A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



220. Kentish Plover. Mgialith cantiana 



(Latham). 

 The Kentish plover exists in small num- 

 bers about the shingly beaches of the eastern 

 coast of Sussex. Here in the neighbourhood 

 of Rye Harbour and Winchelsea it breeds 

 occasionally. It is a migratory species, arriv- 

 ing in April and departing in September. 



221. Golden Plover. Charadrim pluvialis, 



Linn. 

 A regular winter visitor, sometimes in large 

 flocks, to the open lands of Sussex. I have 

 noticed golden plovers return year after year 

 to the same ground in the Weald of Sussex. 

 There they have their resting field and two 

 regular feeding grounds, to which they adhere 

 closely for two or three months unless re- 

 peatedly disturbed. In hard weather they 

 leave for the coast. 



222. Grey Plover. Squatarola helvetica 



(Linn.) 

 The grey plover, which is far more mari- 

 time in its habits than the golden plover, 

 regularly visits the coast of the county in 

 spring and autumn. Some years they stay at 

 Lancing and Pagham till the end of May, 

 when the fine summer plumage has been 

 completely assumed. There is a fine case 

 of summer specimens killed in Sussex by the 

 late Mr. Booth in the Dyke Road museum, 

 Brighton, and I have a perfectly black- 

 breasted male that was killed at Lancing in 

 May, i88o, and another shot at Worthing 

 about the same time. 



223. Lapwing. Vanellm vulgaris, Bechstein. 

 Abundant and resident. I think that the 



peewit is again increasing as a breeding 

 species. 



224. Turnstone. Strepsilas interpres (Linn.) 

 Fairly common along the coast in spring 



and autumn. A few remain throughout the 

 year. 



225. Oyster-catcher. Hamatopm ostralegus, 



Linn. 

 This inappropriately named bird, which 

 never catches oysters, is locally common on 

 the coast, especially about Shoreham and 

 Rye, where I have recently seen large flocks. 

 Locally this species is known by the curious 

 name of ' olive.' 



226. Avocet. Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn. 

 Formerly breeding in the marshes of the 



county, the avocet is now only a very rare 



straggler in the spring. Markwick states that 

 is was not uncommon in his days, and says 

 that he had found a young one, just hatched, 

 near Rye. 



227. Black-winged Stilt. Himantopm candi- 



dus, Bonnaterre. 

 A very rare visitor. There are two in- 

 stances of its capture in Sussex, the first at 

 Bosham by Mr. A. Cheeseman, December, 

 1855, and the second on a small pond near 

 the junction of Midhurst and Bepton Com- 

 mons, May 17, 1859 (-^'^"j 1859, p. 395). 

 Mr. Clark Kennedy also records {Zoologist, 

 1880, p. 300) having seen a specimen near 

 Eastbourne on May 6, 1880. 



228. Grey Phalarope. Phalaropus fulicarius 



(Linn.) 

 An irregular autumn visitor. In some 

 years, such as 1869, this little bird visited the 

 coast of Sussex in considerable numbers. 

 They as well as the following species are 

 always exceedingly tame, and on this occasion 

 scores of grey phalaropes fell victims to sticks 

 and stones. 



229. Red-necked Phalarope. Phalaropus 



hyperboreus (Linn.) 

 This species has occurred on several occa- 

 sions, generally during the autumn migration, 

 on the coast of the county ; it is however 

 much rarer than the grey phalarope. In Scot- 

 land it is now considered rare as a breeding 

 species, but I know of one marsh, the shoot- 

 ing of which I rented in 1 899-1 900, where 

 at least thirty pairs had bred. The tameness 

 of this little bird is quite remarkable ; near 

 the Myvatn Lake in Iceland a female red- 

 necked phalarope actually came and fed her 

 young ones in some rough grass at my feet. 

 I could certainly have touched her had I 

 wished to do so. There are Sussex killed 

 specimens in the possession of Mr. G. W. 

 Bradshaw of Reading, Mr. Gilbert Knight 

 of St. Leonards, and Mr. E. P. Overton 

 of Hastings. 



230. Woodcock. Scolopax rusticula, Linn. 

 The woodcock is resident in Sussex, and 



we can now claim it as a species that breeds 

 regularly with us in small but increasing num- 

 bers. During the autumnal migration a fair 

 number of birds visit us, especially in west 

 Sussex about the wet ground of St. Leonards 

 Forest. Here I have seen as many as seven 

 woodcocks moved in a few minutes from an 

 acre patch of birch and bracken. Of late 

 seasons however woodcocks have not come 

 in well during the winter months, and it is 



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