
a feature in the wooded scenery of the weald, and
attract the attention of all strangers who visit this
part of Sussex. Many of these are the remains
of establishments for the smelting of native iron,
before the Swedish metal came into such general
use; and the names of "Furnace -pond'' and
" Hammer-pond,'' which are still applied to some
of them, serve to point out their origin. They
frequently abound with fish, and are usually
drained at an interval of a certain number of
years; carp, tench, and eels are found in consi-
derable numbers, and the decayed vegetation
which has accumulated at the bottom in the form
of mud— the result of the falling of the leaf from
the overhanging woods during many successive
seasons — is afterwards dug out and thrown up on
the banks to be used for agricultural purposes,
and in this state the ponds are suffered to remain

f2

100 ORNITHOT.OGICAL RAMBLES.

for some time before the water is allowed to
return, and the stock-fish re-introduced. Then
indeed an ample and welcome feast is prepared
for the carrion crow, the bottom of the pond and
the banks above being literally studded with
the fresh-water mussel. I have never observed
so many carrion crows assembled together as on
such occasions, and the banquet lasts for several
days, until nothing remains but scattered fi^ag-
ments of the empty shells.

On the approach of winter the carrion crow
retires from the wooded districts and proceeds to
the sea-coast, at a somewhat later period than
that at which the hooded crow {Gorvus comix)
arrives in this country from the north ; and the
partial distribution of these Corvidw at this sea-
son, involving, as it does, the local separation of
the two species, appears to me to be worthy of
observation.

A few years since, while residing during the
winter near the sea in the western part of the
county, I noticed that the carrion crow was
common in the estuaries of Chichester harbour,
and along the whole line of shore from Selsey Bill
to Bognor, where I also met with the raven occa-
sionally at this season; but I never could detect
the occurrence of a single hooded crow within the
same limits. This struck me the more forcibly.

HOODED AND CARRION CROWS. 101

from having previously perceived that the last spe-
cies is exceeding numerous about twenty miles to
the eastward, in the neighbourhood of Shoreham
and Brighton, where the carrion crow is, in its
turn, equally scarce. I may add that my subse-
quent observations have proved the above remarks
to be correct, and that they have been corrobo-
rated by the testimony of others whose attention
I had drawn to the subject.

This peculiarity in the local distribution of the
two species, while impelled by the same instinct
to frequent the shores of our county during the
winter months, is certainly remarkable. It can
hardly be attributed to mutual dislike or hostility.
The well-authenticated instances which are on
record of the hooded crow having paired with the
carrion crow in a wild state would refute such an
idea.* Perhaps the varying character and aspect
of the country in the immediate vicinity of the
sea may afford a clew to unravel the mystery.

To the eastward, near Brighton, and for many
miles in that direction, the naked Downs approach
the coast, and present a considerable extent, re-
sembling— at least in the absence of wood — the
native haunts of the hooded crow in Orkney
and Shetland. A natural predilection for such a

* See Yarrell's " History of British Birds."

102 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

country may therefore induce these birds to pre-
fer the neighbourhood of this treeless tract to
the wooded and highly cultivated region which
extends to the very shore in the more western
part of Sussex; and admitting tliis conjecture to
be correct, the partiality of the carrion crow to
the latter district may be accounted for in a simi-
lar manner.

I should have observed that carrion crows, even
where they occur in the greatest numbers during
the winter months, as at Pagham harbour and
the inlets of the sea to the south of Chichester,
seem always, more or less, to live in pairs, and
never assemble in large flocks, as hooded crows
are well known to do in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Brighton, and even on the beach
between the houses and the sea.

The food of both these birds, as well as that
of the raven, at this season of the year consists
of oysters, mussels, small crabs, marine insects,
worms and dead fish, which are cast up by the
waves. Indeed even the rook is driven by the
same necessity to the sea-coast during the preva-
lence of severe frost, and partakes of the same
fare. At Pagham, in the vicinity of the oyster-
beds, I have frequently seen the carrion crow
ascend to a gi-eat height in the air with one of
these fish in his claws, and after letting it fall on

DEPARTURE FROM THE COAST. 103

the beach, descend rapidly with closed pinions,
and devour the contents, which, but for the shock
or fracture occasioned by the fall, he would have
been unable to disengage from the shell. I have
since observed the hooded crow, near Brighton,
resort to a similar expedient.

The latter birds make their appearance about
the beginning of October, haunting the upper
parts of the tide rivers at Shoreham and New-
haven, and the fields at some distance from the
coast, gradually becoming more gregarious and
more marine in their habits as winter approaches.
They assemble in considerable numbers every
night in a small plantation of fir trees, at Stanmer
Park, situated on an elevated portion of the de-
mesne. Those which haunt the shores in the
neighbourhood of Brighton seem to restrict them-
selves to this roosting-place ; at least I have not
been able to detect another within several miles
of that town.

These hooded crows depart rather suddenly for
the north about the latter end of March. I have
frequently noticed as many as thirty on the beach
opposite Brunswick Terrace, and in a few days
afterwards perhaps not one was to be seen. The
carrion crows commence their return from the
coast to the interior at a somewhat earlier period,
and, as might be expected from their having

104 OKNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

sojourned in pairs during the winter, tlieir disap-
pearance is not so sudden and simultaneous, but
they gradually become less numerous, until at last
they entirely desert the shores for the woods and
forests of the interior.

FALCONS. 105

LETTER X.

As a falcon from the rocky height,

Her quarrj- seen, impetuous at the sight,

Forth springing instant, darts lierself from high.

Shoots on the whig, and skims along the skj'."

Pope's Homer.

Peregrine Falcon — Eyrie at Beachy Head — Lofty Pre-
cipice— Beachy Head in the Breeding Season —
Jackdaws — Guillemots and Razor-bills — Herring-
gulls — Kestrels — Waterfowl at Burton — " The
Duck-hawk" — Shooting a Friend for a Foe —
Unexpected Capture — The Hobby a Miniature
Peregrine — Hobby and wounded Partridge — A
good Specimen . — Occurrences of the Hobby in
Sussex.

The sight of a falcon now-a-days — as the au-
thor of the " Fauna of Norfolk'' justly remarks —
" is somewhat like that of the rusty mail or the
monument of a departed hero — the memories of
the past crowd upon the mind, w^hen these birds,
now proscribed and almost annihilated amongst
us, were the favourites of ladies, and the com-
panions of princes."

But even apart from romantic or sporting as-

106 OENITHOLOGICAL EAMBLES.

sociations, there is an air of independence and an
individuality of character about the Falconidce
that alone would render the group the most in-
teresting of the feathered tribes ; and when, be-
sides all this, we see them, like the aborigines of
North America, gradually yielding to the pressure
of what is called " civilization," and disappearing
from their native woods and mountain fastnesses,
where a few years since they had it all their own
way, as the poor Indians among the prairies of
the West, a feeling of pity is superadded to our
regard for the persecuted race, and their habits,
manners, and even casual appearance, assume in
our eyes a twofold interest.

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) may
be considered rare in Sussex. As we have no in-
land precipices, and the coast to the westward of
Brighton is generally flat, the favourite haunts
of this bird lie to the eastward of that place. A
pair have from time immemorial bred near the
summit of one of the highest cliffs at Beachy
Head, and although the nest has frequently been
robbed of the young ones, and either of the parent
birds has occasionally fallen a victim to the trap
or gun, yet it is surprising with what pertinacity
the position is still held, and the right of tenure
kept up by the survivor, who in a short time
finds a disengaged partner of the opposite sex, the

BEECHY HEAD IN THE BREEDING-SEASON. 107

latter at once entering ujDon the performance of
its duties as spouse or parent, as the case may be.
On my last visit to Beachy Head, I was much
struck by the watchful jealousy with which the
peregrines seemed to guard the particular cliff-
more than 500 feet above the sea — on a lofty
ledge of which their nest was situated, and which,
indeed, they evidently considered their own espe-
cial property : with the exception of a few jack-
daws who bustled out of the crevices below, all
the other birds which had now assembled on this
part of the coast for the breeding-season — it being
about the middle of May — seemed to respect the
territory of their warlike neighbours. The ad-
joining precipice, further westward, was occupied
by guillemots and razor-bills, who had deposited
their eggs, the former on the naked ledge, the lat-
ter in the crannies in the face of the cliff. Here
the jackdaws appeared quite at their ease, their
loud, merry note being heard above every other
sound, as they flew in and out of the fissures in
the white rock, or sat perched on a pinnacle near
the summit, and leisurely surveyed the busy
crowd below. In a clifi" still further to the west,
near Newhaven, another pair of peregrines have
also an eyiie, and an extensive colony of herring-
gulls is established, while in the same neighbour-
hood a pair of ravens annually rear their youno- ;

108 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

and tlie kestrel may be seen fluttering along the
mai-gin, or dropping over the edge of the preci-
pice on his return to his own little establishment
from a mousing expedition into the interior.

All these birds, with the exception of the ra-
ven, occasionally fall a prey to the peregrine ;
his rapacity, when pressed by hunger or the calls
of an importunate family, is equalled only by his
courage and audacity. I have seen him strike
and carry off a herring-gull, apparently with the
most perfect ease ; and it would appear that he
does not scruple to make a meal of his congener,
the kestrel, in situations where the latter bird
happens to be unusuall}^ abundant. A writer in
the "Zoologist"* — who seems to have had excel-
lent opportunities of observing the peregrine
during the breeding-season in the immediate
neighbourhood of his residence, and whose in-
teresting communication on its habits is v/ell
worthy a perusal — says that it even evinces a
partiality for the poor kestrels which resort to
the same cliffs on the southern coast of the Isle
of Wight.

The peregrine falcon is seldom seen in Sussex
during the summer months, the interior of the
county offering, as I have said, no spot favourable

* The Rev. C. Buiy.

THE PEREGRINE AT BURTOX. 109

for its eyrie ; indeed, except at Newhaven, 1 have
not been able to ascertain that a second pair were
established, even on the coast, during the breed-
ing-season, although the great locomotive powers
and wandering propensities of this bird might
induce a hasty observer to imagine that a greater
number were quartered on the cliffs between
Brighton and Beachy Head.

During the latter part of .the autumn the young
peregrines are banished by their parents from the
nest, and being left to shift for themselves, com-
mence "the grand tour" on their own account.

These at first linger for awhile in the neigh-
bourhood of the scenes of theii' youth, but event-
ually scatter over the world, and doubtless it is
from their ranks that deficiencies, caused by the
death of older birds during subsequent breed-
ing-seasons, are supplied with such mysterious
rapidity.

A falcon of this species occasionally makes his
appearance during the winter in the neighbour-
hood of the lakes, or large ponds, in Burton Park,
about three miles south of Petworth. The banks
of these v/aters are covered with masses of reeds,
and abound at all seasons with wild ducks, teals,
coots, and water-hens, whose numbers are rein-
forced during the winter by flocks of wigeon,
pochards, and scaup ducks, as well as by consi-

110 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

derable parties of their own species ; while a fair
sprinkling of snipes and woodcocks are found
along the higher margins, and among the nume-
rous grassy tussocks which extend far into the
swampy plantations near the borders of the upper
lake. The game in the surrounding woods, and
the fishing, being strictly preserved, these birds
dwell here in comparative security ; and as the
waters furnish them with an abundant supply of
their natural food, they have no inducement to
wander beyond the precincts of the park. Great,
then, is the general consternation, when the duck-
hawk* — as the old keeper calls him — makes his
appearance. Taking up his position on a tall fir
tree commanding a view of the pond, he selects
a victim from the terrified flock as they fly hur-
riedly along, dashes after it with incredible swift-
ness, sweeps it almost from the surface of the
water, and disappears with it among the neigh-
bouring reed-beds, while its companions, suddenly
veering round, return again, as if unwilling to
quit the spot which has so long afforded them a
safe asylum ; but after a day or two they become
thoroughly scared, and may be found among the
brooks in the open country; indeed, the first in-

* The name by which the peregrine is also known in
America.

CO

'I

SHOOTING A FRIEND FOR A FOE. Ill

timation I have frequently received of the pre-
sence of the peregrine at Burton, has been the
sudden appearance of several " wisps of snipe/'
even in open weather, among the low meadows at
a considerable distance ; and little parties of teal
and wild ducks congregating at every turn of
the river, where the high banks afforded them
a chance of concealment, and where, though com-
paratively exposed to greater danger, they might
be found until the death or expulsion of the ene-
my from their old quarters.

Specimens of this falcon have been shot near
Lewes, Newhaven, Seaford, Pevensey, and Rye,
in the eastern, and in the neighbourhood of Chi-
chester, Petworth, and Arundel, in the western
division of the county. It has also occurred oc-
casionally, though rarely, in the wooded portion
of the weald. A friend of mine has one in his
possession which was shot in that part of the
country by a farmer, who mistook it for a wood-
pigeon, immense flocks of which abound there
during the acorn season. On the present occasion
the man was endeavouring to protect his ripe
peas from their depredations, and for this pur-
pose, having concealed himself behind a tree, and
placed a stuffed pigeon, as a decoy, in the middle
of the field, he awaited the arrival of the first
party that might pass within reach of his gun.

U2 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

He had not been there long before a peregrine
falcon swept by, and made a dash at the lure, but
discovering his mistake, almost at the very mo-
ment when he seemed to strike it, rose with the
quickness of thought, and flew into a tree about
thirty yards from the spot where the farmer lay
concealed. The latter, who still imagined it to
be a wood- pigeon — never before having seen a
peregrine — fired, and killed the falcon, thus un-
consciously destroying his best friend, and de-
priving himself of a most powerful ally in thin-
nino^ the ranks of his feathered enemies.

A falcon was caus^ht in a sinoular situation
at the farm of Saddlescombe, situated between
Shoreham and the Devil's Dyke. While en-
gaged in taking sparrows under the thatched
eaves of a barn, the farmer was surprised at the
sudden plunge of a heavier body into the net,
whose violent struggles among the meshes, and
tlie liberal use of its sharp claws, at first induced
him to believe that he had captured a cat. It
turned out, however, to be a peregrine — a bird
of the year.

Although, from a general similarity both in
aspect and structure, the hobby {Falco suhhuteo)
has been correctly styled a miniature peregrine,
3^et, unlike that species, it prefers the wooded
district of the weald to the Downs or the open

HOBBY AND WOUNDED PARTRIDGE. 113

country near the coast; being here a summer
visitor, and occasionally taking up his quarters in
the nest of a carrion crow. Yet even in these his
favourite haunts, he must be considered scarce,
and you will rarely discover his deca^dng form
among the rows of defunct hawks which garnish
the gable end of the keeper's cottage — a sort of
ornithological register, which would appear to in-
dicate, with tolerable accuracy, the prevalence or
scarcity of any species of raptorial bird in its im-
mediate neighbourhood.

The courage and address of this hawk are re-
markable. When shooting wdth a friend a few
years ago, during the early part of September, we
observed a hobby pursuing a partridge, which,
having been wounded in the spine, was then in
the act of " towering.'' The little fellow proved
himself to be a true falcon, by the rapidity with
which he rose above his quarry in rapid circles,
" climbing to the mountee," as our ancestors
termed this manoeuvre, with all the ease of a pe-
regrine. Unfortunately at this juncture the par-
tridge became suddenly lifeless — as is the case
with all towering birds — and fell to the ground,
while the hobby, apparently disdaining to accept
a victim which he had not obtained by his own
exertions, scudded away after a fresh covey which
just then rose from the farther end of an adjoining

114 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

stubble field, and we lost sight of liim for a short
time as he dashed after the friglitened birds into
a thick wood where they had hurried for pro-
tection. His pursuit, however, must have been
unsuccessful, for he soon reappeared, following
the dogs as they quartered the field, and evidently
keeping a watchful eye on their movements ; but
unfortunately, passing within an imprudent dis-
tance of my companion, was unrelentingly bag-
ged by him. I must, however, plead guilty to
having last summer shot a bird of this species
myself a few miles to the north-east of Petworth.
It was in a wild, unenclosed part of the country,
on the brow of a steep liill, covered with fern and
studded with spreading oaks and large holly trees.
I was admiring the unusual size of the latter, and
that beautiful provision of Nature, only to be seen
to advantage in full-grown hollies, by which the
foliage on the lower branches, which drooped
upon the ground, was protected by a spiny armour
from the half-starved flocks around — the upper
leaves, which were out of their reach, being at
the same time quite destitute of prickles — when a
turtle dove suddenly dashed by, closely pursued
by a hobby, which, from his black cheeks and red
thighs, I saw at a glance was a male in full nup-
tial plumage. My first impulse was to stand
still and watch the sport, but a conviction that I

HOBBY AND TURTLE DOVE. 115

should lose sight of both birds among the trees,
and a recollection that such a specimen would
form a valuable addition to my cabinet, altered
my plans in a moment, and I had just time to
bring him down with a snap-shot as he turned
suddenly after the dove, which had already disap-
peared behind an oak. However, if the country
had been more open, so as to have admitted of a
view of the chase, I might, perhaps, have allowed
him to pursue his quarry unmolested.

In the eastern division of the county the hobby
has been killed near Battle, Pevensey and Lewes;
it has also occurred more frequently in various
parts of the weald, and has been met with oc-
casionally on the south side of the Downs. There
is a specimen in the Chichester museum, which
was shot at Halnaker, in September, 1836, and I
have observed it near the great beech woods on
the higher Downs during the autumn: indeed, it
is at this season that the hobby has been ge-
nerally killed. They then evidently visit this
southern county in common with so many of our
summer visitors who intend to pass the winter
months in a more o-enial climate.

116 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

LETTER XL

" Nature teaches beasts to know their friends."

CORIOLANOS.

The Merlin — Stealthy Mode of Approach — Merlin and
Red wigs — Occurrences in Sussex — Merlin on Snipe
Bogs — Chase of wounded Snipe — A valuable Ally
— Spoi-t in Company — Good Understanding — A
New Confederate — Tactics of the Jack-Snipe.

The Merlin {Falco JEsalon) is a winter visitor
to Sussex, and seems as partial to the bleak and
exposed situations near the coast as is the hobby
to the woods of the interior. I do not remember
havinor ever seen this little falcon amono- the
covers on the clay soils of West Sussex, but I have
observed it in the wilder portions of the forest
range to the east of Horsham, near Crawley and
Worth. It also occurs on various parts of the
sandstone formation immediately to the north of
the Downs, more especially where it spreads into
wide heaths, as in the neighbourhood of Rogate,
Midhurst, Duncton, Parham, and Henfield; on
most of which I have noticed this bird.

THE MERLIX. 117

In a partially enclosed country it flies low, but
rapidly when foraging for prey, and I have more
than once seen it exhibit great skill in masking
its approach on such occasions; skirting some
thick hedge or high bank for a considerable way,
at the other side of which it had apparently
marked a party of larks or starlings feeding in
an open field. On scuds the little hawk, and
so accurately does he calculate his distance, that
when he arrives opposite the spot where the
birds are regaling in fancied security, lie sudden-
ly drops over the fence and strikes a victim in a
moment.

I once observed a female of this species at Kel-
som Moor, near Pet worth, when the heath was
covered with snow, skimmino- along; under the
brow of a hill, so close to the ground as almost to
touch her own shadow, strongly cast as it was
and well defined by the sunshine on the white
surface. She continued this course for some
time, and then, suddenly veering to the left^ rose
rapidly above a clump of holly-bushes and made
a dash at a flock of redwings which were feasting
on the coral-like bunches of berries that covered
the branches, but missing her swoop, she soon
singled out a bird for a fresh experiment, and
as if ashamed of her former system of tactics, had
recourse at once to open warfare, pressing her

118 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

quarry so severely that it was obliged to mount
aloft, its only chance of escape being to keep
above its pursuer ; but all in vain ; it proved less
expert at this manoeuvre than the lark, or even
the snipe, and after a short flight was clutched by
the merlin, who, as she came over my head in her
rapid descent towards a rough, broken part of the
moor at a little distance, appeared scarcely larger
than the bird in her talons.

I have observed this species during the winter
in the neighbourhood of the coast at Pagham and
Selsey, and on the Downs eastward of Brighton ;
it has been killed near Hastings, Uckfield and
Eye, and has occurred in other parts of the
county. I once met with an immature specimen
at Upwaltham, on the hills between Petworth
and Chichester, as early as October, but this I
consider an unusual occurrence. Adult males* are
exceedingly rare, almost all that I have examined
were females, or birds of the year, and I have
not been able to ascertain that it ever breeds in
this county.

I cannot refrain from introducing here an epi-

* In Kortli Wales young merlins are called stone-
falcons, a term which Mr. Yarrell informs ns should be
restricted to the old males. In Sussex it is generally
applied to male sparrowhawks during the winter.

SNIPE-SHOOTING. 119

sode illustrative of the sagacity and fearlessness
of this little falcon, as it is the result of my own
observation, although in a part of the British
Islands very remote from that in wliich I now
write.

