252 THE BIPvDS OF SUSSEX. 



GAVI^. 

 LAEID^. 



THE BLACK TERN. 



Hydrochelidon nigra. 



The Black Tern may be considered a rare visitor^ occurring 

 occasionally on inland ponds and large pieces of fresh water 

 at a distance from the sea. On Angust 27th^ 1853^ I 

 observed a small Tern^ which I have no doubt was nigra, 

 flying about over the water near the bay of Knepp Pond_, or 

 rather Lake^ as it consists of about 80 acres, during a very 

 heavy gale from the south-west ; notwithstanding which it 

 seemed to be hawking for insects. 



Mr, Knox (O. R. p. 253) merely calls it a rare bird in 

 Sussex, and states that it has occasionally been killed at the 

 spring and autumn migrations, or returning from its summer 

 quarters in more inland counties. Mr. Jeffery (p. n.) re- 

 cords one, in winter plumage, shot at Ratham on the 22nd 

 September, 1850 ; a female and a young bird at Sidlesham, 

 May 5th, 1860, the former in fl^ll summer-plumage; and on 

 October 9th, 1865, another young bird at Paghara. In the 

 ' Zoologist ' (p. 2803) a specimen is recorded by Mr. Potter, 

 which was shot at Balmer, about six miles from Lewes, where 

 it had been seen hawking for insects, for about an hour, over 

 the surface of a freshwater pond. 



Mr. Booth, in his ' Rough Notes,^ states that small flocks, 

 flying eastward, usually put in an appearance in the Channel, 

 off the coast of Sussex, during the last week in April, and 



