A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



126. White or Barn-Owl. Strix flammea, 



Linn. 

 Still fairly numerous in spite of the sense- 

 less and even harmful warfare waged against 

 it. Mr. Butterfield informs me that a very 

 beautiful chocolate specimen has passed 

 through the hands of Mr. G. Bristow. 



127. Long-eared Owl. Aiio otus (Linn.) 

 Irregularly distributed and generally fre- 

 quenting plantations of fir and larch. 



128. Short-eared Owl. Aslo accipitrinus 



(Pallas). 

 A late autumn and winter visitor. It 

 seems to prefer the open lands in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the sea, and may be seen hunting 

 for food during the day. 



129. Tawny Owl. Syrnium aluco (Linn.) 

 The most abundant species of owl in 



west Sussex. In the east of the county it is 

 considered somewhat rare. I have seen both 

 the snowy owl and the tawny owl hunting 

 for fish by day. In the case of the snowy 

 owl the bird descended upon its quarry ex- 

 actly like an osprey, with wings held straight 

 up. 



130. Little Owl. Athene noctua (Scopoli). 

 Of late years several little owls have been 



let out by various naturalists, and these and 

 their progeny figure occasionally in the 

 columns of the Field and elsewhere. 



131. Scops-Owl. Scops giu (Scopoli). 



A specimen of this owl was killed at 

 Shillingbee, the seat of the Earl of Winter- 

 ton, about the year 1850 (Knox). 



132. Eagle-Owl. Bubo ignavus, T. Forster. 

 Montagu, Yarrell and Jenyns give an in- 

 stance of the occurrence of this species in 

 Sussex, and although this record was possibly 

 that of a wild bird, it is more than likely that 

 most of the subsequent captures of the eagle- 

 owl which have been recorded are those of 

 tame birds which gentlemen like Mr. Meade 

 Waldo have in a generous spirit endeavoured 

 to acclimatize. 



Formerly many eagle-owls were kept in a 

 considerable space formed by the walls of the 

 donjon keep at Arundel. There they bred 

 and reared several young ones every year. 



133. Marsh-Harrier. Circus ^eruginosus (Linn.) 

 There is little doubt that at the beginning 



of the nineteenth century the marsh-harrier 

 was still common in Sussex, yet by the year 

 1850, owing to the drainage of its principal 

 hunting grounds, it was considered a rare 



bird, a fact that is proved by there being no 

 Sussex specimen in Mr. Borrer's collection. 

 The species is now a very scarce autumn 

 visitor. 



134. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus {hinn.) 

 The most commonly met with of the 



three species of harrier formerly resident. Now 

 a regular but somewhat rare winter visitor. 



135. Montagu's Harrier. Circus cineraceus 



(Montagu). 

 Formerly resident and breeding in the 

 county till 1850. Specimens have been 

 killed at Wiversfield (1874), Arundel (1844), 

 Hollycombe and Oafham (1842) (Charles 

 Knox). Now only a rare spring visitor, and 

 it would undoubtedly breed again with us, 

 as it has recently done so in several of 

 the southern counties, were any protection 

 afforded. The most recent capture of this 

 species is that of an adult female which was 

 shot at Patcham near Brighton on June 16, 

 1 891 (Pratt). Mr. Butterfield tells me that 

 a solitary individual frequented the hills near 

 Fairlight, Hastings, during the spring and 

 summer of 190 1. Mr. M. J. Nicoll informs 

 me that this bird was afterwards shot, and 

 that he also received a male from Burwash 

 which had been killed by a keeper on Jul}- 

 28, 1899. 



136. Common Buzzard. Buteo vulgaris, 



Leach. 

 Now only a rare autumn migrant in the 

 county where he was once common and resi- 

 dent. Certainly far rarer than the rough- 

 legged or the honey-buzzard. 



137. Rough-legged Buzzard. Buteo lagopus 



(J. F. Gmelin). 

 A scarce autumn visitor. In November, 

 1896, I saw a bird of this species when 

 partridge shooting near Horsham, and another 

 the same week near Cowfold. 



138. White-tailed Eagle. Haliaetus albicilla 



(Linn.) 

 One or two white-tailed eagles, generally 

 young birds, find their way to Sussex every 

 winter. They come in the vain hope of 

 gaining a living on our coasts, but generally 

 fall a victim to the gamekeeper, the farmer 

 or the shore-shooter. Markwick evidentl) 

 confused this bird with the golden eagle, and 

 it is curious that he made no allusion to the 

 sea-eagle in his ' Catalogue of the Birds of 

 Sussex '(published in the \Anr\2t2.x\Transactioixs, 

 1795), for in his day the species was probably 

 of more frequent occurrence than in our 

 times. Knox gives five instances of its capture. 



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