Some years ago, when snipe-shooting on a
range of strictly preserved bogs in the west of
Ireland, the merlin was, I may say, my daily com-
panion. I find, by reference to memoranda of
that date, that I commenced operations in the
beginning of November, generally taking the field
about eleven o'clock in the morning, and bagging
on an average fi:om ten to twenty couple of snipes
during the day, besides a few hares, woodcocks
and wild ducks. I well remember the first time
the merlin made his appearance with the obvious
intention of sharing my sport. I had just entered
one of those wet moors — surrounded by partially
cultivated land — which in favourable weather are
much more productive of sport than the extensive
" red bogs,'' when a couple of snipe rose near the
margin. Bang, bang, went both my barrels,
and while one bird fell dead, the other, slightly
but perceptibly wounded, ascended to a consider-
able height, and from the direction of its flight
was evidently preparing to drop in a marsh which
I had just left. Wliile my eyes were fixed upon
its movements, I perceived a merlin advancing

120 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

rapidly towards it, and struggling through the air,
as if afraid that in spite of its exertions it would
still be too late. The snipe, although wounded,
yet attempted to ascend higher, but finding itself
unequal to tlie task, yielded, as it were, to the
breeze which was blowing freshly at the moment,
and — contrary to its usual habit — flying down
wind with extraordinary rapidity, seemed to trust
to speed for its escape: but swift as it was, its
enemy was swifter still, and when after the lapse
of a few seconds the two birds had become mere
specks in the distant sky, I could perceive that
one of these gradually gained on the other,
touched it, and then both melted into one larger
dot, which slowly descended to the ground.

"Ah!" cried my Celtic attendant, "that's the
snipe hawk'' — using an Irish word which I now
forget, but which, when interpreted, bore that
signification—" and a brave little chap he is."
Then suddenly turning round, he bestowed a vol-
ley of curses — varied with a few whistles— on a
wild young setter who was galloping incontinently
over the yet unbeaten ground, turning a deaf ear
to all Pat's imprecations, while she treated with
equal disregard the significant movements of old
Pluto, who, with stifi" tail and protruded muzzle,
was advancing cautiously towards a bed of rushes,
and just beginning to settle down into a comfort-

A VALUABLE ALLY. 121

able point. I need liardly tell you that at that
moment the hawk was forgotten for the snipe, and
it was not until the afternoon, in a distant bog, that
I again recognized my little friend, the merlin, ho-
vering about, and every now and then appearing
about to leave us, but as quickly returning, and
evidently hanging on in expectation of our start-
ing some of his favourite game. As for the snipe,
they lay like stones while he continued overhead ;
old Pluto pointed them one after another, even Fan
condescended to " back," and I had to kick them
up under the nose of the former, as they sprang
reluctantly from the rushes, and presented a suc-
cession of the most satisfactory shots imaginable ;
which was the more gratifying as they had been
unusually wild during the previous part of the
day. After bagging several, at last one rose at a
considerable distance — quite out of shot — and
away went the merlin after it. We watched the
chase for a long time, both birds appearing
equally matched, but they disappeared before it
came to a close, and the shades of evening soon
afterwards reminded me that I had five miles to
walk home before dinner.

Well, on my return a few days afterwards, there
was the merlin again on the same boo:! I could
perceive him, as I topped a hill which commanded
an extensive view of the country, scudding along

122 • ORNITHOLOGICAL RA]\IBLES.

towards us in a joyous sort of flight, as if to say
" you are welcome, I liave been waiting for you
a long time, come and begin at once." And
truly he was more confiding than ever, following
me from one marsh to another, and evidently dis-
tinguisliing and appreciating the respective perfor-
mances of man and dog. It was not Jong before
he discovered that the capture of a wounded
snipe was attended with far less trouble to him
than the pursuit of a sound one, and he soon be-
came so fastidious in this respect as to allow
those birds which were sprung out of shot to
depart without giving chase to them, while he
looked to me to put such a detainer on some of
those which rose near me as should render the
completion of the work an easy matter for him.

When the snipe was killed dead he never
meddled with it, but if it fluttered and fell at a
distance, he would frequently drop on it as it
touched the ground, and begin plucking and de-
vouring it. I made it a rule never to interfere with
him on such occasions, unless I wished to keep
his talents in reserve for an aerial exhibition, in
which case the nimble-footed Pat would run for-
ward and bag the snipe as quickly as possible,
before the little hawk had fairly commenced his
meal; although when he perceived our intention
he would generally succeed in carrying it to some

A NEW CONFEDERATE. - 123

distance, expostulating' all the time, with loud
and angry shrieks, at what he evidently consi-
dered a breach of our compact.

After my third or fourth visit to those bo^s
the merlin was always there to receive me, and
was subsequently joined by a companion, a
female, both of them continuing to attend me
in all my snipe-shooting expeditions on that side
of the country. Sometimes, at the very com-
mencement of the day^s sport, I might perhaps
be unaccompanied by my little friends, but the
first report of my gun was generally sufficient to
summon one or both of them to my presence, and
a wounded snipe, however slightly touched by the
shot, had no chance of escape from their united
efi'orts. First one would rise above it in a suc-
cession of circular gyrations— for he Avas unable
to ascend in such a direct line as the snipe— then
he would make a swoop, and if he missed, his
companion, who in the mean time had been
working upwards in a similar manner, would
next try her luck, and in this manner they
would pursue the quarry, until the persecuted
bird, unable to ascend higher or any longer avoid
the fatal stroke, was at last clutched by one of
the little falcons, while the other would hasten
to "bind to it," and all three descend together
into the bog. After a, performance of this sort

g2

124 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

an hour would occasionally elapse before the
return of either of the merlins — sometimes more,
sometimes less — but they never seemed willing
to give up the sport until at least three snipes
had fallen to their own share.

The jack-snipes {Scolopax gallinula) which
were tolerably abundant, but which I seldom
considered worth shooting, used to endeavour to
evade the deadly stroke of the merlin in a very
different manner from that adopted by the com-
mon or "fuir' snipe, as it is there termed, and
with far greater success. Difficult to spring at
all times, it was almost impossible to start this
cunning little fellow from the heath when his
enemy was on the wing: indeed, without the
co-operation of Pluto the attempt would have
been utterly futile; but when the steady gaze
of that infallible quadruped continued to be rivet-
ted on a particular bit of ground, on every inch
of which you had already trod except the very
one under his nose ; then might you have staked
your existence that on that identical spot a jack-
snipe lay squatted, and when at last discovered
and started, instead of flying boldly away and
endeavouring to escape by power of wing, this
little fellow would perform a puzzling, zigzag
sort of movement for forty or fifty yards, utterly
mystifying the merlin, and then suddenly drop-

PARTING FROM OLD FRIENDS 125

ping on the ground, would defy us all — except
Pluto — to discover his whereabouts again.

I shall never forget my last day's snipe-shoot-
ing there, or my farewell look at the merlins. I
may say, without affectation, that I parted from
them Avith sincere regret. They had been my
companions for more than two months, had not
only shared my sport, but had added very mate-
rially to it, by affording me a contemplation of
theirs ; and they convinced me that a friendly, if
not a famihar, intercourse, might be established
between man and many wild animals which now
shun his presence, without any greater sacrifice
on his part, than the simple observance of that
golden precept,

"Live and let live."

126 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

LETTER XII.

*'Un manant au miroir prenait des oisillons,
Le fantome brillant attire une alouette."

La Fontaine.

Netting and Killing Larks near Brighton — Two Modes
— Autumnal Migration — '^Chasse au miroir" —
Descriptive Sketch — Lark-netting in the Winter
— Mode of Capture — Dark Nights — ^^Experientia
docet."

There are two modes of killing larks in the
neighbourhood of Brighton, which are worth
noticing. The one lucrative, and practised by
professional birdcatchers ; attended, moreover,
with a certain degree of labour and hardship,
and requiring some skill and perseverance; the
other a comparatively idle occupation, or amuse-
ment, and as repugnant to the feelings of the
true sportsman as are the piscatory achievements
of a punt-anchored cockney to the salmon-fisher
of Connemara ! Nevertheless, as an indulgence
in this pastime is very general during three or
four weeks in the year, and as it involves the
consideration of a peculiar instinct or habit in

LARK-GLASS. 127

tlie bird itself, I feel tempted to give you a brief
description of it.

The soi-disant sportsman provides himself with
a certain implement called a lark-glass, which
may be fashioned in different ways, according to
the taste or whim of the fabricator. The follow-
ing is a rough sketch from a highly approved
article of this kind — a regular syren in its way —
which had lured many thousands to their doom.

A piece of wood, about a foot and a half long,
four inches deep, and three inches wide, is planed
off on two sides, so as to resemble the roof of a
well-known toy yclept a Noah's ark, but more
than twice its usual length. In the sloping sides
are set several bits of looking-glass. An iron
spindle, the lower end of which is sharp and fixed
in the ground, passes freely through the centre;
on this the instrument turns, and even spins ra-
pidly when a string has been attached and is
pulled by the performer, who generally stands at
a distance of fifteen or twenty yards from the
decoy. The reflection of the sun's rays from
these little revolving mirrors seems to possess a
mysterious attraction for the larks, for they de-
scend in great numbers from a considerable height
in the air, hover over the spot, and suffer them-
selves to be shot at repeatedly without attempt-
ing to leave the field or to continue their course.

128 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

It is during the autumnal migration of the
larks, which generally commences about the 20th
of September, and continues until the end of Oc-
tober, that this mode of warfare is in voj^ue. The
direction taken by the larks in this periodical
flight is exactly the reverse of that observed by
almost all the warblers at the same season, being
from east to west ; and a moderate breeze from
the latter point, accompanied by sunshine, ensures
what is called "good sport'' by those who can
find amusement in this occupation. The fields in
the neighbourhood of the coast on both sides of
the town, are haunted by various parties of gun-
ners from the hour of sunrise until ten or eleven
o'clock, about which time the great flights of
larks cease or diminish, and there is no small de-
gree of competition among the performers for
what are considered the best places; four or five
parties sometimes occupying one field, and as
many shooters being attached to one lark-glass:
but notwithstanding the crowd, and the noise of
voices mingled with the continual roar of guns,
the infatuated birds advance stupidly to their
doom, hover in numbers over the decoy, and pre-
sent the easiest possible mark to the veriest tyro
that ever pulled a trigger.

To any one, however, witnessing it for the first
time, the spectacle is sufiiciently curious. Per-

CHASSE AU MIEOIE. 129

haps at this moment, the shooters, having all re-
loaded during a pause in the battle, are await-
ing the approach of the next detachment. The
newly-arrived stranger casts his eyes about and
sees heaps of the dead and dying, but nothing as
yet on the wing to explain the meaning of all
those anxious upturned glances that he notices
around him. Presently a voice exclaims, " Here
they are, look out ! '' and a cluster of dark specks
becomes visible at a great distance. In a few
moments he perceives that this is a flock of larks :
but surely it is not possible that they will notice
that miserable toy which is now spinning rapidly,
urged by the frantic exertions of a gentleman in
bright yellow gaiters and bran-new shooting-coat,
crossed with a virgin shot-belt, who pulls the
string violently with one hand, while with the
other he wields his full-cocked gun as carelessly
as if it were a shillelagh ! He is mistaken: they
suddenly descend with rapidly closed pinions, to
within a few yards of the very spot where he
stands, or perhaps to a rival lure in the same or
in an adjoining field, and, hovering over it in
apparent delight and admiration, patiently suffer
themselves to be shot at and massacred in con-
siderable numbers.

The birds thus killed are comparatively lean
and worthless, not fetching, in the market, within

G 5

ISO ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

fourpence a dozen of the price usually demanded
for those which are taken by lark-nets during the
winter months.

I must now say a few words on the latter mode
of capture, as practised in the neighbourhood of
Brighton, where these bii'ds form a very consi-
derable article of traffic, and hang in numerous
bunches at all the poulterers' stalls in the town
and market. The season is from October to
March. A net is provided about twenty -five
yards long, and from sixteen to eighteen feet
wide, with meshes of about an inch and a half in
diameter ; this net is strengthened by eight lines
of a stronger cord, which cross it longitudinally
at regular intervals, and terminate at both ends
in large loops, which project a few inches beyond
the net itself Through these loops a long and
tough pole is passed at either extremity, and the
performers, two of whom are necessary, each
grasping a pole with both hands, pull in opposite
directions, so as to stretch the net to its utmost ;
then, standing face to face, and suffering one end
of each of their poles to touch the ground, while
the other is inclined forwards at an angle of about
forty-five degrees, in the direction towards which
they are about to advance, they commence ope-
rations by sweeping the ground until a lark is
felt to flutter in the net, when it is immediately

LARK-NETTING IN THE WINTER. 131

suffered to fall and the prisoner secured. Some
attention to the direction of the wind is neces-
sary ; if possible, it should pass obliquely ; if it
were to blow directly into the net, it would cause
it to bag too much, and resist their progress ; and
if from behind, it would carry the middle portion
too much forward, and moreover alarm the birds
prematurely.

Dark nights are necessary for this work ; stub-
ble and clover fields and meadows furnish the best
supply of larks, but the respective value of each
of these localities depends on the previous state
of the weather, and in this the old wary netter
has a great advantage over the beginner, who fre-
quently toils through many a cold night in vain,
until dear-bought experience at last places him
among the knowing ones of his calling. If the
previous day has been wet, larks are not found in
wheat stubbles, but in thick rank meadows, and
along the higher brows of grassy fields, where
they lie very close until touched by the lower
edge of the net. In fine weather the reverse of
this occurs; meadows would then furnish but
little sport, for the larks collect in the stubbles,
and are taken in great numbers, although they
do not lie so close as in the former situations.
Strange to say, during the prevalence of storm
and rain the exposed side of a hill is usually

132 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

preferred to the sheltered; and in the little low
valleys, "where one would expect the birds to con-
gregate at such a time, the lark-catcher would
toil in vain.

JN'o bird is so easily netted as the lark; he
generally starts from the ground just before the
lower edge of the net touches him, and invariably
mounts perpendicularly. This characteristic pro-
pensity to ascend at once may be observed by
any person who "treads up'' a lark in a field, and
satisfactorily illustrated by releasing, at the same
moment, a newly captured lark and a sparrow
from a cage or hat within the precincts of a room.
While the sparrow will fly off horizontally, dash
himself against the window, and lie almost stunned
from the shock, the lark will generally mount up-
wards to the ceiling,* and flutter there for a time,
in vain efl'orts to reach the sky, before he attempts
any other mode of exit: but this habit is fatal
to him in the netting season; he might frequently
escape, as indeed the bunting, — or clod-bird, —

* Since the first publication of the " Eambles" I have
met with the following remark in Bechstein's " Natural
History of Cage Birds : " — " The top of the cage (the
lark's) shoukl be of hnen, since from its tendency to rise
for flight it woukl run the risk of wounding its head
against a covering of wood or iron wire, especially be-
fore it is well tamed."

LARK-NETTIXG IN THE WINTER. ] 33

the sparrow and the linnet constantly do, by
flying straight forward; but ascending, as he
does, directly from the ground, the moment his
wings have touched the upper part of the net,
it is suffered to drop suddenl}^, and his capture is
then inevitable.

134 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

LETTER XIIL

" More pity that the eag-le should be mewed,
While kites and buzzards prey at liberty."

Richard III.

Misapplication of the term vulgaris — Tlie Kite a rare
Bird — Its graceful Flight — Occurrence in Sussex
— Formerly abundant in the Weald — Honey Buz-
zard— Characteristic Timber of the Downs and of
the Weald — Charlton Forest — Rencontre and
Feast disturbed — The Common Buzzard an un-
common Bird — The Puttock — Frequent but Erro-
neous Use of the Name of " Buzzard" — Anecdote
in Point — The Saddle on the wrong Horse — A
Gamekeeper's Ornithology.

With all due respect for the king of the birds,
I cannot but reflect with regret that the quota-
tion which I have prefixed to this letter is not
as applicable to our own days as to those of
Shakspeare: in fact, the specific term vulgaris,
or common, however appropriate it may have
been formerly, is now in numerous instances mis-
applied to many of our British birds; and this
remark will hold good in a general as well as
in a local sense; in most parts of England as

THE KITE. 135

well as in Sussex; for where is "the common
kite/' "the common buzzard/' or "the common
bittern/' of frequent occurrence now-a-days ?

As to the kite (Milvus vulgaris), I have never
yet been able to obtain a glimpse of it in the
wild state in any part of this county, though I
have seen it many years ago in Oxfordshire, once
in Derbyshire, and occasionally in North Wales.
I never met with it in Ireland, and am not aware
that it has been seen there.

They who have once had the good fortune to
behold this beautiful bird on the wing, have sel-
dom been able to refrain from expressing their
admiration of its surpassingly graceful flight,
coupled perhaps with sorrow, or some stronger
feeling, at the continued persecution which has
almost banished it from the woods of England,
and must ere long efi*ectually extirpate it as an
indigenous species.

I am able to record only two instances of its
occurrence in this county, at least such as I con-
sider authentic. The late Mr. Dodd of Chichester,
an accurate observer, favoured me, some years
since, with a notice that a bird of this kind had
been killed at Siddlesham, on the borders of
Pagham harbour.

In 184iS a kite was shot at and wounded by the
bailiff on the farm of Withdean, about four miles

136 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

from Brigliton, near the London road ; being only
winged, it was kept alive for some time in a gar-
den. I had no opportunity of examining it, either
at that time or after its death, as the preservation
of the skin had been neglected; but from the ac-
counts which I received from persons who had
frequently seen it, and who particularly noticed
the forked tail, I have no doubt that it was an
example of that now rare visitor, the kite.

I have ascertained that this species was compa-
ratively common in Sussex, about the beginning
of this century. All the old inhabitants of the
weald remember the " forky -tailed kite/' but T am
sorry to say, that among the rural population of
that district its disappearance is not so much a
matter of regret as with ornithologists ; they still
speak of it as the most fearless marauder of the
whole tribe of predatorial birds; and say that
such was its partiality for juvenile poultry, that
having once favoured any particular farm-yard
with a domiciliary visit, its attentions were sure
to be continued, unless shot or trapped in the in-
terim, as long as a single young chicken remained
to follow the hens : —

" * * Le Milan, manifeste voleur,
Eut repandu ralarme en tout le voisinage,
Et fait crier sur lui les enfans du village."

La Fontaine.

THE HONEY BQZZARD. 137

The honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus) is, of
course, here, as everywhere else, a scarce bird;
but decidedly less so than either the kite or the
common buzzard. Being now* only an acciden-
tal visitor from the southern and south-eastern
parts of the continent, and generally during the
latter portion of the summer and autumn, it has
escaped the exterminating process which has so
long been in force against all our indigenous
birds of prey, and I may say that a year seldom
elapses without the occurrence of a specimen in
this count}^ 1 had once an opportunity of ob-
serving the honey buzzard in the wild state ; it
was in the month of August, 1843, when riding
through Charlton Forest, which extends over a
considerable portion of the Downs to the north of
Goodwood. Here the character of the country
is very different from that of the weald. In the
latter the oak is predominant, and the surface of
the ground is covered with dense thickets of
underwood, chiefly composed of the same tree
mingled with masses of blackthorn and hazel,

* White of Selborne tells us that a pair of honey
buzzards built their nest, during the summer of 1780,
on a tall, slender beech tree in a hanger near his resi-
dence. I have not been able to discover that it has
ever bred in Sussex, or in the adjoining county of
Hampshire since that period.

138 ORNITHOLOGICAL R^UIBLES.

while in the more open parts of that region the
undulating surftxce is covered with heather, fern
and gorse, and the holly vies with the oak in
forming those detached and broken clumps which
add so materially to the picturesque effect of such
scenery. But Charlton Forest is almost exclu-
sively composed of beech trees, whose tall and
naked stems rise to a considerable height from
the mossy ground, and then, spreading out into
a net-work of branches and foliage, form a ca-
nopy overhead nearly impenetrable to the rays of
the sun.

When riding through its glades on a fine au-
tumnal evening, you might almost fancy yourself
carried back to the days of Kobin Hood, and
expect every instant to see a goodly buck dart
across your path, followed by the bold outlaw
himself and "his merry men"' in hot pursuit.

I was indulging in some such reverie of "the
olden time,'" when my attention was attracted by
the appearance of a large raptorial bird about
thirty yards off, apparently devouring its prey at
the foot of a beech tree. So intently was it occu-
pied, that it either did not remark or disregarded
my approach, until I had advanced sufficiently
near to perceive that it was a honey buzzard in
the act of tearing up the soil above a wasp's nest,
which it had discovered in an angle formed by

THE HONEY BUZZARD. J 39

two of the exposed horizontal roots of the tree ;
when, desisting from its work, it ran rapidly for
ten or fifteen yards, and then rising with appa-
rent reluctance, sailed away on noiseless wing
down one of the open alleys of the forest, keep-
ing near the ground like the hen-harrier, until I
lost sight of it behind a little hill at the farther
extremity of a long vista.

I should imagine this to have been an imma-
ture bird, the state of the plumage, as far as I
could observe, corresponding with Mr. Jenyns's
description of the young of the year, the head
and upper parts being variegated with white
spots; but, indeed, such extraordinary variety
of plumage does the honey buzzard present, that
I have never yet seen two specimens which ex-
actly resembled each other, having no rival in
this respect among British birds, except that
feathered harlequin of the fens, the ruff.

The generic characters of the honey buzzard,
which appear to have been first appreciated by
Cuvier, are sufficiently obvious in a recently killed
or in a preserved specimen ; but even at the dis-
tance at which I observed this bird when on the
ground — although too far to perceive the feathered
lore, the reticulated tarsi, or tlie partially curved
claws — there was something about its manner
and bearincr which was remarkable. Instead of

140 OEXITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

the hop of the sparrowhawk or the leap of the
falcon, and the erect attitude of those birds, its
mode of progression was a rapid run, after the
fashion of a lapwing, the head being at the same
time partially depressed; and altogether there
was an humble and subdued look about it which
was quite sufficient to distinguish it from the
more martial members of the family.

