( 830 ) 

 SNIPE AND REDSHANK NESTING IN SUSSEX. 



BY 



COLONEL H. W. FEILDEN. 



BoRRER, in his excellent work The Birds of Sussex, 

 published nearly a quarter of a century ago, thus 

 summarizes the status of the Common Snipe in the 

 county as a breeding species : " The Snipe breeds 

 sparingly in Sussex, but the nest has been found now 

 and then on the aforesaid Common [Henfield], as well 

 as on the heaths near Balcombe, and on Ashdown 

 Forest, Pevensey Level, and Horsham." Dr. N. F. 

 Ticehurst, in his recent History of the Birds of Kent 

 writes : "I cannot help thinking that many more 

 [Snipe] breed in Kent than is generally thought. They 

 nest regularly in the neighbouring counties of Sussex 

 and Surrey, at no more than a mile or so from the county 

 boundary, but the fact remains that no more than five 

 or six nests have been found in Kent," 



In this Magazine (Vol. VI., p. 21) Mr. R. E. Cheesman 

 reports the nesting of a pair of Snipe at Benenden 

 (Kent) in 1912, and Dr. Ticehurst comments as follows : 

 " On April 30th, 1910, I was able to verify for myself 

 the breeding of the Snipe in the Wittersham Levels 

 referred to on page 453 of my book ; some six pairs 

 were ' drumming ' there, and I found one nest. The 

 only other record I have since received is one from 

 Colonel J. M. Rogers, who found a nest of four eggs 

 in process of hatching in the Darenth valley on May 

 nth, 1908." 



A. E. Knox, in his charming Ornithological Rambles 

 in Sussex, written sixty years ago, Avhen we might expect 

 the species was more abundant than it is to-day, does 

 not, to the best of my recollection, even refer to the 



