[ 102 ] 



passing to the next branch of his subject, that the county was 

 celebrated for two breeds of cattle, namely, the Southdown sheep 

 and the Sussex oxen, but he did not know their origin ; and, as it 

 was probable that they were only improvements of breeds intro- 

 duced here, they would hardly come within the scope of this paper. 



He now arrived at his second subject, the birds of Sussex. 

 The county, from its maritime position and its proximity to the 

 continent of Europe had been the resort of a great many species 

 of birds. One of the earliest of Sussex ornithologists was "William 

 Markwick, Esq., F.L.S., who resided at Cutsfield, near Battle, and 

 between 1768 and 1793 made many observations there respecting 

 the birds of the county, which were mentioned in White's " Natural 

 History of Selborne.'' He also compiled a catalogue of Sussex 

 birds, which was published in the Transactions of the Linnean 

 Society. The next was Mr. Thomas Woollgar, who was born in 

 1761 and died in 1821. He was a contributor to the Gentleman's 

 Magazine, and to Dr. Smith's "English Botany," His manuscripts 

 contained recoi-ds of 180 species of birds which had been seen in 

 Sussex. He had not seen the lists of either Markwick or Woollgar. 



Dr. Mantell, in his Appendix to Horsfield's " History of 

 Lewes," gave a list of Sussex birds, and quoted extensively from 

 Woollgar ; he only enumerated 70 land and 40 water birds — in all, 

 110. The most complete list was that of A. E. Knox, Esq., which 

 was given at the end of his " Ornithological Rambles in Sussex," 

 one of the most Interesting scientific books ever published. Mr. 

 Knox catalogued 249 Sussex birds. The last edition of his work 

 appeared in 1856. Since that year, with the exception of a reprint 

 of Mr. Knox's list in Mrs. Merrifield's " Natural History of 

 Brighton," no list had been published. It appeared to him that in 

 making a new list of Sussex birds, the simplest plan would be to 

 take Mr. Knox's list as the basis, and make the necessary additions 

 thereto. After a careful search, he found that the following birds, 

 which had been found in the county, must be added. In eaclj case 

 the place and date and authority were given : — 



Iceland falcon (Falco idandicusj. One. Mayfield, January, 

 1845. Ellman, Zoologist, p. 3,233. 



Red-footed falcon {F. vespertinus). Rottingdean, 1851. 

 Sharpe and Dresser, " Birds of Europe," part 1. 