One or two specimens of the honey buzzard
were obtained some years ago in the neighbour-
hood of Arundel, but I am unable to record any
very recent instance of its occurrence on the
south side of the Downs. It would appear to
prefer the more central and northern parts of the
county and the forest range of the weald. There
are two Sussex-killed examples in the possession
of Mr. William Borrer, of Cowfold. One of these,
which was shot in September, 1845, on Poyning's
Common, is of very remarkable plumage; the
upper part of the head, the wings, and the tail
being of a dark brown, and all the rest of a beau-
tiful creamy white or light straw-colour ; and a
specimen in my own collection, which was ob-
tained during the autumn of 1841, between Hen-
field and Horsham, both in aspect and the general
state of the plumage has very much the look of
a gigantic cuckoo when viewed at a moderate
distance.

THE COMMON BUZZARD. 141

In the forest of St. Leonard a bird of this
species has also been shot by Mr. Aldridge's
gamekeeper, and it has been met with occasion-
all}^ still further to the eastward, between Ash-
down Forest and the borders of Kent.

The common buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) is far
more rare; I have never been able to meet with
it among the woods where it was once a well-
known species, nor have I as yet succeeded in
obtaining one within the limits of the county.* I
have, however, examined two or three recent ex-
amples which had been shot in Sussex, and seen
a few cabinet specimens which were so highly
prized by their possessors as to be unattainable.
It would appear to be even more scarce in other
parts of England. Mr. Waterton speaks of it as
extinct in Yorkshire. He says, "In 1813 I had
my last sight of the buzzard;'' and the Kev. R.
Lubbock, in his "Fauna of Norfolk,'' considers it
equally rare in that county. He thus writes : —

* I have since obtained a Sussex-killed buzzard
which was shot in December, 1848, at Stanmer Park,
and two beautiful specimens which were trapped in
East Dean Wood have been kindly presented to me
by Lord March. There is also an example in the col-
lection of the Bishop of Oxford, at Lavington, which
was killed some years ago at West Dean. — 3rd Edition.

142 ORNITHOLOGICAL KAMBLES.

"The common buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) is in
these days anything but a common bird. Old
books of Natural History speak of it as the most
common of hawks. It is so no longer, its size
and sluggish habits expose it to observation, and
consequent destruction. It used frequently to
breed in this county in the larger woods, but what
few specimens now occur seem to be occasional
sti'an:o:lers in the autumn, and birds of the
year.''

There is no doubt that this bird was formerly
very numerous among the great oak woods of the
weald of Sussex, and many of the aged inhabi-
tants of that district have told me that they
remember " the puttock'' as well as the " forky-
tailed kite''* in the days of their youth, but that
the former was the more common species. The
surname of "Puttock," which here signified "buz-
zard," is of frequent occurrence among the fami-
lies of the labouring population in the western
portion of the weald, in the neighbourhood of
Kirdford and Billinghurst, where the characteris-
tic simplicity and many forms of expression de-
rived from their Saxon ancestors stiU prevail to a
great degree.

* In some counties the kite and the buzzard were
indiscriminately called puttocks. Vide YaiTell.

ANECDOTE. 14;3

In other parts of the county the ring-tail — or
female hen-harrier — is indiscriminately called a
buzzard or a kite, and the various stages of plu-
mage observable in the male of this bird and its
congeners, in their progress to maturity, appear
to have originated as many imaginary species.
The fact is, that in the good old times when all
these hawks abounded in the land, so little at-
tention had been paid to the study of Natural
History, that specific distinctions were exceed-
ingly vague and obscure ; a sliglit resemblance in
colour being frequently considered a greater proof
of affinity between two individuals than simi-
larity of form and structure: and this error, in-
creased by the ever- varying state of the plumage
in immature birds of this family, gave rise to a
host of provincial names, which in most cases
have survived the ordinary occurrence of the
species to which they were originally applied ;
and the mysteries of which — with oral tradition
alone for a guide— none but an ornithological
(Edipus could ever hope to unravel

About two winters ago, I had been shooting
during the greater part of a bright frosty day,
with a friend on one of the wild beats in the
weald, and after a good, old-fashioned, fagging
day's sport, in which pheasants, woodcocks, hares
and rabbits had contributed in fair proportions

144? ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

to our bag, we were returning to tlie farm where
our horses had been put up in the morning, with
a team of tired spaniels lagging at our heels, and
had just reached the extremity of a large cover,
when my eyes rested on the form of a green wood-
pecker, nailed against an old oak tree, among
several rows of jays and magpies, which encircled
the trunk, while the lifeless forms of sundry
stoats and weasels, and here and there the
swollen body of a vagabond cat dangled from
the boughs around.

The sight of this beautiful and even useful bird
— the woodpecker — condemned along with the
ordinary felons of the game calendar, and exhi-
bited, in terrorewi, on the same Tyburn-tree, sel-
dom fails to excite my indignation, and to elicit
somethioof warmer than a blessincr on the head of
the executioner; but happening to be, on the
present occasion, in a particularly good humour
with the keeper, as is apt to be the case when the
sport has been good and "the powder straight,'' I
quietly expostulated with him, and endeavoured
to prove the manifest cruelty of placing the wood-
pecker on his black list, by pointing out the really
insectivorous habits of the bird. To do him jus-
tice, he hstened patiently for a time, until warm-
ing with my subject, I endeavoured to inchide
jays in my " bill of indemnity." when his patience

A gamekeeper's ornithology. 145

gave way, and I soon perceived that I had sunk
very considerably in his estimation. Why, I might
as well, he assured me, attempt to defend "that
'ere buzzard-hawk that he trapped last night."
'' Buzzard-hawk ! " I exclaimed, " I see nothing
like a buzzard, or even a hawk, on yonder tree,
except the wings and tails of a few kestrels that
flutter in the breeze under their featherless skulls ;
and they, too, have no right to a place in this Gol-
gotha, for they do not hurt the game." " No," re-
plied he, "he is not there, but at the fiirther end of
the wood, where I trapped him, and where he now
hangs from the branch of a tiller:* he was the
plague of my life last summer, and took more
young pheasants from under the coops than all
the other varmint put together."

"Oh!" said I, "you mean the sparrowhawk."
" Oh, no !" he " know'd that chap too, well enough,
but it wa'nt he." So to satisfy my curiosity, and
perhaps obtain a recent specimen of a rare bird —
which, indeed, any individual of the Falconidce
larger than the sparrowhawk has now become — I
bade adieu to my friend, and returned with the
keeper to a distant part of the wood which we had
just quitted. As we threaded our way through
the narrow, tortuous paths, or shooting-roads, that

* A young growing tree.

H

146 OnXITHOLOGICAL EAMBLES.

intersected the thickest parts of the cover, I had
ample time for conjecture as to the species of the
promised prize. I should have concluded that
it was a female of one of the harriers, were it
not that these birds, sufficiently rare in all locali-
ties, had never, to my knowledge, been observed
in this thickly-wooded portion of the weald, and
that even in the more open and moorland parts
of the country, where they occasionally occur, their
depredations are of a less determined character
than those ascribed by the keeper to the bird in
question; but just as I had almost succeeded in
per.suading myself into the belief that it might,
after all, turn out to be a real buzzard, the voice
of my companion interrupted my reflections, and
looking up, I saw him pointing exultingly to —
a large female sparrowhawk, which hung from
the extremity of a branch, one of the slender
shoots of which had been twisted in Jack-Ketch
fashion round the neck of the bird.

I need hardly add that my attempts to rectify
the error under which he laboured were lost upon
this uncompromising exterminator of winged ver-
min, or that I failed to convince him that his
" buzzard-hawk" was in reality the lawful partner
of what he contemptuously termed the "little chap
with the red breast.'' To do him justice, however,
he was a zealous, though unenlightened member

A gamekeeper's orxithoi.ogy. 147

of bis calling, looking upon the preservation of
pheasants and partridges as " the whole duty of
man/' and the massacre of every other species
of native bird, larger than a thrush, as the highest
effort of human genius.

h2

148 ORXITIIOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

LETTER XIY.

" Fortunate senex, hie inter flumina nota,
Et fontes sacros, frigus captabis opacum."

ViRGIIi.

Petwortli Ravens — Expulsion — Gamekeeper's Strategy
— Return — Hollow Beech Trees — Colony of Jack-
daws— The Skirmish — Mob Routed — Unexpected
Abdicatioa — Stronghold Demolished — Periodical
Departure — Early Lessons — The Raven's Clump
— Retreat Discovered — Rape of the Squabs — Dis-
appearance of the old Birds — Plunderer Detected
— The Lost Heir Restored — Result.

There are few circumstances which have afforded
me greater pleasure, or which, on reflection, I
regard with more complacency and satisfaction,
than my success in advocating the cause of the
raven in this neighbourhood, and even in con-
verting those who were once his enemies and per-
secutors into his friends and admirers.

For many years the raven had here been but
little known. This might in some measure have

PETWORTH RAVENS. 149

been attributable to the gradual disappearance
from our great woods of most of the tall old trees
on which he loved to build, and perhaps to the
absence of that superstitious veneration with
which this bird is still regarded in some districts
of England; but more especially to the hostility
of the gamekeeper, in whose black book he once
occupied a prominent place.

During ten months out of the twelve a pair of
ravens may now be found in Petworth Park : per-
chance, if the sky be clear, you may perceive them
soaring aloft, at such a height as would almost
ensure their escape from observation, were it not
for their joyous and exulting barks, which, in
spite of the distance, fall distinctly on the ear; or
if the weather be wet and gloomy, they may be
discovered perched on the summit of one of the
huge hollow oaks in the flat of the park, the
crooked and withered branch on which they sit
projecting like the horn of some gigantic stag
from the dense foliage; or perhaps you may find
them concealed in their snug retreat among the
evergreen boughs of a clump of Scotch firs near
the tower hill,* their favourite haunt during the
last five years, and where they now appear to be
permanently established.

* From the summit of the tower there is one of the
finest panoramic views in the county.

150 ORNITnOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

But to return. Their expulsion from this
neighbourhood, many years ago, was as follows.
A pair of these birds had built their nest on a
lofty tree in the park, and as a matter of course
were discovered by one of the keepers. Suffering
them to remain unmolested during the period of
nidification, he waited until, deceived by his
Machiavellian policy, the ravens treated his ap-
pearance, even when armed, with comparative
disregard. Ill did he repay their misplaced con-
fidence! One day, when the period had nearly
arrived at which an addition to the family was to
be expected, and the eggs were in his opinion
"sot hard," a rifle-bullet directed through the
bottom of the nest stretched the female bird life-
less within it; and shortly afterwards, her partner
who had been catering for her at a distance, was
saluted on his return with a volley of shot, which
laid him quivering at the foot of the tree, and
completed the success of the functionary, who in
those days used to perform among the feathered
tribes the triple duties of judge, jury, and execu-
tioner.*

* To the honour of the fraternity let me, however,
record the following facts. Some years ago, a pair of
ravens used to breed annually in Burton Park, disap-
pearing from the neighbourhood when the young were
fledged, but always returning in the ensuing spring.

EXPULSION. 151

Years passed away, and the raven continued
unknown in tliis part of West Sussex, until one
day in March, 1 843, when riding in the park near
a clump of tall old beech trees, whose trunks had
been denuded by time of all their lower branches,
my attention was suddenly arrested by the never-
to-be-mistaken croak of a raven, and the loud
chattering of a flock of jackdaws.

I soon perceived that these were the especial
objects of his hatred and hostility; for after dash-

The head keeper, better acquainted, it would appear
with the habits of birds than persons of his calling are
apt to be, afforded them every protection. He had dis-
covered that they were his best friends. Not a hawk,
weasel, or indeed any winged or four-footed animal vul-
garly designated "vermin," w^as suffered by the ravens
to approach the wood in which stood the tree contain-
ing the nest.

Although pheasants and hares abounded in the im-
mediate vicinity, neither these nor their young were
ever molested by the ravens. Their foraging expedi-
tions were carried on at a distance, and their food con-
sisted almost entirely of the decomposed flesh of dead
animals, or, in default of this, of rats, and young rabbits
procured at the warrens among the Downs.

This state of things was not to continue. In an evil
hour the nest was robbed. All the young ones were
taken. The old ravens disappeared, and have never
since returned to their former abode.

152 ORNITHOLOGICAL EAMBLES.

ing into the midst of them, and executing several
rapid movements in the air, he succeeded in effec-
tually driving them to a considerable distance
from his nest. During this manoeuvre the supe-
rior size of the raven became more apparent than
when viewed alone, and his power of flight was
advantageously exhibited by comparison with
that of his smaller congener. The latter, indeed,
seemed to bear about the same relation to him in
point of size that starlings do to rooks when seen
tog-ether.

The ravens' nest was placed in a fork on the
very summit of one of the highest of these trees,
while their hollow trunks were tenanted by a
numerous colony of jackdaws. Some of the holes
through which these entered were so near the
ground, that I had no difficulty in reaching them
when on horseback, while others were situated at
a much greater height. These conducted to the
chambers in which the nests were placed, and
which were generally fur removed from the ex-
ternal aperture by which the birds entered their
tower-like habitation.

On thrusting my whip upwards into many of
these passages, I found it impossible to touch the
further extremity, while a few cavities of smaller
dimensions were within reach of my hand, and
contained nests constructed of short, dry sticks,

COLONY OF JACKDAWS. 153

some of will ell were incomplete, while in others
one or two eggs had heen deposited.

The next day I returned to the place on foot,
provided with a spy-glass, for the purpose of ob-
servation. On my arrival I found that the ra-
vens were absent, and that the jackdaws, availing
themselves of this, had congregated in consider-
able numbers, and were as busily employed about
their habitations as a swarm of bees; some car-
rying materials for the completion of their frail
and yet unfinished nests, others conveying food
to their mates, and all apparently making the
most of their time during the absence of their
tormentor.

There being no cover or brushwood at hand,
and the branches being yet leafless, I was un-
able to conceal myself eftectually, but having sat
down at the foot of the tree containing their nest,
I awaited the return of the ravens.

Nearly an hour elapsed before the arrival of the
male bird, and I was first made aware of his ap-
proach by the consternation which it appeared to
spread among the jackdaws. Like most animals
under similar circumstances, when apprehensive
of danger, they rapidly collected their torces on a
single tree, keeping up all the time an incessant
chattering, each bird shifting his position raj^idly
from bough to bough, while the raven, who held

h5

154 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

some food in Lis beak, satisfied himself on
this occasion with two or three swoops into
the terrified crowd, and having routed the mob
he approached the tree in which his nest was
placed.

Before arriving there, however, he evidently
became aware of my presence, and dropping his
prey, which proved to be a rat, he ascended into
the air to a great height in circular gyrations,
after the manner of a falcon, where he was soon
joined by his consort, and the tw^o birds con-
tinued to soar above my head while I remained
there, uttering not only their usual hoarse croak,
but also an extraordinary sound resembling the
exclamation " Oh ! '' loudly and clearly ejaculated.
At first I could scarcely persuade myself that it
proceeded from the throat of either of the ravens,
but my doubts were soon dispelled, for there was
no human being within sight, and after carefully
examining one of the birds for some time with
my glass, I observed that each note was pre-
ceded by an opening of the beak, the distance, of
course, preventing sight and sound from being
exactly simultaneous.

In the following year the beech grove was de-
serted for the fir clump. I shall never forget my
delight on discovering their new retreat near the
tower hill during the spring of 1844. It could be

SKIKMISH. 1 00

equalled only by the disappointment I had pre-
viously experienced after paying several fruitless
visits to their old quarters in the valley. With
what different feelings was their abdication re-
garded by the jackdaws as soon as " the great
fact'' was satisfactorily ascertained ! Although
broken sticks in abundance lay around, with
ample means for constructing the shallow plat-
form on which they deposited their eggs in the
interior of the hollow trees, yet nothing would
suit them but the materials of the ravens^
nest, a general attack upon which seemed to
be the order of the day. The work of spolia-
tion had commenced before my arrival, and
was completed within a week. Loud and merry
were the notes of the noisy republicans as they
demolished piecemeal the stronghold of their
tyrants, and even seemed to vie with each
other in their anxiety to construct their own
obscure tenements from its ruins. , It was like
the attack of a mob on a royal residence, and
the erection of a village of cabins from the d^ris
of a palace.

After rearing tbeir young, the ravens and
their family generally disappear for a short time
during the summer. They then seek an open
country without trees or human habitations,
where, comparatively secure from sudden sur-

156 ORNITPIOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

prise, they inculcate in their offspring early
habits of independence, and appear to superin-
tend their education in the art of flying.

When fully able to shift for themselves the
young family are left to their own resources,
and the original proprietors of the eyrie return
to the fir clump, and haunt the park throughout
the greater portion of the year. During very
severe weather, accompanied by frost and snow,
the raven is sadly puzzled to procure an honest
subsistence in this neighbourhood: he is by na-
ture a scavenger, not a poacher: his structure
entirely adapts him for fulfilling the duties and
satisfying the wants of the former calling. Un-
provided with hooked beak or prehensile claws,
he seeks not to attack any living creature as long
as a dead animal remains on the surface of the
earth. Then, indeed, his hard, conical bill, his
keen sense of smell, piercing sight, and goule-like
appetite, stand him in good stead; but if, during
long-continued frost, he should happen still to
linger for awhile in this neighbourhood, he looks
the very picture of despair, as in pensive attitude
and with muffled plumage, his dusky figure may
be noticed perched on some withered bough
Then, indeed,

" Othello's occupation 's gone,"
and in his hour of need he may occasionally

„OTHELL0'S OCCUPATION'S GONE

THE raven's clump. 157

be convicted of crimes which are foreign to his
nature ; but this rarely happens. On such emer-
gencies the ravens almost invariably migrate to
the sea-coast, where they subsist on dead fish and
Mollusca, to which several species of Corvidce
appear to be equally partial, and which induce
the carrion and the hooded crows to desert their
inland haunts for the shores at low water, the
mouths of' the tide-rivers, and the muddy creeks
of Chichester harbour.

In their new quarters the ravens now reign
unmolested, the nest itself being concealed from
ordinary observation among the evergreen boughs
near the summit of one of the tallest trees, so as
to escape the notice of the wayfarers who traverse
Upperton Common, or pass along the high road
which here skirts the ivy-covered park wall.
Nay, even within the precincts, where these birds
and their establishment are now held sacred,
those who occasionally visit the spot for the ex-
press purpose of " haviug a look at the ravens,"
are generally disappointed as they ascend the
steep hill and approach the clump, at seeing no-
thing of either of the birds, and at the apparent
desertion of the place : but they are quickly
undeceived. The short and angry barks of the
male are first heard as he emerges from the dark
boughs : then — if the young have been hatched —

158 OENITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

he is soon joined by the female, and both con-
tinue to soar round the heads of the strangers,
gradually increasing their distance until they
reach a considerable height, and occasionally
varying their usual hoarse cry with the singular
note to which I have already alluded. Their
retreat is therefore, as I have said, secure from
ordinary observation; but what nest can escape
the scrutiny of an Argus-eyed school-boy, espe-
cially if his cranium should present a development
of the true ornithological bump ? Soon after the
ravens had taken up their quarters here, a truant
youth, wandering over the Common, with his
empty satchel on his shoulder, caught a glimpse
of one of the old birds, marked it down into the
clump, and having satisfied himself by an exceed-
ingly rapid process of reasoning that its abode
was there, and that the discovery and appro-
priation of the contents would repay him for the
perils of the adventure, he scaled the wall, climbed
the tree, robbed the nest, deposited four "squabs''
— all that it contained — in his book-bag, and
escaped undiscovered with his prize.

Imagine my feelings, when, on visiting the fir
grove a few days after this occurrence, I could find
no trace of either of the old ravens ! At first curi-
osity was succeeded by suspicion, then suspicion
by anxiety, and at last anxiety by conviction

RAPE OF THE SQUABS. 159

that something untoward had occurred; but on
entering the clump the whole truth flashed upon
nie at once : splinters of short, brittle boughs,
on which the climber had attempted to rest his
feet as he ascended the tree, lay around, mingled
with portions of the lining, which was composed
of the hair of the fallow deer. Could the robber
have taken all the young birds? So to put an
end to suspense, I mounted to the nest, clutched
one of the branches immediately beneath it,
raised myself up, and eagerly peeped into the
interior. Empty ! Not a bird, not a feather
within it ! Nothing but deer-fur and fledge-dust !
What was to be done? If even one squab had
been left, there would still have been room for
hope that the attempt to protect the raven in his
native haunts might possibly not have turned
out, as now, an apparent failure. Another week
elapsed, during which all inquiries — and they
were many and searching — after the lost ones
were unattended with success. I now visited
the clump every day, but my ears were no longer
gladdened by the welcome bark of the parent
birds. Ring-doves and starlings roosted in the
branches of the trees, and even the spiteful jack-
daw, who had hitherto kept at such a respectful
distance, now chattered among the boughs, as if
he could not resist the temptation of having a

160 OENITHOLOGICAL R.UIBLES.

look at the nest, with a view to appropriating a
portion of it to his own use on a future occasion.
Well, at last the young birds were discovered,
half starved, in the possession of their original
captor, who willingly delivered them up. It was
proposed to rear them in a state of domestication,
and the operation of clipping their wings had
already been performed on three of them, before
the idea occurred to me that, even yet, at the
eleventh hour, it was just possible that the resto-
ration of the remaining perfect bird to the nest
might have the effect of attracting the attention
of either of the old ones if they should happen to
revisit the neighbourhood. Although but a for-
lorn hope, the attempt was worth the trial. It
was late in the evening, I remember, when I put
it in execution, and the next morning found me
again on my way to the fir clump. Impatient
to learn the result of my experiment, yet enter-
taining only a shadowy belief in the possibility
of its success, I hastened to the park. Scarcely
venturing to raise my eyes as I ascended the
slope, I listened attentively, but no sound indi-
cated the return of my absent friends. However,
the scene soon changed, and amply was I repaid
for all my previous care and anxiety, on per-
ceiving, as I topped the hill, both the old ravens
issuing from the trees, and flying round my head

THE LOST HELR RESTORED. 161 j

]

just as if nothing liad happened. I could hardly j

believe my eyes. It was true, nevertheless : my \

experiment. perfectly succeeded : the young bird i

was safely reared : the ravens have since brought
up several families in the same nest : and as this i

little episode in their biography has served to -I

increase the interest taken in then* welfare by -i

those who have now fortunately the disposition j

as well as the power to protect them, I trust that ]

they may long live in peace and security, and t

that if any lover of the picturesque or admirer
of our native bkds should hereafter visit the
tower hill during " trysting time," he may never
find "the raven's clump" untenanted.*

* Those who may feel an interest ui the subsequent
fate of the Petworth ravens will find the latest chapter
of their history in the " Quarterly Keview," No. CLXX,
Sept. 181:9, Art. V.

