BIRDS 



258. Whimbrel. Numentus phaopus (Linn.) 

 The whimbrel passes our coast in con- 

 siderable numbers in May. A few also, 

 mostly single birds, spend a short time on the 

 Sussex coast on their way south in August 

 and September. In north Iceland the 

 whimbrel is so common in the nesting 

 season that for two months, whether by 

 day or night, the traveller is never out 

 of hearing of their long-drawn bubbling cry. 

 As he goes along the rough track a pair of 

 whimbrels fly round about, each uttering 

 their monotonous and ceaseless call. A pair of 

 birds escort the intruder for a mile or less and 

 then hand him over to the next pair, who in 

 turn pass him on indefinitely. 



HydrocheHtlon nigra 

 In April, 1899, 



259. Black Tern. 



(Linn.) 

 A rare visitor in autumn. 

 I saw two of these terns flying over Warnham 

 Pond near Horsham. Formerly the black 

 tern bred in the Rye marshes and in the 

 Pevensey levels. 



260. White-winged Black Tern. Hydro- 



chelidon leucoptera (Schinz). 



Two examples of this rare tern are 

 recorded as having been taken in Sussex. 

 The first was killed at South Weighton 

 near Newhaven in May, 1873 {Field), and 

 the second is recorded in the same paper 

 by Mr. Clark Kennedy, who states that one 

 was killed so.me years previous to 1875 near 

 Eastbourne. 



Recently I identified a specimen of this 

 rare tern in the small collection of birds 

 belonging to Mr. Eardley Hall at Henfield. 

 It was changing into winter plumage and 

 was killed many years ago at V/arnham Pond 

 near Horsham. 



261. Gull-billed Tern. Sterna anglica,M.on- 



tagu. 

 The type specimen of this tern was killed 

 in Sussex by the ornithologist Montagu, who 

 however did not give the precise locality and 

 date of his capture. The late Mr. Borrer 

 and Mr. Knox each records the occurrence 

 of this species, and there is another specimen 

 in the Chichester Museum which was ob- 

 tained at Selsey on March 31, 1852. 



262. Sandwich Tern. Sterna cantiaca, J. F. 



Gmelin. 

 Formerly the sandwich tern bred on the 

 sandy beaches about Rye and Winchelsea, 

 but now a few only appear in spring and 

 summer and pass away northward and west- 

 ward to breed. 



263. Roseate Tern. Sterna dougalli, Mon- 



tagu. 

 This is the most graceful as well as the 

 rarest of the terns that used to breed in 

 small colonies on one of the Scilly Isles and 

 on the Fames, and it is more than likely 

 that a pair or two still nest annually in the 

 islands off the coast of Northumberland. A 

 specimen lately in the collection of Mr. 

 Rising is said to have been taken about the 

 year 1848 near Eastbourne {Zoologist, 1885, 

 p. 481). 



264. Common Tern. Sterna fiuviatllis, 



Naumann. 

 A common summer visitor to the Channel. 

 Formerly the species bred in some numbers 

 on the shingly beach from Rye to beyond 

 Winchelsea, but now only a few pairs nest 

 there in company with some lesser terns. 



265. Arctic Tern. Sterna macriira, Nau- 



mann. 

 A regular summer visitor, but not in such 

 numbers as the last named species. Formerly 

 the arctic tern nested in colonies at Pevensey 

 (Knox). 



266. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. 



A somewhat sparsely distributed summer 

 visitor which arrives in May and breeds near 

 Rye and one or two other places. In east 

 Sussex the little tern outnumbers the common 

 species (R. Butterfield). 



267. Sabine's Gull. Xema sabinii (J. Sabine). 

 The capture of an immature specimen of 



this rare gull at Tide Mill near Newhaven 

 in December, 1853, '^^'^ recorded by the 

 late Mr. W. Borrer in the Zoologist (p. 4408), 

 and another was picked up at Hove in 

 September, 1 87 1, and is now in the col- 

 lection formed by the same ornithologist. 

 Three other specimens are also known to 

 have occurred. 



268. Bonaparte's Gull. Lams Philadelphia, 



Ord. 

 The late Mr. Cecil Smith, a well known 

 Somersetshire naturalist, noticed an example 

 of this rare gull in the collection of Mr. F. 

 Persehouse of Torquay. The owner stated 

 that he shot the bird, an immature, at St. 

 Leonards-on-Sea early in November, 1870 

 {Zoologist, 1883, p. 120). 



269. Little Gull. Larus minutus, Pallas. 



A rare autumn and winter visitor to the 

 English Channel and the coast of Sussex. 

 On the eastern side of England it is a far 

 more frequent visitor. 



295 



