A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



75. Tree-Sparrow. Passer montanus (Linn.) 

 Rare as a breeding species but fairly com- 

 mon in winter, when it may readily be dis- 

 tinguished by its high-pitched note. Mr. 

 Butterfield says that a colony breed and reside 

 at Camber Castle near Rye. 



76. Chaffinch. Fringilla coelebs, Linn. 

 Locally, Cavenger (M. J. Nicoll). 



Abundant throughout the year. In the 

 autumn when a large number of migratory 

 chaffinches pass through Sussex the sexes keep 

 apart. For some days males only are seen, 

 and then for a while the other sex will be in 

 completely, and generally at the begmnmg of evidence. In the spring again a migration of 

 the nesting season. I have seen as many as ^j^e males to the north comes first, 

 ten freshly made hawfinches nests at Denne 



Park which have been deserted. In the next 77. Brambling. Fringi/la montifringil/a, Linn. 

 year four nests only were built and one A regular winter visitor, 



tenanted, from which young were brought „ t • r • , ■ ,r ■ \ 



out. With great regularity family parties of 78- L'^net. Lmota cannakna (Lmn.) 

 hawfinches appear in our gardens and attack Common and resident. 



68. Sand-Martin. Cottle rlparia (Linn.) 

 Whilst both swallows and house-martins 



appear to vary in numbers and date of arrival 

 according to the season, the sand-martins 

 always seem to be numerous and regular in 

 their appearance in spring. 



69. Greenfinch. Ligurinus chloris (Linn.) 

 Abundant everywhere, although not so 



common as in Wiltshire. 



70. Hawfinch. Coccothraustes vulgaris, Pallas. 

 The hawfinch is fairly common locally, but 



in some years they desert certain districts 



the ripe peas, a somewhat bold move for birds 

 which are generally so shy. 



71. Goldfinch. Carduelis elegans, Stephens. 

 The goldfinch is undoubtedly far scarcer 



than formerly, but its numbers are certainly 

 not now on the decrease. Though large 

 numbers of this beautiful little bird were, 

 and are, annually caught on the downs near 

 Brighton, I think with Mr. Meade-Waldo 

 that its present scarcity is due rather to the 

 disappearance of its favourite fallows and pas- 

 tures. Somewhat large flocks of migratory 

 goldfinches are to be occasionally seen in the 

 autumn. As an instance of the abundance 

 of this species near Brighton in former times, 

 Mr. Booth states that a bird-catcher once took 

 at one pull of his net eleven dozen goldfinches, 

 and Mr. Hussey [Zoologist, i860, p. 7144) 

 put the annual capture of this species near 

 Worthing at about 1,154 dozen. 



72. Siskin. Carduelis spinus (Linn.) 



A regular winter visitor, and generally found 

 in small flocks feeding on the alders. 



73. Serin. Serinus hortulanus, K. L. Koch. 



I have no doubt that the serin visits Sussex 

 in the spring far more frequently than is 

 generally supposed, though specimens have 

 rarely been taken. One year, 1884, the 

 Brighton bird-catchers captured three of these 

 birds, one of which, a beautiful adult male, 

 was kept alive for a short time by the late 

 Mr. Henry Seebohm, who on its death kindly 

 presented it to me. 



74. House-Sparrow. Passer domesticus {L'\nn.) 

 Quite a plague, especially at harvest time. 



79. Mealy Redpoll. Linota linaria (Linn.) 

 A rare winter visitor. 



80. Lesser Redpoll. Linota rufescens {VmWo^. 

 The lesser redpoll generally arrives and 



associates with the siskins during its short 

 winter stay. A few have been known to 

 remain and nest. 



81. Twite. Linota Jlavirostris (Linn.) 



A somewhat unusual winter visitor to 

 west Sussex but occurs annually in east 

 Sussex ; it is generally found in small flocks 

 near the coast. 



82. Bullfinch. Pyrrhula europaa, Vieillot. 

 Bullfinches are certainly far commoner than 



they were a few years ago. One now sees 

 large numbers in the woods when covert 

 shooting is going on. 



83. Scarlet Grosbeak. Pyrrhula erythrtna 



(Pallas). 

 There is only one instance of the occur- 

 rence of this species in Sussex, a specimen 

 having been caught on the downs near 

 Brighton in September, 1869 (Yarrell). 



84. Pine - Grosbeak. Pyrrhula enucleator 



(Linn.) 

 The pine-grosbeak is said to have occurred 

 twice in Sussex. 



85. Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra, Linn. 

 Large numbers of crossbills visit us in 



certain seasons, arriving in September and 

 often staying throughout the whole winter. 

 They are particularly fond of the west end of 

 St. Leonards Forest, where in 1899 I got 



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