J 62 ORNITHOLOGICAL RzlMBLES.

LETTER XV.

" It is the rarity and difficulty of attainment of a bird that renders the
acquisition of it desirable to the true sportsman."

Oakleigh Shooting Code.

Shooting in Sussex compared with that in other Coun-
tries— The Black Grouse — Its Decline — The Phea-
sant— Ring-necked Pheasant — Probable Origin —
Pied Variety — Whether to be encouraged or not
— The Pheasant the Parmer's Friend — The Com-
mon Partridge — Red-legged Partridge — The Quail
— Partridge shooting on the Hills — View from
the Downs — Pheasant-shooting in the Weald —
Woodcock-shooting on the Downs — A Day's Wild
Sport.

Norfolk may boast of her battues ; her woods
teeming with hares and pheasants ; her flat mono-
tonous turnip-fields, where a shooting party can
march backwards and forwards all day, and slaugh-
ter their hundreds of patridges without ever quit-
ting the same enclosure. Scotland and Wales have
their steep mountains and craggy glens, their
grouse and woodcocks ; and Ireland her trackless
bogs, wide-spreading loughs, and unrivalled snipe

SHOOTING IN SUSSEX. 163

and wild-fowl shooting; but although a day's work
in even the best preserves of Sussex would not
produce such a list of killed and wounded as in
some of the countries to which I have referred,
or require such self-denial, hard-fagging and ex-
posure to cold and rain, as in others, yet from
the varied nature of the sport and scenery it fre-
quently affords a combination of their greatest
charms, in as high a degree too as ought to sa-
tisfy the aspirations of any keen and reasonable
sportsman.

The battue, however, is almost unknown, for
although the estates of some of the large landed
proprietors — especially in West Sussex — are well
stocked with, game, yet generally speaking, the
broken and irregular character of the country,
which imparts to it so many charms, forbids at
the same time the concentration of such a mass
of victims in one spot as is necessary to gratify
that morbid love of slaughter which is supposed
to be the chief characteristic of the modern dandy
gunner.

I will now proceed to give you some account of
our feathered game and sport. In certain parts
of the forest range the black cock (Tetrao tetrix)
is still to be met with. I have seen a few in the
neighbourhood of Crawley, but I am sorry to say
that the numbers of this, the only indigenous

164 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

grouse of wliicli we can boast, are fast decreasing,
notwithstanding the laudable efforts of some spi-
rited preservers on whose manors these birds are
strictly "tabooed/' and where a grey hen is almost
as sacred as a fox in Leicestershire; but for black
game, swampy ground is as necessary as the glen
and the heather, and moor after moor is enclosed,
marsh after marsh is reclaimed; the species is
rapidly diminishing in number, while the area of
its distribution becomes gradually more circum-
scribed, and a few years will probably witness its
total disappearance from among us.

The pheasant is, however, more fortunate, and
may be said to be naturalized throughout the
whole range of the weald. There, great oak
woods, and thick copses of hazel and blackthorn
supply it at once with a favourite food* and a safe
asylum, and while the impracticable nature of
that region tends to baffle the efforts of those

* The partiality of pheasants to acorns is well known.
Gamekeepers in the weald declare, and with perfect
truth, that it is impossible to prevent these birds from
wandering dnriDg what they call "a great year for acres,"
barley and even beans then losing all their former at-
tractions. At Bedham, on the estate of a friend of
mine in this neighbourhood, there now stands a good-
ly row of oak trees which were raised from a handful
of acorns taken from the crop of a single pheasant.

PIED PHEASANTS. 165

light-fingered gentry who are adepts in wiring and
snaring, the more adventurous night poacher must
console himself with but lew shots, at great inter-
vals of time and space, and moreover possess an
accurate knowledge of the country to enable him
to escape detection, and to secure such a booty as
will repay him for the hours mis-spent, and the
risks encountered in this precarious and unseason-
able occupation.

The ring-necked variety, which is common
enough in some parts of the county, is less fre-
quently met with in the weald. Its origin may
probably be attributed to the introduction of the
Chinese species (Phasianus torquaius), which,
breeding freely with the common pheasant {Pha-
sianus Colchicus), became gradually intermixed
with it, but possessing less vigour and robustness
of constitution, its characteristic plumage was
gradually absorbed by its congener, and it has
bequeathed nothing but the imperfect ring of
white feathers to its descendants.

Pied pheasants are not uncommon, particularly
in the neighbourhood of preserves, where the sys-
tem of rearing poults from eggs hatched under
barn-door hens has been pursued during many
successive seasons. I confess that I am no ad-
mirer of these parti-coloured birds, for I regard
this aberration from the true plumage as the

166 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

unfailing sign of incipient domestication. They
are, however, said to be in great request with the
poachers, and some doubt exists among game-
keepers as to the expediency of preserving or de-
stroying them. Those who advocate the former
alternative, regard the simple fact of their surviv-
ing the season as a proof that their beat has
escaped the attentions of the nightly marauder ;
while the supporters of the latter assert that the
mere knowledge of their whereabouts must always
prove a dangerous attraction. For my own part,
if I thought that a compromise could be safely
entered into with those slippery sportsmen, to
whom knocking birds off their roost can afford

" delight

On a shiny night,

In the season of the year."

I should like to see them have a day all to them-
selves for the express purpose of exterminating
these poultry-looking pheasants.

What a mistake it is to suppose that the phea-
sant is an enemy to tlie farmer ! True, he may
deal rather unceremoniously with newly sown
wheat-fields, and occasionally retard or frustrate
the labour of the bean-dibbler. He may, without
due regard to conventional usages, even venture to
anticipate the work of the sickle, and commence

THE PHEASANT. 167

his gleaning operations a week or two before the
legitimate time; but this can happen to an inju-
rious extent only in very highly preserved dis-
tricts, where those checks have been removed from
the species which indeed Nature has placed upon
the excessive increase of all animals. But unfor-
tunately the agriculturist, smarting under a sense
of these partial injuries, is too apt to overlook the
real benefits conferred on him by the pheasant.
During the greater part of the year he is his active
friend, devouring immense quantities of insects,
which in their larva state are so detrimental to
both green and cereal crops. These principles are
inculcated in their earliest education, and you
cannot accuse the matron of setting them a bad
example. At this season they are all decidedly
insectivorous. Look at that group of pheasants —
why do they so assiduously turn over the dead
leaves under those tall trees? The acorns and
beechmast have long since disappeared, and the
keeper has ceased to scatter the beans or barley
with which he was wont to supply them regu-
larly during the winter. Why does the mother
bird lead her little family to the small ant-hills, or
beneath the spreading boughs of the aak which
swarm with the leaf-destroying caterpillars? — and
why do troops of cock pheasants issue from the
woods after a wet night and haunt the neighbour-

168 OENITHOLOGICAL llAMBLES.

ing meadows, slowly advancing step by step, ex-
amining every tuft of grass, and patiently " darn-
ing" the field for hours together? Be assured for
nothing but worms, slugs, and insects. And then
what myriads of that scourge, the wireworm,* do
they not consume!

For nine months of the year they are thus use-
ftdly employed; and if you were to kill and dis-
sect a pheasant during that period, the contents
of his crop would satisfy you that his condemna-
tion is unjust, and that, on the wdiole, he is rather
the friend than the foe of the agriculturist."!*

The common partridge (Perdix cinerea) is found

*■ This destructive insect is the larva of one of the
click-beetles {Elater segetis).

t How much it is to be regretted that the study of
Entomology has not been rendered more subservient to
practical purposes by those who have devoted their
time and talents to this fascinating pursuit ! But there
is no rule without an exception. Witness the recent
publication of the " Letters of Busticus of Godalming,"
under the able editorshijD of Mr. Newman. With
much valuable matter relative to other branches gf
Natural History, this work contains by far the best
account extant of those insects which are injurious to
vegetation, and known by the name of " blight ;" while
the descriptions are not less remarkable for their ac-
curacy than for their popular style and graphic power.
Every farmer, as well as naturalist, ought to possess
this interesting volume.

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 169

in almost all parts of the county, but appears
to be more abundant on those portions of the
lower green-sandstone formation, in the western
division, where the cultivation of the turnip ob-
tains— as in the neighbourhood of Kogate, Mid-
hurst, and Petworth— than elsewhere. They are
numerous during certain seasons in even the most
thickly -wooded parts of the weald, and seem
equally partial to the arable land among the val-
leys of the Downs.

Two coveys of the red-legged partridge (Perdix
Tufa) were hatched and reared under domestic
hens in July, 1841, and turned down on a manor
in the parish of Kirdford, in the weald of Sussex.
They were observed in the same neighbourhood
for nearly a fortnight, after which they suddenly
disappeared. During the following September a
small covey was sprung near Bolney, about twenty
miles farther west, and a brace shot. These were
probably the remnant of the Kirdford birds in-
stinctively performing the autumnal migration.*

I rejoice to say that this species is not indi-
genous to Sussex. Many a Norfolk and Suffolk
sportsman has to suffer for the sins of his fathers,
who unwittingly introduced this foreign plague

* The Rev. J. Lubbock, in his " Fauna of Norfolk,"
considers the red-legged partridge a migratory bird,
even in some parts of that county.

170 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

into their ancestral domains. Some portions of
those counties are fortunately exempt from them,
while in others they have increased to such a de-
gree as to expel the old English or cinereous par-
tridge, and being excessively wild and diflBcult
to flush, they run before the dogs for miles, and
severely test the patience and temper of the
sportsman.

The quail (Coturnix vulgaris) is only an au-
tumnal migratory visitor to Sussex. I never
met with a bevy in any part of the county, al-
though I have occasionally killed a few stragglers
when partridge-shooting in September. In some
districts of England they would appear to be
comparatively numerous, and in Ireland I have
found them abundant in the King's County
during the winter. They appeared partial to
backward oat-stubbles on poor swampy soils just
verging on the borders of the great red bogs.
After the first flight they generally lay well:
the grand point was to drive them towards the
bog, and if possible to scatter them over its sur-
face. What capital sport they then afforded in
combination with snipe, plover, teal, and wild
ducks, the natural denizens of the swamp, which
usually contributed to my bag on such occasions !

On certain portions of the Downs of Sussex the
pursuit of the partridge partakes almost of the

VIEW FROM THE DOWNS. 171

nature of grouse shooting. Nothing can be done
without active and well broken dogs, experienced
markers, and downright hard fagging.

Perhaps you commence operations by beating a
large barley or oat-stubble — a sure find during the
early morning — having previously placed a couple
of markers on the hills on either side, so as to
command a view over the main valley and the
lesser combes. The partridges seldom lie well
in the stubbles, but springing before the dogs can
obtain a point, fly over the nearest brow, and
drop either in a promising clover field, or perhaps
in a "shaw''* higher up the hill Two guns
enjoy this sport to perfection. Separating at one
end of the plantation, taking up the pointers, and
putting a couple of steady old spaniels into the
cover, the birds are frequently flushed one by one,
and, as they spring screaming from the brush-
wood, fly rapidly forward, or dash hurriedly over
the heads of either of the shooters.

* Slmw {Scua, Saxon) ; a narrow strip of wood or
copse, suffered to remain as a fence, or division between
two fields. On the richer soils, where the modern
system of farming prevails, these primitive but beauti-
ful fences are, I am sorry to say, being grubbed up
every day, while in the greater portion of the weald
they still exist, affording at once a harbour for game,
and the best shelter for cattle during stormy weather.

i2

172 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

Then, when some wild and almost unapproach-
able covey, after having been patiently pursued
from field to field, from brow to brow, yet never
completely lost sight of, shall at last have been
fairly worn out by the zeal and perseverance of
the sportsman and his valuable coadjutors, the
dogs and the markers, what a glorious half-hour
commences ! On such occasions the afiTrighted
birds make for the sunnnits of the Downs, and
either drop among the beautiful groups of juni-
per bushes that stud the smooth surface of their
steepest sides, or else " carry on '' to the heathery
and broken ground beyond, where you are well
repaid for an up-hill pursuit of a mile or two by
quartering the ground quietly with your setters,
and, if you please, bagging the whole covey one
after the other. You need have no qualms of
conscience, no misgivings about hurting the breed
for next year. There lies one of the greatest
charms of partridge-shooting in this district.
Many coveys are bred on the summits of the
hills which never descend to the valleys, and
which on a preserved manor, such as I speak of,
are of themselves sufiicient to ensure an adequate
supply for the shooter, be he ever so keen and
persevering. But without real work nothing is
to be done. Many a knight of the trigger have I
seen disgusted at what he called the scarcity of

PARTRIDGE SHOOTING ON THE DOWNS. 173

game on these Downs, the excessive wildness of
the coveys, and their interminable flights; and
often have I seen others, who fancied themselves
rather "knowing'' in such matters, but whose
experience had been limited to the thick wheat-
stubble and the prolific turnip-field, regularly
" choked off'' after the second or third hill had
been surmounted, just, perhaps, as a marker,
perched on the summit of a distant beech tree,
was in the act of telegraphing the delightful
fact that a covey had dropped among the juni-
pers half a mile higher up.

And if you are a lover of the picturesque, what
a magnificent scene is spread before you, as you
pause for a moment from your successful toil,
after having fairly run your game to ground on
the heathery summit of one of these lofty Downs !
The very air that you breathe, fresh from the
altitude of the spot, and mingled, as it is, with
the sea-breeze, is far more exhilarating than any
artificial compound which your flask can fur-
nish. Down after Down swells around you, their
smooth sides dotted with the evergreen holly
and juniper, or varied with larger patches of
golden gorse, while the steep slopes that bound
the intermediate valleys are clothed with hang-
ing beech-woods, wdiose irregular forms relieve
the undulating outline of the Downs, and the

174 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

rich and Vcaried tints of the autumnal foliage are
blended into that beautiful harmony of colours
which Nature alone can combine.

Looking towards the south, the sea, although
at the distance of several miles, is spread before
you like a mirror, studded with coasting vessels
and fishing smacks, and perhaps now and then
an Indiaman, or ship of war, beating up Channel
for the Thames. On the extreme right is a cloud-
like, but well-defined object standing out from
the distant horizon. This is the Isle of Wight.
In the middle distance the tall spire of Chichester
cathedral shoots up from the plain, and the long,
winding creeks and estuaries in its neighbour-
hood are all distinctly visible, as the rays of the
sun are brightly reflected from their waters ; while
stretched below, between you and the sea, the flat
cultivated tract, which extends from the south-
western borders of the county as far as Brighton,
spreads to the right and left, and as your eye
wanders along the dark line of the coast, you
may, if the weather be clear, take in, almost at
one view, more than fifty miles of its extent, in-
cluding the Isle of Wight on the west and the
dimly-seen cliffs of Newhaven on the east.

Nothing is so fatal to the breed of partridges
on the hills as a cold, wet spring and summer.
These birds pair early, and the nest is frequently

INFLUENCE OF WEATHER. ] 75

placed in a bleak and exposed situation. Here,
if the weather be unpropitious, numbers of eggs
are sure to be addled or unproductive ; while even
those young birds that are successfully hatched
are weakly, and many of them perish by constant
exposure to damps and chills. Scarcity of water
seems to have no injurious effect on the partridge,
and much less than is generally supposed even on
the pheasant, for there are no streams and but
few sheep-ponds on this portion of the Downs. I
have invariably found that whenever the months
of April, May, June and July have been unusually
dry, amounting even to drought, feathered game
has been proportion ably prolific and the numbers
abundant during the ensuing shooting season.
The morning and evening dews seem to afford
sufficient moisture, and whatever inconveniences
this excessive aridity may occasion them, they
would appear to be comparatively trifling when
we notice the fatal results of a cold, wet summer.
This remark applies equally to other districts and
soils. Experienced sportsmen, and octogenarian
keepers who' have wielded the protectoral baton
on the same manor half their lives, and actually
grown grey in pheasant-lore, all agree that the
drier the summer the better for the game.

I have said nothing of the battue and the
crowded preserve. They are but little patronized

176 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

in Sussex. There are of course a few exceptions,
but these serve only to prove the rule, and in
point of massacre fall far short of an ordinary
Norfolk perform ance. *

How different is the pursuit of the pheasant
with the aid of spaniels in the thick covers of the
weald, or tracking him with a single steady setter
among some of the wilder portions of the forest
range I — intently observing your dog, and antici-
pating the wily artifices of some old cock, with
spurs as long as a dragoon's, who will sometimes
lead you for a mile through bog, brake, fern
and heather, before the sudden drop of your
staunch companion, and a rigidity in all his limbs,
satisfy you that you have at last compelled the
bird to squat under that wide holly-bush, from
whence you kick him up, and feel some little

* A friend of mine has furnished me with the fol-
lowing report of four consecutive days' work during
Novem])er 1848, on a well-known manor in Norfolk.
His brother, who was one of the party, furnished the
huUetin.

Head.

1st day, 7 guns 564

2nd day, 5 guns (in an outlying cover) 187

Srd day, 8 guns 738

4th day, G guns 626

Total . .2115

A DAY S WILD SPORT. 1 / i

exultation as you bring him down -with a snap-
shot, having only caught a glimpse of him through
the evergreen boughs, as he endeavoured to escape
by a rapid flight at the opposite side of the tree.

And then the woodcock-shooting in November
— I must take you back once more to my fa-
vourite Downs. With the first full moon during
that month, especially if the wind be easterly or
the weather calm, arrive flights of woodcocks,
which drop in the covers, and are dispersed among
the bushy valleys, and even over the heathery
summits of the hills. If it should happen to
be a propitious year for beech-mast — the great
attraction to pheasants on the Downs, as is the
acorn in the weald— you may procure partridges,
pheasants, hares, and rabbits in perhaps equal
proportions, with half a dozen woodcocks to crown
the bag.

The extensive, undulating commons and heaths
dotted with broken patches of Scotch firs and
hollies on the ferruginous sand north of the
Downs, aflbrd — where the manorial rights are
enforced — still greater variety of sport. On this
wild ground, accompanied by my spaniels and an
old retriever, and attended only by one man, to
carry the game, I have enjoyed as good sport as
mortal need desire on this side of the Tweed.
Here is a rough sketch of a morning's work.

178 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

Commencing operations by walking across a
turnip-field, two or three coveys spring wildly
from the farther end, and fly, as I expect, to the
adjoining common, where they are marked down
on a brow thickly clothed with furze. Hastening
towards them with spaniels at heel, up jumps a
hare under my nose, then another, then a rabbit.
I reload rapidly, and on reaching the gorse " put
in'' the dogs. Whirr ! there goes a partridge ! The
spaniels drop to the report of my gun, but the
fluttering wings of the dying bird rouse two of his
neighbours before I am ready, and away they fly,
screaming loudly. The remainder are flushed in
detail, and I succeed in securing the greater part
of them. Now for the next covey. They were
marked down in that little hollow where the
heather is longei' than usual — a beautiful spot !
But before I reach it, up they all spring in an un-
expected quarter; that cunning old patriarch at
their head had cleverly called them together to
a naked part of the hill, from whence he could
observe my manoeuvres, and a random shot gent
after him with hearty good will proved totally in-
efiective.

Now the spaniels are worming through the thick
sedges on either side of the brook which intersects
the moor, and by their bustling anxiety it is easy
to see that game is afoot. Keeping well in front

A day's wild sport. ]79

of them, I am just in time for a satisfactory right
and left at two cock pheasants, which they had
hunted down to the very edge of the water before
they could persuade them to take wing. Now for
that little alder coppice at the further end of the
marshy swamp. Hark to tliat whipping sound, so
different from the rush of the rising pheasant or
the drumming flight of the partridge ! I cannot
see the bird, but I know it is a woodcock. This
must be one of his favourite haunts, for I perceive
the tracks of his feet and the perforations of his
bill in every direction on the black mud around.
Mark! again. A second is sprung, and as he
flits between the naked alders a snap-shot stops
his career. I now emerge at the farther end, just
where the trees are thinner than elsewhere. A
wisp of snipes utter their well known cry and scud
over the heath; one of these is secured. The rest
fly towards a little pool of dark water lying at
a considerable distance on the common, a well-
known rendezvous for those birds. Cautiously
approaching, down wind, I reach the margin. Up
springs a snipe; but just as my finger is on the
trigger, and when too late to alter my intention, a
duck and mallard rise from among the rushes and
wheel round my head. One barrel is fortunately
left, and the drake comes tumbling to the ground.
Three or four pheasants, another couple of wood-

180 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

cocks, a few more snipes, a teal or two and half a
dozen rabbits picked up at various intervals, com-
plete the day's sport, and I return home, better
pleased with myself and my dogs than if we had
compassed the destruction of all the hares in the
county, or assisted at the immolation of a perfect
hecatomb of pheasants.

SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE

BIRDS OF SUSSEX.

A SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE,

ETC.

Ordek B^ATTOUES.— Family Falconidj^:.

Golden 'Kagle, A quila chrysaetos. PageSS.

White-tailed Eagle, Haliceetus albicilla.
Has occurred occasionally in the immature state.
Page 86.

Osprey, Pandion haliceetus. Specimens of this
bird have been obtained in diflerent parts of the
county. Page 44.

Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus. Breeds
in a lofty precipice at Beachy Head ; also at
Newhaven cliff: is seldom seen in the weald.
Has been observed more frequently in other parts
of the interior, principally during the autumn and
winter. Page 106.

Hobby, Falco suhhuteo. A summer visitor.
Partial to wooded districts, where it generally

184 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

occupies tlie deserted nest of a carrion crow.
Seldom found in tlie more open parts of the
county. Page 112.

Merlin, Falco jEsalon. A \\dnter visitor, but
very partially distributed. Unlike the hobby, it
prefers the exposed heaths and naked Downs to
the weald. Page 116.

Kestrel, Fcdco Tinnunculus. But moderately
dispersed during the breeding-season. Occasion-
ally found among large woods, where it deposits
its eggs in the old nest of a crow or magpie.
Many may be observed at the same time of year
along the line of chalk cliffs between Brighton
and Beachy Head. They are still more plentiful
farther eastward, between Hastings and Rye. As
autumn approaches they gradually become more
abundant in all parts of the county ; congregate
near the coast preparatory to their departure for
a more southern region. Comparatively scarce
during the winter. Re-appear about February in
diminished numbers. Page 52.

Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus. Common in
wooded districts during the summer. The sexes
separate in the winter. Page 65.

Kite, 3Iilvus vulgaris. No longer indigenous
to Sussex. Was formerly well known in the
weald. Has occurred once near Brighton, and
once at Siddlesham, within the last ten years.

FALCONID^. 185

Common Bv zz ard, Bideo vulgaris. One of our
most uncommon birds. Page 141.

Rough-legged Buzzaed, Buteo Lag opus. An
accidental winter visitor to the south of England,
but much less rare than the so-called common
species. During very hard weather a sprinkling
of these stragglers from the north is always found
on our shores, either near the inlets of the sea
south of Chichester, the marshy tracts of meadow
land at the mouths of the navigable rivers, on
Amberley flats, or on Lewes Levels. An example
of this bird in my possession was trapped at Bos-
ham, in January, 1839. It was disturbed in the
act of devouring a rabbit which it had just killed,
and a fragment of its prey being used as a bait,
the poacher was secured on the following morning.

During that severe winter I examined four re-
cent specimens of the rough-legged buzzard, all
of which were obtained in the south-western part
of the county, and I received intelligence that
others had been shot about this time near Shore-
ham and Pevensey, and even on some of the wild
commons in the interior, but I can record no in-
stance of its having been observed among the
great woods of the weald.

It has also occurred at Falmer, and at Ashburn-
ham Park; and Mr. W. Borrer, of Cowfold, in-
forms me that a specimen was killed at Henfield,

186 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

on the IStli of October, 1841 — an unusually early
period for its arrival — in the act of seizing and
carrying off a partridge which had just been shot.

Honey Buzzaed, Fernis apivorus. An au-
tumnal visitor. Has been met with in different
jmrts of the county. Page 137.

Marsh Harrier, Circus ceruginosus. Of un-
usual occurrence in Sussex — even in localities
well suited to its habits — especially in the adult
state. Page 88.

Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus. Far more
common than the last. Rare in the weald. Has
been observed more frequently in the western
than in the eastern division. Page 90.

Montagu's Harrier, Circus Montagui. Has
been occasionally killed, both in the adult and
immature state, in different parts of the county.
Page 88.

Family Strigid^.

Eagle Owl, Buho maximus. Said by Mr.
Yarrell and Mr. Jenyns — on the authority of
Montagu — to have been shot in Sussex. I can
record no second instance of its occurrence in the
wild state. There has been for many years a
magnificent living collection of eagle owls at
Arundel Castle. Here, occupying the extensive

STRIGID^. 187

area bounded by the rock-like walls of the old
Donjon keep, they exist in but partial captivity,
and have lately even fulfilled the first law of
Nature, " Increase and multiply/' Page 91.

Scops-eared Owl, Scops Aldrovandi. Has
occurred once, near Shillinglee, the seat of Lord
Winterton. Page 94

Long-eared Owl, Otus vulgaris. Moderately
distributed throughout the weald and in the neigh-
bourhood of fir woods, but its numbers have de-
creased considerably of late years. Page 93.

Short-eared Owl, Otus hrachyotos. An au-
tumnal or early winter visitor from the north. Is
recrarded as the harbinger of the woodcock. First
appears on open heaths and commons, and in
narrow plantations of Scotch or spruce fir. Soon
afterwards met with in stubble and turnip-fields.
Page 94

Barn Owl, Strix fiammea. Generally dis-
pei*sed, but nowhere numerous. Page 95.

Tawny Owl, Syrnium aluco. Now chiefly re-
stricted to the great oak woods and parks fur-
nished with hollow trees. May be frequently
heard and seen at Cowdray. Page 92.

Little Owl, Noctua passerina. In July, 1842,
a bird of this species was exposed for sale at a
poulterer's in the Brighton market. It was said
to have been shot in an orchard at Sheffield Park,

188 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

near F] etching. Appeared to be immature, the
plumage being much lighter than that of an adult
specimen with which it was compared. Is now
in the collection of Mr. W. Borrer, of Cowfold, by
whom the above particulars were communicated
to me.

Okder INSESSOEES.— rri6e Dentirostres.
Family Laniad^..

Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excuhitor. Has
been occasionally observed and killed in different
parts of the county. I have not been able to pro-
cure its nest or eggs, or to ascertain that it has
ever been known to breed in Sussex. It has been
obtained at Beeding Levels, Lindfield, Arundel,
and Alderton; and two were shot near Battle
during the winters of 1846-7.

[In January, 1850, one was captured in a clap
net, near Horsham, by a bird-catcher. The Shrike
had pounced on a goldfinch which was on duty as
the call or decoy bird. — 3rd edition.]

Ked-backed Shrike, Lanius collurio. Pro-
vincial, Cheater or Oheeter. A very local bird.
AiTives early in May, and affects the whole line
of coast between the Downs and the sea. Very
numerous in the neighbourhood of Bognor and

MUSCICAPID^. 189

Chichester. Not infrequent in the eastern divi-
sion, particularly in the maritime portion between
Bexhill and Rye. Is seldom observed to the
north of the Downs in the western division until
midsummer, and I have rarely been able to detect
it on the clays, or among the great woods of the
weald.

Family Muscicapid^.

Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa grisola. Not
so common as in many other counties. Seldom
arrives until the latter end of May, but makes the
most of its time, generally bringing up two fami-
lies before it leaves us in the autumn. This
occurred during three successive years in an apri-
cot tree in my garden, to which a pair of these
birds returned regularly every summer, until their
retreat was at last discovered by a prowling cat ;
and the mother, her unfledged little ones, and the
nest itself, were destroyed " at one fell swoop.''

Pied Flycatcher, Musciccqm atricapilla. A
very rare visitor from the north. A specimen was
shot at Halnaker, in 1837, which is now in the
Chichester Museum, another near Henfield, in
May, 1845, which is in Mr. W. Borrer's collec-
tion; and a third example in the same year at
Mousecombe, near Brighton, where it had been

190 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

observed in a garden for some days before it was
killed.

[On the 1st of May, 1851, Mr. J. B. EUman
procured a Pied Flycatcher which had been shot
at Firle, the seat of Lord Gage, and about the
middle of May, 1853, two specimens of this bird
were shot at Lancing, and preserved for Lieut-
Colonel Carr. One of these was an adult male,
the other an immature bird. About the same
time a third example was picked up dead in a
garden at Lindfield. — 3rd edition.]

Family Merulid^.

Missel Thrush, Turclus viscivorus. Common
in all parts of the county. Prefers small coppices
and plantations in the vicinity of a house to great
woods during the breeding-season. Such is the
pugnacious disposition of this thrush that two
nests are seldom found in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of each other.

Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris. A regular au-
tumnal and winter visitor. In severe seasons is
abundant in all parts of the county, but in open
weather principally affects heaths and commons.
I have known them detained by a backward
spring as late as the 3rd of May, but I never could
detect their arrival before the 1st of November.

SrLVIAD^. 191

The supposed instances of their appearance be-
fore that time seem to have originated in a
mistake on the part of some observers who con-
founded this with the last-named species.

Song Thrush, Turdus musicus. Common
everywhere.

Redwing, Turdus iliacus. Arrives rather
sooner than the fieldfare. Is less difficult of ap-
proach in severe weather, but leaves us about the
same time.

Blackbird, Turdus merula. Abundant; espe-
cially among evergreens and fir plantations.

Ring Ousel, Turdus torquatus. A passiiig
visitor in spring and autumn ; halting for a few
days among the juniper and holly bushes on our
elevated commons and highest Downs.

Golden Oriole, Oriolus galhula. A summer
straggler of rare occurrence. Has been shot at
Bexhill, and twice killed in the month of May,
near Newhaven; and two examples are in the
possession of Mr. W. Borrer, which were shot at
Alfriston, about four miles from the last-named
port, so that there seems to be something pecu-
liarly attractive to this bkxl in that neighbour-
hood.

Early in May (1858) a male Golden Oriole
was shot at Erringham, near Shoreham, by
Mr. Bridger's gamekeeper. It was accompanied by

192 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

another, which escaped. A few days afterwards,
a female bird was killed, at East Blatchington,
and another was observed, at Bishopstowe. On
the 16th of May I examined a specimen (in the
flesh) which had just been killed near Pagham.
This bird is now in the Chichester musenm.

The occurrence of so many examples at the
same period seems to indicate that a straggling
detachment of orioles had alio:hted on our shores
from the Continent, and Avere afterwards dis-
persed over the country. — 3rd. edition.]

Family Sylyiad^.

Hedge Accentor or Hedge Sparrow, Accen-
tor modidaris. Common everywhere.

Redbreast or Robin, Erythaca rubecula. As
elsewhere, a well-known and general favourite.

Redstart or Firetail, Phcenicura ruticilla.
The very partial distribution of this bird is re-
markable. I never could discover it in any part
of the weald of West Sussex. It is even exceed-
ingly rare to the soutli of that region on the richer
soil of the lower green sandstone, in the neigh-
bourhood of Midhurst, Petworth, and Pulborough,
to the north of the Rother, which is here a tribu-
tary to the Arun: but on the long belt of ferru-
ginous sand to the south of that stream it is of

SYLYIAD.E. 1 9 3

frequent occurrence, particularly in the neigh-
bourhood of Storrington, Parham, and Steyning,
and again at Henfield. It is common on the allu-
vial tract to the south of the Downs between
Chichester and Brighton, is not unusual in the
neighbourhood of Bexhill, St. Leonard's, and
Hastings, but is only sparingly scattered over
the forest range in the eastern division of the
county.

Black Redstart, PhcBnicura tithys. This spe-
cies seems to be a winter visitor to Sussex. It
has occurred near Hastings and Chichester, but
more frequently at Brighton than elsewhere. Of
these the greater number have been killed on or
near a large permanent heap of rubbish at Hove,
which would appear to possess some mysterious
charm for these birds. On the 5th of December,
1839, a female was killed there, and another on
the 30th. On the 9th of March, 1840, a male was
obtained on the same spot, and another in 1842.
During the winter of 1847 two were shot in that
neighbourhood by Mr. Swaysland, which I saw
soon afterwards.

On the 1 6th of October, 1839, a male was killed
in Oriental Place, and in January, 1848, a female
v'as caught alive in a greenhouse near the German
Spa; a specimen was also captured in a garden
near the western road, in a nightingale-trap baited

194 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES.

with a worm. All these examples were in full
plumage and good condition.

Stonechat or FuRZECHAT, Sctxicola Tuhicola.
Very common on open heaths and gorse-covered
commons. Several remain with us during the
winter.

Whinchat, Saxicola ruhetra. Provincial, Bar-
ley-ear. Arrives during the early part of April
if the season be favourable. Haunts and habits
similar to those of the last species.

Wheatear, Saxicola oenanthe. Numbers ar-
rive in March, but the greater portion of these
proceed farther north ; comparatively few remain-
ing here during the breeding-season. Immense
flocks appear on the Downs during the early part
of August, at the period of the autumnal migra-
tion, and quantities are taken by the shepherds
in snares of a very simple description, formed by
slight excavations in the turf, and horse-hair
nooses. The instinct of this bird prompts it, on
the slightest alarm, to run for concealment to the
nearest hole. The observant shepherd, availing
himself of this habit, constructed his infallible
trap; for a full and accurate account of which,
and of the capture of these birds on the Sussex
Downs between Eastbourne and Beachy Head,
the reader is referred to Mr. Yarrell's " History of
British Birds," vol. i., p. 256.

SYLVIxVD^. 195

Geasshopper Warbler, Salicaria locust eUa.
It is very partially distributed, being rare even in
some districts which would appear well suited to
its habits. I have explored many acres of furze
and extensive commons in the weald, without
being able to detect its presence by sound or
sight. It is very rare in the neighbourhood of
J^righton and Hastings, but has frequently been
obtrdned near Chichester. I know one heathy
common about a mile from Petworth, interspersed
with patches of thorn and gorse, where several
pairs of these birds may be heard every summer;
but although my patience has often been re-
warded by occasional glimpses of the little fea-
thered chirpers as they crept, mouse-like, among
the stalks of the furze and fern, I never succeeded
in discovering their nest or eggs.

Sedge Warbler, Salicaria phragmitls. Com-
mon where low drains with sedgy banks, or brooks
bordered with thick bushes occur, or wherever
moist and damp situations encourage a profusion
of aquatic herbage.

Reed Warbler, Salicaria arundinacea. Par-
tially distributed, and everywhere less numerous
than the last-named species. Was formerly of
frequent occurrence on Pevensey Levels, but
since the clearing out of many of the reed beds,
has almost disappeared from that neighbourhood.

k2

196 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

The same cause has reduced its numbers at
Amberley, and in most of its favourite haunts.
These birds and their beautiful nests may, how-
ever, still be found during the month of May
in the reedy ditches a little to the westward of
the old wooden bridge on the Adur, about a mile
above Shoreham.

Nightingale, Philomela luseinia. Abundant
during the summer in woods, copses, and hedges,
but perhaps more numerous on the clay soils of
the weald than anywhere else. In this — as an
insectivorous bird — it forms an exception to a
general rule ; every other species of the dentiros-
tral tribe, resident as well as migratory, being,
comparatively, but sparingly distributed in that
district.

Blackcap, Curruca atricapilla. Found in
thickets and groves during the summer, but not
plentiful anywhere. Rare in the weald.

Garden Warbler, Curruca Jiortensis. In its
habits and haunts resembles the last species, but
is certainly of less frequent occurrence.

Common Whitethroat, Curruca cinerea.
Common.

Lesser Whitethroat, Curruca sylviella. In
the neighbourhood of Chichester, Bognor, Pag-
ham, and Worthing, this bird is as numerous as
the last species, and appears even more so ; its

SYLVIAD^. 197

garrulous song and bustling flight at once at-
tracting observation. It is less frequent to the
north of the Downs, and seldom seen in the
weald, where Curruca cinerea is by no means of
rare occurrence.

Wood Warbler, Sylvia sylvicola. A very local
species. I never could obtain a specimen among
the oak woods on the clay soils. Appears to
be equally rare near Petworth, but particularly
affects the neighbourhood of Storrington, and the
tall elm trees in Parham Park, from whence I
have procured several examples. It is scarce in
the central parts of the county, and indeed seems
to prefer dry gravelly soils, where the beech and
elm are more prevalent than the oak. The eggs
and nest have frequently been found in Stanmer
Park, the latter being remarkable for the total
absence of feathers, as a material in the lining of
the interior, which are always applied to that
purpose by its congeners the chiff'-chafl* and the
willow wren.

Chiff-chaff, Sylvia hippolais. Is partially
dispersed, being of rare occurrence in certain
districts — as for instance in the neighbourhood of
Shoreham and Beeding, while in others every
bush and copse rings with its merrj^ note.

Willow Warbler, Sylvia trochilus. Is more
numerous and generally distributed, although from

198 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

it retired habits and subdued warble, less likely
to attract notice. These three last-named birds,
which now form the restricted genus Sylvia,
strongly resemble each otlier, especially the two
latter. The hue of the legs, however, forms the
best distinction. That of the chiff-chaff's being
of a dark brown, and the willow warbler's of a
pale flesh colour; while the wood warbler differs
from both in having the upper plumage of a
brighter green, the under parts of a purer white,
a distinct yellow streak over each eye, the tail
rather shorter, and the wings longer in pro-
portion.

Dartford Warbler, Melizopldlus Dartfordi-
ensis. Very scarce. Has been obtained by Mr.
Ferryman among some patches of furze near the
Devil's Dyke. A specimen was shot on the 3rd
of May, 1844, on "the Broyl," near Chichester.
I have carefully watched for this little bird when
the fox-hounds have been drawing the great gorse
covers, but could never succeed in detecting it.

[Some interesting intelligence respecting the
Dartford Warbler will be found in the "Zoologist,"
vol. VIII, p. 2953, and vol ix, p. 3113, communi-
cated by Mr. J. B. Ellman, who met with and
procured several specimens of this rare bird in
the neio:hbourliood of Lewes in 1S50 and 1851.

A colony was also discovered among the gorse

SYLVIAD.E. 199

covers on tlie high hill of Blackdo-\vn, near the
residence of Captain Henry, during the summer
of ] 853. I was unfortunately absent from Sussex
at that time, and on my return the Dartford
warblers had disappeared. — 3rd edition.]

GoLDEX-CRESTED PvEGULrs, or Golden-crested
Wren, Rr^gulus cristatus. Common.

Fire-crested Kegulus, Regulus ignicapillus.
It would be well that this rare species should be
knoA^m by some otlier name. If it is supposed to
imply a superior vividness of the Ijright yellow
colour, the bu'd has no higher claim to the title
than its congener the gold-crest : ^jut tlie Avorst
of it is that many persons, unacquainted with the
most striking distinction between tliese closely
allied species, understand it in this sense, and
imagine the adult male of the common golden-
crested wi-en to be the fire-king, and the female
and immature birds gold-crests. I have had
several examples of the former shown to me by
collectors who were labouring under this delusion.
The most simple and ob^^ious distinction consists
in the three longitudinal Ihies on the cheeks of
R. igniccqnUus, which are absent in R. cristatus.
Of these, one is black, in which the eye is situ-
ated, above and beneath which passes a streak
of white.

No doubt this bird frequently escapes obser-

200 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

vation from its near resemblance to its convener.

o

On the 3rd of October, 18-i3, an example was
picked up dead in a garden at Brighton An-
other was shot at Uckfield in October, ]&47; a
third, which is in my own collection, was obtained
during the same month near Shoreham; and a
fourth has since been killed by Mr. Ellman in the
neighbourhood of Kye.

Family PARiDiE.

Great Tit, Parus major. Common in every
part of the county.

Blue Tit, Parus coiruleus. Generally dis-
persed.

Cole Tit, Parus ater. Eare in some localities,
but comparatively numerous in others which do
not seem better suited to its habits. Is of frequent
occurrence in the neighbourhood of Chichester.
Rather scarce about Hastings, and by no means
common among the great woods of the weald.
As there is a general resemblance between this
titmouse and the next species, it may be well to
notice an easy method of distinguishing them.
The cole tit has a white spot on the nape of the
neck, which is absent in the marsh tit.

Marsh Tit, Parus palustris. This seems
also to be a local species. It does not, as far

PAKID^. 20 1

as my observation goes, evince any partiality for
swampy ground or the neighbourhood of marshes.
On the contrary, I have found it more numerous
among the large woods that crown the higher
portion of the lower green-sandstone formation,
where its northern escarpment abuts on the
valley of the weald, than perhaps anywhere else ;
as at Henley Hill, Bexley Hill, Pitshill, Flexham
Park, and Bedham. It is also common in Ash-
down and Tilgate forests.

Long-tailed Tit, Pants caudatus. Generally
distributed. Abundant among the oak woods of
the weald. The young, when able to fly, accom-
pany their parents, and wandering family parties
of from ten to twelve of these social birds may
frequently be noticed throughout the winter,
flitting from tree to tree, uttering their faint in-
distinct note, as they climb among the branches
and explore the lichens for minute insects, or
curiously pry into the craonies of the rough bark.

Beaeded Tit, Calamophllits hiarmicus. Oc-
casionally found in situations adapted to its
habits, but is decidedly less numerous in Sussex
than in many other counties nearer the metro-
polis. Was formerly not unusual in the neigh-
bourhood of Pevensey, but is now rare, most of
the reed-beds having been removed to admit ol
the water running freely through the dykes.

