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 