K 5

202 SYSTEMxVTlC CATALOGUE.

A male and female in my collection were ob-
tained near the ruins of Amberley Castle. A pair
were also shot at Fishbourne, near Chichester, by
a retired military serjeant of the name of Carter ;
a very successful gunner, who has had the good
fortune to meet with some of our rarest birds in
that neighbourhood.

Family Ampelid.e.

Bohemian Waxwing, or Chatterer. Bomhy-
cilla garrula. Of rare occurrence in Sussex,
and only during very severe snow and frost. In
January, 1848, two of these birds were shot in a
garden at Newtimber, feeding on the berries of
a red haw tree — a variety of the whitethorn
which produces pink or apple-like blossoms and
unusually large fruit : one of these is in my own
cabinet. A few years since a chatterer was killed
at Beeding, one at Newhaven, and another near
Shoreham by a person of the name of Dyer.
There is also a specimen in the Chichester museum
which was shot in that neighbourhood.

During the winter of 1849-50, several examples
of the Bohemian waxwing appeared in Sussex.
It was met with on Lewes Levels and at Siddle-
sham. Mr. Spencer Dickins informed me that
two were shot at Coolhurst early in January^

MIPELID^. 203

another occurred at Storrington, and Mr. Walter
Burrell favoured me with a notice of two hav-
ing- been killed at West Grinstead about the

o

same time.

On the 22nd of January I received an example
from the Rev. W. Barlee, of West Chiltington,
which had been shot on the previous day by his
son while it was in the act of devouring the
berries of a haw tree in the gi'ounds of the
Rectory.

Family Motacillid^.

White Wagtail, Motacilla alba. An occa-
sional summer visitor, but from its close resem-
blance to the pied wagtail, frequently escapes no-
tice. Mr. Yarrell has enumerated some of their
distinctive characters; the most striking of which,
however, is the loermanent pearl grey or light ash
grey of the whole of the back in the white wag-
tail, including the upijer tail coverts, which in
the pied wagtail are invariably dark.

[Since the publication of the second edition of
this book, several examples of the continental
white wagtail have been detected in the vicinity
of Brighton, by Mr. Swaysland. Three were
shot by himself, at Hove, in April, 1853, and
others were killed near Worthing during the same
month. — 3rd edition.]

204^ SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

Pied Wagtail, MotaciUa Yarrdli. Page 81.

Grey Wagtail, MotaciUa hoarula. A regu-
lar winter visitor, but very partially distributed.
Frequents the borders of the clear rivulets on tlie
sandstone formation, and in the vicinity of the
Downs. Is very rare in the weald. Departs for
the North at an early period of the spring. I
once observed a pair of these birds near Wool-
beding on the 28th of April. The male had partly
assumed the black plumage on the throat which
is characteristic of the breeding-season. After a
patient observation and diligent search, I was un-
able to discover a nest, or even symptoms of nidi-
fication. On revisiting the spot a few days after-
wards both birds had disappeared.

Ray's Wagtail, MotaciUa flava. Yellow wag-
tail— Provincial, Barley -bird. Known by the
latter name in the neighbourhood of Brighton,
from its arrival being usually coincident with the
spring sowing of that grain.

Family Anthid^.

Tree Pipit, Anthus arhoreus. Styled by the
Brighton birdcatchers " Real Titlark" to distin-
guish it from the next species. Is very numer-
ous at the period of the autumnal migration.
Page 77.

ALAUDID^. 205

Meadow Pipit, or Titlark, Antlius pratensis.
Page 77.

Rock Pipit, or Rock Lark, Anthus petrosus.
Although restricted to the immediate neighbour-
hood of the shore, and far from numerous, this
pipit may be observed on various parts of our
coast, and is perhaps as plentiful about Shoreham,
on the low swampy grounds between the high
road and the sea, as anywhere. I have found its
nest near Aldwick and Pagham, among the long
rank grass which clothes the steep banks of the
mud walls, that have been raised to check the
return of the sea among the reclaimed meadows ;
and I once discovered it in a hollow on the face
of a chalk cliff near Rottingdean, a few feet from
the ground. The lower portion of this nest was
composed of sea-weed.

Family Alaudid.e.

Sky Lark, A landa arvensis. Page 1 26.

Wood Lark, Alaucla arhorea. Abundant in
the weald, but less numerous in other parts of the
county. Rarely seen on the Downs. Appears to
be more susceptible of cold than the sky lark.
During severe frost vast numbers congregate near
the coast, and are then easily killed.

Crested Lark, Alaucla cristata. Mr. Yarrell,

206 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

in the second edition of his " British Birds/' re-
cords an instance of this lark having been killed
in Sussex.

Family Emberizid^.

Lapland Bunting, Plectroplianes Lapponica.
Of this rare visitor from the North very few ex-
amples have occurred in the British Islands, and
three of these in the neighbourhood of Brighton-
The first was prior to the year 1828, and is re-
corded by Mr. Jenyns as the second specimen
taken in England. The second, which is in the
collection of Mr. W. Borrer, was captured in a
lark-net in October, 1816. The third was shot
in November, 1848, by a person of the name of
Markwick, near the toll-gate at Rottingdean. He
sent it to Mr. Swaysland with some snow^ bunt-
ings, of which species he supposed it to be. I
saw and obtained this specimn imemediately after-
wards.

Snow Bunting, Snowflake or Tawny Bunting^
Plectroplianes nivalis. An occasional winter
visitor to the Downs. Not unfrequently taken
with larks during hard weather, but then gene-
rally presenting the plumage of the tawny or
immature bird. Out of nearly forty which were
captured by one bird-catcher during a single

EMBERIZID^. 207

winter — 184^7-48 — only two liarl the white head,
which is characteristic of the adult snow bunting.

Common Bunting, Emberiza miliaria. Pro-
vincial, Clod bird. Common in open cultivated
districts. Less frequent on the Downs, and very
rare in the weald. Plentiful in the neio-hbour-
hood of Brighton and Worthing. Its local name
would appear to be derived from its habit of
perching on a projecting clod of turf or clay in
a stubble or fallow field, while it utters its harsh
monotonous note.

Black-headed Bunting, or Reed Sparrow,
Emberiza schce7iiclus. Peculiar to marshy tracts
and sedgy swamps.

Yellow Bunting or Yellow Hammer, Embe-
riza citrinella. Generally dispersed,

CiRL Bunting, Emberiza cirlu!^. A very local
bird, afiecting the neighbourhood of the coast, but
seldom venturing many miles into the interior.
Common during the breeding-season in the neigh-
bourhood of Chichester, Bognor, Worthing, and
Brighton, but rarely met with on the northern
side of the Downs of West Sussex. I have found
its nest in tall quickset hedges. It has been
discovered in the strawberry gardens at Preston
near Brighton, and in Stanmer Park. The nidi-
fication of the cirl bunting is somewhat later than
that of the yellow hammer, seldom taking place

208 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

until May. In winter they are gregarious, and
according to my own observation tliey do not
congregate with other birds. In February, 1838,
when residing at Aldwick, near Bognor, I noticed
a small flock close to a newly cut hayrick, during
the prevalence of a cold easterly wind. I shot
two, a male and a female, and found their sto-
machs filled with hay-seeds. The next day the
weather was mild and the remainder departed.
Then succeeded a piercing north-easter, and they
reappeared in increased numbers at the rick,
but the scanty supply of their favourite food was
soon exhausted or blown away ; so I caused the
loft to be swept, and scattered a few handfuls
every morning at the foot of the stack. This liad
the desired effect: the birds remained with me
until the return of mild weather about a week
afterwards ; and although a few chaffinches and
yellow hammers — uninvited guests — occasionally
obtruded on their little party, yet the cirl bunt-
ings seemed to avoid mingling with them, were
far more tame and confiding, and at last almost
disregarded my presence.

Ortolan Bunting, Emheriza hortulana. Only
two examples of this bunting have been obtained
in Sussex — as far as I can learn. The first, which
is in the possession of Mr. W. Borrer, was shot on
the viaduct of the Brighton Railway, near the

FPJXGILLIDiE. 209

terminus. The second, an immature male, was
killed together with some yellow hammers near
Shoreham, and is in my own collection.

Family Fringillid^.

Chaffinch, Fringilla codehs. Common. I
have not observed that separation of the sexes, at
any period of the year, which some authors have
noticed in other parts of England.

Mountain Finch, Fringilla montifringilla.
An autumnal visitor, remainincr durino^ the win-
ter, and leaving us again in the spring. Several
are captured on the Downs by lark-netters.
Abundant during protracted snow and frost.

Tree Sparrow or Mountain Sparrow, Passer
tnontaiius. A scarce bird in Sussex, but in all
probability has frequently escaped observation
from its general resemblance to the common spar-
row, from which, however, its smaller size, and
the chocolate-coloured head of the male may
serve to distinguish it. It is here a winter visi-
tor, arriving in October, and usually departing in
April. Although I have not been able to dis-
cover the nest, yet I have reason to believe that
a few of these birds remain with us during the
breeding- season, as I have received examples, re-
cently killed, in May and June. In the neigh-

210 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

bourhood of Brighton it is frequently taken by
bird-catchers during the autumn, in companj^ with
linnets and redpoles. It has also been captured
in old ivy-covered walls along with common
sparrows, and it has been detected among
bunches of the latter species which have been
exposed for sale in the market.

House Sparrow, Passer doriiesticics. Abun-
dant everywhere.

Greenfinch, Coccothrausfes cJdoris. Generally
distributed, but less common in the weald than
elsewhere. Migrates in the autumn. Page 78.

Hawfinch, Goccothraustes vulgaris. Of uncer-
tain occurrence, being not unusual during some
years, and comparatively rare in others. Is gene-
rally observed about autumn, when haws, cherries,
and stone-fruit are in season. Bred in Stanmer
Park during the summer of 18i7. The young
birds, after they had left the nest, frequented the
neighbourhood of the gardener's cottage, and were
all cauglit by his children in brick traps baited
with peas: these juvenile observers having noticed
that several pods of that vegetable had been pre-
viously shelled by the hawfinches.

Goldfinch, Carduelis elegans. Page 79.

Siskin, Carduelis spinus. Arrives in the au-
tumn. I have frequently noticed it at that season
feeding on the seeds of the alder in company with

FRINGILLID^. 211

the lesser redpole. Congregates, during severe
weather, with linnets and greenfinches. Departs
for the North in the early spring.

Common Linnet, Linota cannahina. Common,
Mealy Redpole, Linota canescens. Provincial,
Stone Redpole. Appears to have decreased con-
siderably of late years. Was common in the
neighbourhood of Brighton, and especially on
Poynings Common, during one season, about fif-
teen years ago. Has been comparatively scarce
ever since. A few, however, are taken every year
by professional bird-catchers. Mr. Yarrell has
very clearly pointed out the specific distinctions
between this bird and the lesser redpole, of which
it was formerly supposed to be merely a variety.
Lesser Redpole, Linota linaria. \ Both winter
Twite, Linota montium. i visitors, re-

tiring northwards on the approach of spring.
Partial to the Downs and open country. Rare in
the weald.

Bullfinch, Pyrrhida vulgaris. Generally dis-
persed.

Pine Grosbeak, Pyrrhida enudeator. I can
record but two instances of the occurrence of this
rare bird in Sussex. An example was shot a few
years ago near Cotes House, about three miles
from Petworth, while feeding on the seeds of a
pinaster, by a gentleman of the name of Mellersh,

212 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUK.

who, being well acquainted with British birds, at
once recognized the species. In February, 1848,
two were killed at the same time in Ashdown
Forest. One of them, which I saw, was an adult
male.

Common Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra. An
accidental visitor. In the autumn of 1835 great
numbers of these birds were observed in most of
the pine woods and larch plantations of Sussex.
They were abundant during that year at Salt
Hill, near Chichester, and in the neighbourhood
of Midhurst and Parham. Like the hawfinch, the
crossbill is very uncertain and irregular in its ap-
pearance.

Family Sturnid^e.

Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris. Abun-
dant.

Rose-coloured Pastor, Pastor roseus. A very
rare straggler. I understand that it has been shot
once in the eastern division of the count}^, but
cannot ascertain the precise locality. I know of
two instances of its occurrence in West Sussex.
The first was at Mundham, near Chicliester, in
1836. The second at Selsey in 1838. The
stomach of the latter specimen contained a great
quantity of the larvae of coleopterous insects.

CORVID^. 213

Family Corvid^.

Chough, Fregilus graculus. Late writers on
British Ornithology speak of this bird as a deni-
zen of the cliffs of Beachy Head. I regret to
say that it is to be found there no longer. This
was certainly its last stronghold, but it disap-
peared from the coast about twenty years ago.
I have frequently examined the entire line of
cliffs between Brighton and Eastbourne, but could
never — even with the assistance of a spy-glass —
discover one, or procure a recent specimen in any
part of Sussex.

Raven, Cotvus cotccx. Page 148.
Ca-rriox Crow, Cotvus corone. Page 97.
Hooded Crow, Cotvus coTuix. Page 100.
EooK, Cotvus fTugilegus. Abundant.
JkCKT>A.'\Y,GoTvus^monedida. Plentiful. Page
151.

Magpie, Pica caudata. Frequents extensive
woods and fir plantations during the breeding-
season; and congregates, in small parties, on the
Downs and in open parts of the county during
the winter.

Jay, GaTTidus gla.ndaTius. This beautiful bird
may still be found in all our great woods, not-
withstanding his persecution at the hands of the

214 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

keeper. In parts of the weald where the preser-
vation of game is not attended to, the species
is even numerous, and their harsh, wikl cry con-
tinually greets you, as you wander among the oak
forests of that region.

Nutcracker, JS^ucifraga caryocatactes. I have
seen a specimen of this rare wanderer which was
shot at Alfriston by Mr. Newman, a gentleman
residing in that neighbourhood.

Tribe Scaxsores. —Family Picid.e.

Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis. Provin-
cial, Yaffle. Has decreased of late years, but is
still far from uncommon, particularly in the weald.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Picus major.
Provincial, French Woodpecker. Scarcer than
the last, but specimens are procured almost every
year, either in the adult or immature state.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Picus minor.
Provincial, Little French Woodpecker. By far
the rarest of the three species. A male was shot
in 1844 at Arundel; another at Albourne, in
December in 1848 ; and one was captured at
Parham House, which had flown into a room
through the open window. It has also been
killed near Chichester, and occasionally in the
eastern division of the county.

PiciD^. 215

Wryneck, Yunx to)^qwUla. Provincial, Rind-
ing Bird. One of the few local epithets worth
recording.* So termed in many parts of Sussex
from its appearance in the spring being supposed
to indicate the proper time for felling the oak
trees, and removinsr the bark or rind from the
trunks and branches, an employment in which a

* I confess that I do not attach so much importance
to provincial nomenclature as it would appear to pos-
sess in the eyes of some persons. The local names in
this Catalogue are but few; they have been culled
from a heterogeneous mass which had accumulated in
my note-books, and which might be supposed to have
originated in the Tower of Babel. I have noticed only
such as appeared to be expressive of some quaUty or
property of, or circumstance relating to, the birds them-
selves— such as " the barley bird," " the rinding bird,"
" the jDarson gull," " the duck-hawk," &c. — or those
which, seeming sufficiently established by general usage
in their respective districts to have superseded the
ordinary and recognised names, might therefore be
practically useful to the collector in his inquiries
amongst the natives. But, as a general rule, I am
strongly of opinion that these provincial names ought
to be discarded from all works on Natural History.
Most of them are quite inappropriate, others devoid of
point or meaning, and while in one order of birds the
same silly nickname is frequently applied indiscrimi-
nately to every individual in a family, in another we

216 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

considerable portion of tlie agricultural popula-
tion of the vfeald and other woodland parts of
the county are engaged at this period of the year.
The operation of " rinding '' cannot be attempted
until the sap has begun to flow. Then myriads
of minute insects, which have hibernated in the
deepest recesses of the bark, are roused from their

find a single species honoured with as many titles as a
German Prince, the signification of which — when, in-
deed, they signify anything — is frequently derived
from some imaginary attribute or peculiarity.

The object of our researches, and of all communica-
tions on this and kindred subjects, ought to be to dis-
cover truth, not to propagate error ; to diftuse science,
not to disseminate barbarism; and so far from en-
couraging the country people in retaining their incom-
prehensible misnomers, we should take every oppor-
tunity of setting them right, pointing out the salient
dift'erences of species, and fixing the proper English
names in their minds. We might often derive much
useful and valuable information from such people as
fishermen, shepherds, woodmen, and gamekeepers
which will be either lost to us, or rendered worse than
useless, if we are constantly in danger of being misled
by gross confusion of names ; and this confusion would
be even worse confounded, if the usual designations, ac-
cepted and established by competent authority, should
be misapplied to other species than those to which such
authority has assigned them.

CERTHIADzE. 2 ] 7

winter's sleep, and move nearer to the surface
These now constitute the principal food of the
wryneck, who immediately on his arrival sets
seriously to work, and with his long elastic
tongue extracts them rapidly from the crevices.
His monotonous, hawk-like cry, is anxiously ex-
pected by the woodman at this season.

Family CerthIxVd.e.

Common Creeper, Certhia familiaris. Gene-
rally distributed.

Wren, Troglodytps Ewropcvus. Abundant.

Hoopoe, Upiq^ct epops. Has been killed in
different parts of Sussex, generally near the
coast. The Duke of Richmond informs me that
he shot a hoopoe some years ago on Selhurst
Park down, about two miles and a half from
Goodwood race-coarse and nine from the sea, as
the crow flies. Two instances are on record of
these birds having built their nest and reared
their young in the county. One of these is men-
tioned by Mr. Yarrell, and the fact is still remem-
bered in the neighbourhood of Chichester. The
other occurred a few years ago at Southwick,
near Shoreham, where a pair of hoopoes and their
young ones were discovered in an old hollov/ tree.
The latter lived for some time in the possession

218 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

of Mr. Waring Kidd, of Brighton. In September,
1889, I shot a female of this species near the
beach between Pagham and Selsey, on the bor-
ders of a coppice of stunted oak trees. An adult
male was killed soon afterwards at Itchenor by
Mr. Gibbs. I have seen an example which was
procured at Fishbourne. On the 19th of April,
\ 840, a hoopoe was shot near Rottingdean ;
another on the 11th of September in the same
year at Ovingdean, near Worthing ; and it has
occurred occasionally in the neighbourhood of
Alfriston.

Nuthatch, Sitta Europcea. Generally dis-
persed, but not numerous anywhere. Although
some remain with us during winter, their num-
bers are reinforced by visitors from the continent
every spring.

Family Cuculid^.

Common Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus. May be
heard in all parts of the country after his arrival
in April.

Tribe Fissirostres. — Family Meropid^.

Roller, Coracias garrula. This scarce and
beautiful bird has been killed occasionally in

HIRUNDINID^. 219

Sussex. An example was sliot by Mr. Tomsett,
of Alfriston, in that neighbourhood ; and another
in July, 1 843) on Chin ton Farm, near the sea at
Cuckmere haven, by a person in the employment
of Mr. Scott, of Littlington, near Lewes.

Bee-Eater, Merops ajyiaster. A specimen of
this rare straggler was shot by Serjeant Carter,
near Chichester, on the Gth of May, 1829; and
Mr. Ellman, of Rye, has sent me word that he
possesses an example which was killed at Ickles-
ham.

Family Halcyonid^.

Kingfisher, Alcedo ispkla. Breeds in deep
holes on the steep banks of some of the clear
streams on the sandstone formation. Is very rare
durinof that season in the weald, where the waters
are generally turbid. Frequents salt marshes
near the coast in the winter.

Family Hirundinid^.

SwAi^LOW, Hirundo rustica. Abundant.

Martin, Hirundo urhica. Equally so.

Sand Martin, Hirundo riparia. Almost un-
known in the weald of West Sussex, but common
to the south of that district. Most of the large

l2

220 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

sandpits in the county are honeycombed by colo-
nies of these birds. It is rare among the Downs,
and of unusual occurrence on the maritime tract
between them and the sea.

Common Swift, Cypselus aims. Provincial,
Screecher. Abundant. Arrives about the 1st of
May, and leaves us about the middle of August.

Family CAPEiMULGiDiE.

Nightjar, or Fern Owl, Caprimidgus Euro-
jjwus. Partially distributed, being very common
during summer in the weald, as well as on open
heaths and gorse-covered commons, but of rare
occurrence in more cultivated and populous parts
of the county.

Order RASORES. — Family Columbid^.

RiXG-DovE, Columha paluonhus. Common.
Congregates in great flocks during the autumn.
Is very partial to acorns and beech-mast.

Stock Dove, Columha cenas. I have found
small parties of these pigeons in the autumn and
winter, among the wooded valleys of the Dov/ns.
During summer they are not seen in flocks. They
breed in the hollow trunks of some of the old oak

TETRAOXID^. 22]

trees. I have discovered tlieir nest and eo-o-s in
such situations at Cowdray and Petworth.

Turtle Dove, Columha turtur. A summer
visitor, arriving in May. Abundant in the oak
woods of the weald. Rare in open parts of the
county at the same season. On the approach of
autumn they frequent fields of rape. After these
have been cut or "fed off," their partiality to salt
prompts them to haunt the sea-shore. They may
then be observed in great numbers on the muddy
banks near the mouth of Shoreham harbour, and
in similar situations along the coast.

Family Phasianid^.

Common Pheasant, Phasianus Colchicus.
Page J 64.

Family Tetraonid^.

Black Grouse, Tetrao tetrix. Page 1 QZ.

Common Partridge, Perdix cinerea. Page
168.

Red-Legged Partridge, Perdix rufa. Page
169.

Common Quail, Coturnix vulgaris. Page
170.

222 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

Family Struthionid^.

Little Bustard, Otis tetrax. On the au-
thority of Mr. Jenyns I have hitherto given the
little bustard a place in this Catalogue. Vide
" Manual of British Vertebrate Animals/' p. 176.
[I have lately seen a specimen of the little
bustard (a female) which was shot at Bosham,
near Chichester, a few years ago, by Mr. Alfred
Cheesman. — 3rd edition.]

Note. — The Great Bustard, Otis tarda. Markwick
says that the great bustard used to be seen on the
South Downs in his time. White of Selborne also
observed it there. The latest instance of its having
been observed in Sussex appears to be that of a single
example, which was occasionally seen about twenty-five
years ago near Blatcliington by Mr. Catt, who then
occupied that farm. It used to frequent the flat table-
land which runs for a considerable distance in the
direction of the Dyke. I have met with some very
old people, who, in their younger days, have seen flocks
of these noble birds on the Downs.

Orf^erGE-ALLATOBES— i^amiZ^/CHARADEiiD^.

Great Plover, (Edicnemus creintmis. This
bird is known by at least half-a-dozen different
names in Sussex. In some localities it has

CHARADKIID^. 223

usurped the title of the last-named species, and
is confidently termed " the little bustard/' This
is unfortunate.

Golden Plover, GJiaradrius pluvialis. Not
infrequent during winter, particularly near the
coast.

Dotterel, Charadrius morinellus. Arrives
about the end of April, on certain portions of the
Downs between Brighton and Beachy Head. Se-
veral are killed every year in the neighbour-
hood of Alfristun. Is seen frequently near Hail-
sham and Battle. Rare in the western division
of the county. The line of its vernal migration
would seem to be North-east. Does not breed
in Sussex. Reappears in September on its return
to the south.

Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula. Pro-
vincial, Stone Runner. Common along the coast
during the entire year. Their numbers increase
in the spring, although not so palpably as those
of the dunlins and other Scolopacidce.

Kentish Plover, Charadrius cantianus. This
bird strongly resembles the last, but its body is
smaller, and its legs much longer. The plumage
is also of a lighter colour. Several arrive for the
breeding-season on Rye Marsh, and on the shores
of Pevensey Bay. Their eggs and young are fre-
quently found on the coasts of East Sussex, but

224 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

they migrate southwards in the winter. They
do not associate with their congeners, the ringed
plovers, but are generally observed either alone or
in pairs. I have never been able to discover it
westward of Brighton, but Mr. Gould says that it
has been killed at Selsey, near Pagham. In the
museum of the Mechanics' Institute at Hastings
are several specimens, adult and immature, which
have been procured in that neighbourhood.

[In May, 1853, Mr. Biggs, of Worthing, shot
two, and a third in the following September. A
pair were also killed by Mr. Ward during the
same month. All these examples were met with
between Shoreham and Worthing. — 8rd edition.]

Little Ringed Plovee, Gharadrius minor.
Has been obtained on two or three occasions in
Sussex. The specimen from which Mr. Gould
took his description was killed at Shoreham, and
there is another in Mr. W. Borrer's collection
which was shot in the spme neighbourhood dur-
ing the month of May.

[Three adult and tw^o immature examples of
the little ringed plover (or dotterel) were killed
near Shoreham, in September, 1853. — 3rd edit.]

Grey Plover, Squatarola cinerca. A winter
visitor of by no means ordinary occurrence, ex-
cept during severe weather. Specimens killed in
this county generally present the usual grey plu-

CHARADKIID^. 225

mage, in which state I have met with this bird at
Pagham harbour. I have received an example
shot in March, near Chichester, which had ah^eady
assumed several black feathers on the breast.

Peewit, Vanellus cristatus. Numerous on
waste lands and heathy commons during the
breeding-season. Congregate in the autumn and
winter, and appear partial to ploughed fields.

TuRXSTONE, Strepsilas interpres. Rather a
scarce bird. I have met with it occasionally on
different parts of the coast.

Sanderling, Calldris arenaria. Not uncom-
mon in the winter, when the upper plumage is of
a very light grey colour and the lower white. It
has been killed occasionally, but rarely, during
the summer: its appearance is then nearly simi-
lar to that of the dunlin : it may, however, always
be distinguished from that bird by its shorter
beak, and by the absence of the hind toe.

Oyster-catcher, or Olive, Hcewiatopus ostra-
legus. Is observed on the coast late in March or
early in April, either singly or in small parties of
two or three. They seem to pass westward, re-
maining with us only about a week or a fort-
night. In September, however, they reappear,
accompanied by the birds of the year. As many
as thirty have been seen together at this season
near Shoreham.

l5

226 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

Family Gruid^.

Co:mmon Craxe, Grus cinerea. I have late-
ly received the following communication from
Mr, Hills, the indefatigable curator of the Chi-
Chester museum: —

"Chichester, Oct. 20th, 1854.
" Sir, — I take the first opportunity of inform-
ing you of the great acquisition we have made to
the museum. I yesterday purchased a crane,
which was killed the day before at Pagham : it
appears to be a young bird. I hope this informa-
tion is not too late for insertion in the third
edition of your work.

" I remain, Sir, yours very truly,

"Wm. Hills."

Family Ardeid^e.

Common Heron, Ardea cinerea. Page 14.
Besides the heronry at Parham, there is also a
smaller colony near Hurstmoncieux, on the pro-
perty of Mr. Curteis, M.P.

Purple Heron, Ardea purpurea. An ex-
ample of this rare heron was shot on the 28th
of September, 1848, at Worthing, by a gentle-
man of the name of Paul. It was preserved by

ARDEID^. 227

Mr. Andrews, of that town, and is now in the
museum of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Little Egret, Ardea garzetta. When the
first edition of this work was printed I was not
aware that the little egret was entitled to a place
in the Sussex fauna. I have since been informed
by Mr. Spencer Dickins, of Coolhurst, that there
is a good specimen in the possession of Sir Percy
Shelley, which was shot a few years ago at
Warnliam Millpond.

Little Bittern, Botaurus minutus. An adult
male specimen of this scarce British bird was
killed at Pulborough in May, 18J?2, on the banks
of a pond abounding in aquatic plants, in the
garden of the Rev. J. Austin, the rector of that
parish, who kindly presented it to me. To this
gentleman I am indebted for many valuable
ornithological acquisitions procured in his imme-
diate neighbourhood.

[During the summer of 1852 a male Little Bit-
tern, in very fine plumage, was shot at Oving.
This bird is now in the possession of Dr. Tyacke,
of Chichester. In 185.3 another specimen was
killed, in a water-meadow on the property of
Admiral Hawker, on the western borders of
Sussex. — 3rd edition.]

Common Bittern, Botaurus stellar is. Of less
frequent occurrence than formerly. Is sometimes

228 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

met with among tall reecls on the banks of large
ponds and in sedgy swamps ; but from the size
and remarkable apj^earance of the bird, when on
the wing, there is little chance, now-a-days, of its
remaining for any length of time undiscovered
or unmolested. I have seen the bittern flushed
from the reed-beds at the upper pond in Burton
Park.

Night Heron, Nycticorax Gardeni. Has been
shot on two or three occasions in Sussex. Mr.
W. Borrer informed me that he examined a recent
specimen, which was killed near Alfriston, in No-
vember, 1889 — a bird of the year. Since that
period another example has occurred near Cuck-
mere Haven.

[A male Night Heron was killed near Apple-
dram sluice by Serjeant Carter, on the 6th of
September, 1851. This bird is now in the col-
lection of the Bishop of Oxford, at Lavington. —
3rd edition.]

White Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia. A
rare straggler. Has been shot at Rye and at
Pagham Harbour. The Chichester museum con-
tains an example which was killed in that neigh-
bourhood, and a fine specimen in my own collec-
tion was shot near Seaford, in the autumn of 1844.

Glossy Ibis, Ibis falcinellus. A specimen of
this rare straggler is now in the possession of

SCOLOPACID^. 229

Mr. Duke, of Lavant, near Cliicliester, which was
shot by Mr. Duke, jun., of Earnly, on the marshes
in that neighbourhood, November, 1853.

Family Scolopacid^.

Common Cuhlew, Nuraenius arquata. Abun-
dant during the winter on most parts of the coast.

Whimbrel, Numenius i^hmopus. Provincial,
Titterel. Page 8. Is rarely met with in the
winter, but arrives about the time that the cur-
lews depart for their northern summer quarters.
Small flocks of whimbrels may be noticed during
the month of May on the shores of Pevensey Bay,
and in similar situations. I have found them
between Pagham and Selsey, as late as the
middle of June ; but although 1 have dihgently
examined the shingle for miles, I never could
discover their eggs, or ascertain that others had
been more fortunate than myself The whim-
brels observed at this period would seem to be
the latest arrivals from the southern parts of the
continent — probably backward-bred birds of the
preceding year — and as they disappear before
July, it may be supposed that they follow the
example of their predecessors, in halting for a
few weeks on the shores of Sussex, preparatory
to resuming their journey to the North.

230 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

Spotted Redshank, Totanus fuscus. Has
been killed at Shoreham, in the immature state.

[A male was killed at Pagliam on the 24th of
August, 1852, and a female on the 1st of Sep-
tember, 1853. Both are in the Chichester Mu-
seum. Two specimens were preserved by Mr.
Swaysland during the same month, which had
been killed at Amberley, near Arundel. The
stomachs contained fresh-water shells. — 3rd edi-
tion.]

Common Redshank, Totanus calidris. Not
unusual on some parts of the coast at the period
of the autumnal migration — the latter end of
August or the beginning of September. Several
have been killed at Pagham, and near the mouths
of the tide-rivers at Shoreham and Newhaven.

Gkeen Sandpiper, Totanus ochrojms. Is
generally found during the autumn and winter
on the banks of rivers, brooks, and ponds, at a
distance from the sea. Has not been known to
breed in Sussex, but occasionally remains with
us during the summer. In June, 1843, I ob-
served four on the borders of a pond, through
which ran a clear trout stream, at Cocking, near
Midhurst ; but I could not discover a nest or
eggs, and the local gamekeeper, whose attention
I particularly directed to the subject, was equally
unsuccessful. When disturbed at the pond, these

SCOLOPACID^ 231

birds used to retire into the great woods in the
immediate neighbourhood. Suspecting that they
might possibly be examples of Totanus glareola,
I procured one of them in the following July,
but, on examination, it proved to be an adult
male of Totanus ochropus.

Wood Sandpiper, Totanvs glareola. [Since
the appearance of the second edition of this cata-
logue, I have been informed by Mr. Swaysland
that four examples of this Sandpiper were killed
near Worthing, during September, 1851. — Srd
edition.]

Common Sandpiper, Totanus hypoleucos. A
summer visitor. Rarely found on the shore, but
frequently met with on the banks of inland
streams, among the grassy borders of which the
nest is placed.

Greenshank, Totanus glottis. Of less fre-
quent occurrence than the redshank, but makes
its appearance about the same time. Haunts
and habits similar,

Avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta. A rare visi-
tor. Small flocks have occasionally been met
with, but the bird has generally been found
alone. Three were killed, out of a party of
six, at Pagham Harbour, some years ago ; and
another on the banks of the Adur, above the old
wooden bridge at Shoreham, by Mr. Hampton,

232 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

of Applesliam. In February, J848, an example
occurred near Hailsham ; and on the 1st of Sep-
tember in the same year, my friend Captain Shir-
ley shot a bird of this species at Lurgashall, about
four miles north of Pet worth, and nearly twenty
from the sea. It rose at some distance, from the
banks of a large pond, and continued to fly round
his head for a considerable time in wide but gra-
dually diminishing circles. This specimen, which
he kindly forwarded to me immediatel}^, was a
bird of the year.

[During the last week of July, 1853, the Rev.
Mr. Dennis, of Newhaven, procured three Avocets
in that neighbourhood, and three were also killed
there by the gardener of Mr. H. Catt ; probably
stragglers from the same flock. — 3rd edition.]

Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa 'inelanura. A
very rare bird in Sussex ; but it has been killed
once or twice, in the immature state, near Am-
berley ; also on Pevensey levels and Rye marshes ;
and a pair (male and female), now in the Chiches-
ter Museum, were killed near Siddlesham.

Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa rufa. I will ad-
duce this bird. as an example of the vernal and
autumnal migrations which I believe to be per-
formed by most of the Grallatores.

In summer there are, perhaps, fewer of the
Scolopacidoe in Sussex than at any other period

SCOLOPACID.E. Too

of the year. About the beginning of September,
their numbers rapidly increase, being reinforced
by parties arriving from their summer quarters
in the North, on their way to the South of
Europe. They are, generally speaking, more
abundant on our shores at this time than at any
other, although many of course remain with us
during the winter, when they may be found at
Pagham, Shoreham, Newhaven, and in similar
localities. Godwits then appear in their plain
grey garb, and are all equally wary and gun-shy
from repeated persecution ; but about the latter
end of March, fresh detachments begin to arrive,
the males presenting the gay ferruginous nuptial
attire, for like all spring visitors from the conti-
nent— whether land, wading, or swimming birds
— they are much farther advanced towards the
plumage peculiar to the breeding-season than
those which have sojourned here during the
winter. The dunlins, which arrive at the same
time, have the black breast fully developed.
The curlew sandpiper — or pigmy curlew — now
suddenly appears in his beautiful summer dress,
and the same remark applies to many congene-
rous birds.

The practical observer or collector should not
fail to look out carefully for good specimens dur-
ing this brief but golden period. However regu-

23^ SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

lar hitherto his visits to their favourite haunts,
yet his expeditions will have been comparatively
fruitless and unsatisfactory until now, and the
first intimation of the arrival of the strangers
will probably be the appearance on some muddy
bank, at ebb-tide, of a little party of confiding
godwits, all in the full breeding plumage, when
perhaps not a single bird of the same species had
occurred on any previous day during the season
in the same state of feather.

Ruff, Machetes pugnax. A scarce bird in
Sussex, except on poulterers' stalls. I never
knew an adult male killed here during the sum-
mer, but have met with it at Pagham in the
winter, when the plumage resembled that of the
female, or reeve — the ornamental raff havimx

' CD

then disappeared. One of the latter was cap-
tured in a singular manner a few years ago near
Hove. It flew into a birdcatcher's net, appa-
rently attracted by the decoy lark. It was sent
alive to Mr. Swaysland, of Brighton.

In a bird of the year, the fore part of the neck
and breast is of a reddish grey, or buff colour,
and in this state of plumage, it is sometimes
mistaken for that rare bird, the buff- breasted
sandpiper, by those who have never seen an
example of the latter species. Mr. Yarrell has
clearly pointed out the distinctions.

SCOLOPACID^. 23-5

Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola. Abundant in
many of the great woods of Sussex during the
winter. Breeds regularly in some parts of the
weald. At Hollycombe young woodcocks are
found every summer,* and Sir Charles Taylor has
shown me the female bird sitting on its eggs in a
plantation within a few minutes' walk of the
house. The nest is a mere hollow in the ground,
lined with a few dead leaves. I have also seen
another in the act of incubation, in an oak coppice
at Barkfold, near Kirdford. By cautiously creep-
ing towards the spot on my hands and knees, I
succeeded in approaching within a few yards, and
could see the full black eye of the bird apparently
fixed upon me. When at last sufficiently alarmed
to quit the nest, instead of flying away hurriedly,
she quietly slipped off it, and ran with an almost
noiseless pace for about twenty yards before she
took wing. The eggs, four in number, were sub-
sequently hatched.

Great Snipe, Scolopax major. An occasional
straggler. Has been killed on Pevensey levels,
and one was shot in the month of October, a few
years ago, by Mr, Trist, a wine-merchant at
Brighton, on the Downs near the race-course, a
singular locality for this bird.

. * Vide Jesse's " Gleanings in Natural History,"
vol. ii., p. 184.

236 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

Common Snipe, Scollopax gallinago. Tolerably
abundant in the winter, on moors and extensive
tracts of low meadow land after the subsidence of
great floods

Jack Snipe, Scolopax gallinula. Of less fre-
quent occurrence than the last, but not un-
common.

Sabine's Snipe, Scolopax Sahini. So named
by Mr. Vigors — the flrst describer of the species —
in 1822, in compliment to the late Mr. Sabine,
then the Secretary of the Zoological Club.

On the oth of March, 1845, Serjeant Carter, of
Cliichester, to whose frequent success I have
already alluded {vide Bee-eater), shot a very fine
example of this, the rarest bird, perhaps, in the
world. It rose from the banks of a stream called
the Lavant, at Appledram, near Chichester Har-
bour. It did not utter a cry like the common
snipe — a fact which coincides with the previous
oljservation of Colonel Bonham. Only six in-
stances of its occurrence are on record, and all of
these in the British Islands.* I was fortunate
enough to become the possessor of this prize.
The plumage exactly resembles that of the speci-
men in the museum of the Zoological Society in
the Regent's Park, from which the first description

* Vide Yarrell's " History of British Birds," second
edition.

SCOLOPACID.^. 237

was taken by Mr. Vigors, as well as that in the
possession of Colonel Bonham, shot by himself in
Ireland, which I have since examined. Altoo-ether
it has very much the look of a diminutive wood-
cock, but is of darker colour, beautifully mot-
tled with transverse pencillings of a light copper
hue: the top of the head and back of the neck
are of a sooty black. In size it is intermediate
between the common and the jack-snipe, but the
beak is even longer in proportion than that of
the former, and the legs shorter. This, of course,
is only intended as a rough sketch of its general
appearance: for specific details, the reader is re-
ferred to Yarrell's " British Birds,'' and Jenyns's
" Manual of British Vertebrate Animals.''

Curlew Sandpiper or Pigmy Curlew, Tringa
suharquata. Has been obtained frequently on
the coast during the autumn and winter. Scarce
in summer.

Knot, Tringa canutus. Several are killed
every autumn and winter, of the usual light grey
colour. Less frequently met with in the spring
and summer when presenting the ferruginous
plumage peculiar to that season, except during
the brief period that intervenes between their
arrival from the Continent and the resumption
of their journey towards the North.

Little Stint, Tringa minuta. Rather a scarce

238 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

bird, but specimens have been obtained near
Shoreham, Pagham, and Hastings.

Tem^mixck's Stint, Tringa Temminchii. A
very rare species. Mr. Yarrell says that he has
seen examples which were procured in the neigh-
bourhood of Chichester. Some years ago one was
shot at Cuckmere haven, and is now in the col-
lection of Mr. Baillie, of Mellerston, N.B.

[In 1851a specimen was obtained at Pagham.
During the last three or four years, either from
increased attention to minute distinctions on the
part of collectors, or because the species itself is
becoming less rare (though I incline to the former
surmise), several examples of Temminck's stint
have been obtained in the neighbourhood of
Brighton.

Mr. Swaysland tells me that he procured
specimens from May to September in 1853, but
none during the subsequent autumn and winter.
— Srd edition.]

Dunlin, Tringa variabilis. Abundant on
most parts of the coast.

Purple Sandpiper, Tringa maritima. Has
been frequently shot during the autumn and
winter.

RALLIDiE. 239

Family Kallid^..

Landrail, Crex j'^'fcitensis. A few are occa-
sionally met with near the Downs on their arrival
in April, at which time they are lean and in bad
condition. Rarely found here during the breeding
season. At the period of the autumnal migration
they are not infrequent, more especially on the
arable portion of the Downs. They are often
flushed by sportsmen during September in clover
fields, and are then excessively fat and highly
prized by epicures.

Mr. Yarrell records an instance of two shooters
in the neighbourhood of Battle, in this county,
killing "fifteen couple of landrails in one day,
and seven couple the next day/' This of course
was an unusual occurrence.

Spotted Crake, Crex porzana. Arrives from
the Continent about the latter end of March or
early in April, and examples have at that period
been occasionally taken in an exhausted state,
within the precincts of the town of Brighton.
After a dark stormy night, in the spring of 1841,
a spotted crake was found alive in tlie church-
yard of Trinity Chapel, probably attracted — like
many other migratory birds which have been

240 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

captured in the gardens and even in the areas of
the liouses — by the long line of gas-lights which
extends almost without interruption from Bruns-
wick Terrace to Kemp Town.

Specimens have been shot near Storrington in
the autumn, and seveial were killed during the
month of October, ISId, on Henfield Common.

Little Crake, Grex piLsilla. A little crake
was caught alive a few years ago near Beeding
chalk-pits (vide Yarrell). I have also seen a
specimen in the possession of the proprietor of
the Doljjhin Inn at Shoreham, which was shot
by himself in that neighbourhood. I am not
aware that a third example of this scarce bird
has occurred in Sussex.

Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus. Has frequent-
ly been captured on the beach, and in different
parts of Brighton, during the period of the vernal
migration, under circumstances to which I have
already alluded (vide Spotted Crake). About the
middle of April, 1842, a couple were taken in
East Street, and several on the same morning
within the areas of houses on the King's Road
and on Brunswick Terrace.

Moorhen, Gallinula chloi'ojyus. Common on
the banks of rivers, brooks, and ditches.

Common Coot, Fulica atra. Not so generall}-
distributed as the last species, but numerous on

LOBIPEDID^. 241

many large ponds whose banks are furnished witli
reeds and sedges.

Family LoBiPEDiDiE.

Grey Phalarope, Phalaropus lohatus. Has
been occasionally obtained in the spring — in the
red plumage peculiar to the breeding season — but
more frequently during the autumn, when return-
ing to the continent from its northern summer
quarters. During September 1846, after a severe
gale from the south-west, which lasted for some
days, great numbers of grey phalaropes suddenly
appeared on various parts of the coast of Sussex ;
many were shot, others taken in a dying state,
and some killed with stones as they were swim-
ming among the breakers near the shore. They
appeared almost simultaneously at Pagham, Wor-
thing, Shoreham, Newhaven, and Hastings. By
far the greater number of these phalaropes were
birds of the year.

Eed-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus hyper-
boreus. A very rare straggler from the North.
A few years ago a bird of this species was taken
alive on the beach near Hastings, and subse-
quently preserved by Mr. Bissenden, a bird-stufier
in that town. In this species the rufous colour
is restricted to the neck and breast, the upper

242 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

plumage being generally of a dark lead tint.
This, together with its smaller size, more slender
and pointed bill, and proportionably longer legs,
may at all seasons serve to distinguish it from
the grey phalarope.

[In September, 1852, a red-necked phalarope
was shot near Shoreham Brido^e, and another in
September, 1853, while swimming with some
ducks in a pond near Rottingdean. — 3rd edition.]

Order NATATO RES.— i^amiZ^/ Anatid^.

Grey-legged Goose, Anser ferus. The com-
mon wild goose of some authors. One of our
rarest Anatidce. Has been occasionally shot
during very severe winters. I obtained two at
Pagham, in 1839.

Bean Goose, Anser segetum. Not unusual
during hard weather.

White-fronted Goose, Anser cdbifrons. Ex-
amples of this species are met with every winter
on the coast.

Bernicle Goose, Anser leucopsis. I procured
a few specimens of the bernicle during December,
1838, and January, 1839, at Pagham Harbour,
and it has occurred at Shoreham and Rye, but it
can only be considered as a visitant of rare oc-
currence.

ANATID^. 243

Breist Goose, Anser torqiiatus. During the
severe winter to which I have just alluded, brent
geese were unusually abundant at Pagham Har-
bour. I shot several myself. This is the best
bird I ever tasted: the flesh is as tender and
juicy as that of a teal, and there is a total ab-
sence of the fishy flavour which renders so many
of our water-fowl unfit for the table.

Egyptian Goose, A7iser EgyjAiacus. Although
unknown in Sussex until within the last few years,
several examples of the Egy^^tian goose have oc-
curred in difierent parts of the county. These
were probably the descendants of birds which had
been introduced into England from abroad; and
which have been known in many instances to
have escaped from ponds and ornamental pieces
of water. One in my own collection was shot at
Shoreham Harbour, in December, 1847. I have
seen a specimen at Holtycombe, which was killed
in that neighbourhood. It has also been obtained
at Bexhill, and in various parts of the interior.

Hooper, Gygnus ferus. Wild Swan or Whist-
ling Swan. An unusually severe winter always
brings this bird to our coast. In January, 1 839,
I saw several flocks at Pagham, and procured
many specimens.

Mute Swan, Cygnus olor. Seen in a half
domesticated state on ponds and rivers. Some-

244 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

times a male of this species performs a sort of
partial migration, and proves that he can make
use of his wings when occasion requires it. A
swan will then occasionally disappear, and all in-
quiries in the neighbourhood proving ineifectual,
the loss is attributed to the poacher or the mid-
night robber, until perhaps it is discovered that
the bird had only joined some solitary spinster
on a distant pond, where she had been doomed
to float for many years in " single blessedness.''

Common Shelldrake, Tadorna vulpanser.
Not uncommon, but generally found in the im-
mature state.

Shoveler, Anas clypeata. Has frequently
occurred during winter on different parts of the
coast.

Gad WALL, Anas strepera. Eather a scarce
bird. Has been occasionally shot at Pagham and
Shoreham.

Pintail Duck, Anas acuta. An ordinary
winter visitor.

Wild Duck, Anas hoschas. Common.

Garganey Duck, Anas querquedula. Imma-
ture examples of the garganey are not unusual
in the winter at Pagham, Shoreham, Rye, and
Hastings Adult specimens — particularly males
— are rare.

Teal, Anas crecca. Of frequent occurrence.

ANATID.E. 24:0

WiGEON, Anas Penelope. A regular winter
visitant, in considerable numbers.

EiDEE Duck, SoTuateria mollissima. A very
rare wanderer from the North. An immature
specimen was shot by Serjeant Carter, in No-
vember, 1830, at Chichester Harbour, and two
were killed some years ago, associated with a
flock of brent geese on Rye Marsh.

Velvet Scoter, Oidemia fusca. Rare. Sel-
dom ventures on shore even in hard weather, but
has been observed a few miles at sea, being, how-
ever, very wild and difficult of approach. I liave
a specimen which was killed off Selsey Bill.

Common Scoter, Oidemia nigra. Abundant
in the neighbourhood of the coast during severe
winters, and may be observed in mid-channel at
all times of the year. The fishermen call them
" black ducks.''

Pochard or Dun Bird, Fidigula ferina. Of
frequent occurrence in inclement seasons, and
equally acceptable to the wild-fowl-shooter and
the gourmand.

Sciup Duck, Fuligula marila. Perhaps the
most common species, after the wigeon, that is
met with on this coast during the winter months.

Tufted Duck, Fuligula cristata. Almost as
abundant as the last.

Long-tailed Duck, Fuligula glacialis. Adult

246 SYSTE:\rATic catalogue.

specimens of the long-tailed duck are of rare oc-
currence in Sussex. It is strictly a winter visitor,
and a continuance of severe weather is necessary
to induce it to wander so far from its northern
haunts. In 1839 I shot a young male, atPagham
Harbour, out of a flock of scaup ducks. Immature
examples have occurred on other parts of the
coast, near Chichester, Brighton, and Pevensey;
and I liave a specimen which was shot as far
inland as Amberley, during the hard winter of
1844-45.

Golden Eye, Fuligula clangula. Adult males
are unusual, but females and young birds are
killed on the coast every winter, and on rivers
and ponds several miles inland. I have shot it
at Pagham, and have received several specimens
killed at Burton and Pulborough, presenting that
state of the immature plumage in which it has
been called the Morillon.

Smew, Mergus alhellus. Like the golden eye,
the females and young males of this species are
most frequently met with. They have been killed
in various parts of the county. I have, however,
seen many examples of the adult male bird. One
is in my own collection, which was shot at Shore-
ham ; there is another at Hollycombe, obtained
in that neighbourhood. Two have been killed at
Burton, on the upper pond ; one several years ago.

COLTMBID^. 247

which is still preserved there ; the other during
the winter of 1850 — a very beautiful specimen —
was kindly presented to me by Mr. Bainbridge.
It has also occurred at Amberley, Pagham, and
Newhaven.

Red - BREASTED Merganser, Mergus serra-
toT. Males in the perfect plumage are very rare.
Females and immature birds of both sexes have
frequently occurred.

Goosander, Mergus merganser. A rare visi-
tor to Sussex, except during inclement seasons.
Young birds have occasionally been killed at
different places on the coast.

Family Colymbid^.

Great- crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus.
Not uncommon on large ponds with reedy banks.
Has been observed at Burton at all times of the
year. Adult males have been killed at Chichester
Harbour and Pagham. Generally met with in
the immature state, when it is the Tippet Grebe
of earlier authors.

Red-necked Grebe, Podiceps ruhricollis. A
few examples of this rare grebe have been ob-
tained in Sussex, and all of these — I believe — on
the coast, being more marine in its habits than
any of its congeners. In the Chichester Museum

248 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

there is a very fine adult specimen, which was
shot in one of the estuaries of the harbour.
During March, 1847, a bird of this species having
been observed for some time swimming and
diving near the beach opposite Brunswick- ter-
race, Brighton, was pursued by a party of active
rowers in a galley, and captured after a long
chase. This specimen is now in my collection.
The fore part of the neck exhibits a considerable
portion of the ferruginous plumage peculiar to
the breeding-season.

ScLAVONiAN Grebe, Podiceps cornutus. Sel-
dom found in the adult state ; but the young
— the dusky grebe of Bewick — has been fre-
quently obtained.

Eared Grebe, Podiceps auritus. There is an
immature specimen of this grebe in the museum
at Chichester, which was killed in that neigh-
bourhood.

Little Grebe or Dabchick, Podiceps minor.
Provincial, Mole- diver. Common on ponds and
sluggish streams in the interior of the county.

Great Northern Diver, Golymbus glacialis.
Old birds are scarce, but immature examples are
killed every year on the coast, and occasionally
in the interior.

Black-throated Diver, Golymbus arcticus.
Appears to be the most uncommon of the three

ALCAD^. 249

divers, particularly in the perfect state of plu-
mage. I have a remarkably fine adult specimen
which was shot in Chichester Harbour during
the winter of 1845. I have seen another in the
museum of the Mechanics' Institute at Hastings,
which was killed in that neighbourhood ; and a
third in the Chichester collection, which was sent
from Selsey. Immature birds have frequently
been obtained on the coast.

Ked-throated DiVEU, Colymhus septentrio-
nalis. Common along the shores of Sussex during
the latter part of winter and early spring, but very
few of the examples then observed or procured
have the red throat, which is usually characteristic
of the breeding- season.

Family Alcad^.

Common Guillemot, Uria troile. Provincial,
Willock or Willy. Breeds at Beachy Head, but
is less abundant there than formerly, Is fre-
quently met with in the Channel, a few miles
from the shore, during the winter.

Ringed Guillemot, Uria lacrymans. [In
January, 185*3, and in May, during the same year,
two guillemots were killed by Mr. Weller near
Brighton, having the peculiar white mark or
ring round the eyes, which has induced some

M 5

2.30 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

authors to consider tliis bird specifically distinct
from tlie common guillemot.— 3rd edition.]

Little Auk, Mergulus alle: Occasionally
driven to our coasts by severity of weather. In
the autumn of 1841 several were killed. On the
5th of November, in the same year, one was
caught in a shrimp-net, near Cnckmere Haven;
and after a violent storm in December, 1848, a
specimen was captured at Newhaven.

Puffin or Coulterneb, Fratercula arctica.
Provincial, Sea Parrot. These birds have no
breeding -station on the coast of Sussex, but
emigrants from the Isle of Wight occasionally
visit our shores. These are generally immature
birds.

Razor-bill, Alca tor da. Provincial, Parrot-
billed Willock or Willy. Breeds at Beachy Head.
During winter great numbers are killed a few
miles at sea, oft' Hastings.

Family Pelecanid^.

Common Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carho.
Provincial, Seaford Shag. A small colony is
established at Seaford Clift" during the breeding-
season. Strago'lers from the Isle of Wight con-
tinually pass along the coast, and a bird of this
species now and then makes his appearance on

LARID^. 251

large ponds and flooded tracts of low land in the
interior.

Green Cormorant, Phalacrocorax graculus.
Of very unusual occurrence. I have seen one
or two examples — immature — which were killed
at Pagham Harbour during the hard winter of
1838-39.

Gannet, Sula alba. After the severe storms
which attend the autumnal equinox, some of these
birds are almost always captured on the coast of
Sussex in an exhausted state. Individuals have
been thus found near Pagham, Selsey, Shoreham,
Newhaven, and Peve-nsey. The Brighton fisher-
men find them abundant in mid-channel during
the herring-season. At night they sleep on the
water, so profoundly as frequently to allov/ the
boats to pass over them.

Family Larid^.

Sandwich Tern, Sterna Boysii. Has been
obtained at Pevensey, Selsey, and Rye, in May
and June, as well as during tlie autumnal
months.

[In May, 1853, a Sandwich tern was shot off
Brighton by Mr. Michau of Clarence Square. —
3rd edition.]

Co^iMON Tern or Sea Swallow, Sterna

252 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

hirundo. Provincial, Skiff. The wide-spreading
bed of sliingle near Pevensey Bay, between East-
bourne and Bexhill, is still the resort of many
species of terns in the breeding-season ; but they
are not so numerous as they used to be, probably
in consequence of the vast number of their eggs
which have been taken during the summer, the
sale of which amounted a few years ago almost to
a regular traffic. I have heard that a person, who
lived at that time near Bexhill, had a peculiar
breed of dog — a sort of cross, as I understand,
between a setter and a water-spaniel — which
he trained to hunt for the eggs of terns, ring-
dotterels, and lapwings: and valuable coadjutors
they proved. Quartering the ground like a pointer
or setter, and taking advantage of the direction of
the wind in the same manner, they would draw
gradually towards the spot where the eggs of a
tern had been deposited — whether the bird was
at home or not —and drop within a yard of them.
Such assistance must have greatly lessened the
labour of egg-hunting on this stony desert, for
it is generally a tedious process — as I know by
experience — requiring much patience and long
practice, so nearly do the eggs, both in colour
and form, resemble the surrounding flints and
pebbles.

Arctic Tern, Sterna arctica. Is decidedly

LARIDiE. 253

more numerous on Pevensey Shingle during May
and June than the last species. In fact, this bird
is here "the common tern/' and would appear
to be more generally distributed throughout the
British Islands than any of its congeners. In
May, 184-2, large flocks appeared almost simul-
taneously at Devonport, Bristol, and Gloucester,
and at various places on the coasts of Hamp-
shire, Sussex, and Kent. This tern may at once
be distino^uished from the so-called common tern
— with which it has evidently been frequently
confused — by the prevalent light grey colour of
the lower parts, which in the latter are of a
delicately pure white. The tarsi are also much
shorter.

Gull-billed Tern, Sterna Anglica. A very
scarce and local visitor. First described by
Colonel Montagu, who obtained examples at
Rje. There is a specimen in my own collection
which was shot in that neighbourhood; and an-
other in the Chichester Museum which was killed
at Selsey on the 81st of March, 1852.

Lesser Tern, Sterna minuta. Provincial,
Little Skiffl Of frequent occurrence at Pevensey
during the breeding-season and autumn.

Black Tern, Sterna fissipes. A rare biid in
Sussex. Has occasionally been killed at the
period of the spring and autumnal migrations,

254 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

when passing to or returning from its summer
quarters in more inland counties.

Sabine's Gull. Larus Sahini. [On the 22n(i
of October, 1853, Mr. Swaysland received a speci-
men of this scarce bird, in winter plumage. It
was killed by the gardener of Mr. H. Catt, near
Newhaven. — 3rd edition.]

Little Gull, Larus mhiutus. A preserved
specimen of this scarce gull is in the possession of
the Rev. Mr. Dennis, of Seaford, which was killed
in the neighbourhood ; and that gentleman was
so fortunate as to obtain during the winter of
1849 a second example, alive, which affords a
good opportunity of observing its seasonal varia-
tions of plumage. I am indebted to Mrs. Rick-
man, of Lewes, for a beautiful coloured drawing
of this bird, taken early in December, when it
had assumed its winter livery. [Another example
of the little gull was shot by a fisherman near
Brighton on the 10th November, 1853. It was
preserved by Mr. Swaysland. 3rd edition.]

Black -HEADED Gull, Larus ridibundus.
Abundant.

Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla. A rare spe-
cies. Inserted here on the authority of Montagu.
Vide Yarrell.

KiTTiWAKE Gull, Larus tridactylus. Common.

Ivory Gull, Larus eburneus. Has been occa-

sionally obtained in Sussex. Twice near Brigh-
ton. There is a specimen, which I have seen, in
the possession of Mr. Johnson, a chemist at
St. Leonard's, which was found on the beach in a
dying state ; and during the winter of 1848, an
example occurred near Rye.

Common Gull, Larus canus. Less generally
distributed in Sussex than in most maritime
counties. Is occasionally met with in the in-
terior.

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus.
Far from common, although occasionally seen on
different parts of the coast. A few breed at New-
haven, on the same cliff as the herring gulls.

Heriung Gull, Larus argentatus. Abundant
at Newhaven during the summer.

Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus.
Provincial, Parson Gull. So called from a sup-
posed resemblance in the arrangement of its
black and white plumage to the hood and sur-
plice of a clergyman. Adult birds are not nu-
merous, and are generally observed alone.

Glaucous Gull, Larus glaucus. An imma-
ture example of this scarce gull was captured by
a boy, from off the chain-pier at Brighton, with
an instrument called a "click," to the use of
which a certain portion of the juvenile population
of that town are much addicted. It consists of a

256 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

cork rudely fashioned after the likeness of a fish,
over which is stretched the skin of a mackerel.
From this two hooks project, which, however,
are rendered the most attractive portions of the
bait by being covered with tempting morsels of
liver. A long line is then attached to it, when
it is thrown into the sea and suffered to float
away with the tide to a considerable distance.
Many gulls of different species are thus taken
every year.

The glaucous gull is as large as the great
black-backed gull. When adult it is nearly white,
but the dorsal plumage is tinged with French
grey. Young birds may be distinguished from
those of the latter species by the shafts of the
wing-feathers being always of a light colour.*

Iceland Gull, Larus Icelandicus. [A fine
example (but immature) of the Iceland gull was
shot in January, 1852, near Pagham. It is now
in the Chichester Museum. This bird may be said
to be a smaller representative of the last-named
species, as the lesser black-backed gull is of the
greater. — 3rd edition.]

Common Skua, Lestris catarractes. A rare

* I have lately (February, 1850) seen an adult
specimen of the glaucous gull, said to have been shot
about four years ago near Worthing.

LARID^. 257

wanderer from the North. Has occurred on dif-
ferent parts of the coast, generally reduced to
a state of starvation. A few years since, in the
month of November, a baker's boy captured a
great skua on the beach at Kemp Town, which
was in the act of devouring a dead cat, and was
with difficulty separated from its savoury meal.
This specimen was preserved by Mr. Swaysland.
About the same time another was killed at Wor-
thing. A severe storm had prevailed for some
days previously. An individual of this species
has also been shot at Hove, while feeding on
carrion; and another was picked up dead off the
chain-pier at Brighton. All these examples were
in imperfect plumage and much emaciated.

PoMERiNE Skua, Lestris pomarinus. Of more
usual occurrence than the last. Immature speci-
mens have been killed near Bognor, Shoreham,
Brighton, Newhaven, and Hastings.

Richardson's Skua, Lestris Bichardsonii.
This species of skua occurs more frequently in
Sussex than either of the preceding. Immature
examples have been kiUed on different parts of
the coast, and at Dell Quay, near Chichester.
In September, 1840, one was killed at Brighton,
which had partially assumed the long tail-
feathers; and on the 3rd of October, 1843, an

258 SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE.

adult specimen was taken with a "click'' (vide
Glaucous Gull) off the chain-pier at Brighton.

Manx Sheaewatee, Puffi^nus Anglorum. An
unusual and accidental visitor to this part of the
British Channel. Has been met with occasionally
at some distance from the shore.

FoEK -TAILED Peteel, Thcdassidroma Leachii.
Several examples of the fork-tailed petrel have
been taken on the coasts of Sussex: almost in-
variably after south-westerly storms. It has oc-
curred at Pagham, Lancing, Shoreham, Brighton,
Newhaven, Pevensey, and Hastings. On the
23rd of November, ] 848, a specimen was shot at
Littlehampton ; and on the 14th of December,
in the same year, an example was taken on the
beach near Rottingdean, and brought alive to
Mr. Swaysland. The tips of the wings were worn
off, probably in its vain efforts to scramble up the
perpendicular chalk-cliff after it had alighted on
the shore. Although in a dying state, it evinced
a considerable degree of coolness and self-posses-
sion after its capture, disregarding the presence
of the spectators who surrounded it, and occa-
sionally pluming its wings with much care and
attention. In performing this operation it opened
its beak very wide, and causing the root of the
quill to fall into the angles of the mouth, it drew

LARiDJi:. 259

every portion of the feather slowly through the
closed mandibles. In addition to the examples
recorded above as having occurred near the coast,
I am enabled to state that a fork-tailed petrel
was found dead about the middle of Decem-
ber, 1849, in the grounds of Mr. Hollist, of
Lodsworth, who obligingly forwarded the bird
to me. This circumstance appears worthy of
distinct notice, as the spot where it was found
is almost fifteen miles in a straight line fi:om
the sea.

Storm Petrel or Mother Carey's Chicken,
Thalassidroma pelagica. This bird has — more
frequently than the last — been picked up dead
or nearly so on the coast, and even many miles
in the interior. As the name would imply, it
is seldom seen during fine weather, but in the
middle of May, 1849 — the sea being perfectly
calm, with a gentle breeze ofi" the land —
Mr. Swaysland met with a party of storm petrels
about a mile from the shore, opposite Brighton,
and succeeded in shooting five of them. However
much it may appear to be "at home" during a
storm when far from the land, and with plenty
of sea-room — and I have myself observed it under
such circumstances in the Bay of Biscay, as well
as ofi" the western coast of Ireland — it would

260 vSYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE. !

I

certainly seem to be "all abroad'' when driven i

from its favourite element by a sudden tempest,

or by those severe and protracted gales which

occur at the period of the autumnal equinox. j

FINIS.

T. E. Metcalf, Printer, 63, Snow Hill, London.

Just PaUished, Price 7s. 6d.,

m,ii\) Ctttircis i^eiu illustrations bg SMolf,

A THIRD EDITION OF

ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES IN SUSSEX;

WITU A

CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS OF THAT COUNTY,

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