A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



23. Common Seal. Phoca vltuUna, Linn 



A not infrequent visitant to Sussex waters, 

 but unfortunately it seems to have been no one's 

 business to place on permanent record precise 

 particulars of the occurrences. A specimen 

 was shot in the river Arun about seven miles 

 from the sea, and examined by Mr. Percy E. 

 Coombe {Zookght, 1897, p. 571). A fine 



specimen was shot by Mr. Chas. Cook on 

 Pett Levels, January 11, 1 90 1, and brought 

 to the Hastings fishmarket to be sold by 

 Mr. W. M. Adams. Whilst bathing one 

 day near Brighton Mr. E. Molyneux of St. 

 Leonards found a large seal, presumably of 

 this species, floating in an exhausted condi- 

 tion. He took it to the Brighton Aquarium, 

 but it only survived for a few days. 



RODENTIA 



24. Squirrel. Sciurus /fucourus, Kerr. 



Bell — Sciurus vulgaris. 

 Abundant throughout the county, especially 

 where the various species of firs are cultivated. 



25. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanarius, 



Linn. 



Bell — Myoxus avellanarius. 

 Although perhaps nowhere very common, 

 the dormouse is pretty generally distributed in 

 Sussex. Holes in banks or in trees are mostly 

 selected as hybernacula, but the period of tor- 

 pidity is sometimes passed in a nest built in a 

 bush like the ordinary summer nest. 



26. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas. 



In the autumn of 1 900 a great migration 

 of brown rats took place into north-west 

 Sussex. All the banks in the neighbourhood 

 of Rusper, Horsham, Slinfold and Southwater 

 were riddled with the roadways of these pests, 

 and they are still in such numbers that they 

 will come forth into the open fields to feed in 

 broad daylight. Apparently they have not as 

 yet invaded the buildings in force, and will 

 probably move on to new grounds as soon as 

 the food supply becomes scarce. A male 

 killed at Warnham Court in 1900 was meas- 

 ured by Mr. Millais. It taped 19^ inches, 

 and is the largest specimen we have ever 

 seen. 



Albinos are extremely rare, but pied 

 varieties are comparatively common. The 

 late Mr. William Borrer has recorded an adult 

 female and two young of the ' black variety ' 

 of M. decumanus taken early in May, 1877, 

 near Rottingdean {Zoologist., 1877, p. 292). 



27. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn. 



Mr. R. M. Christy found a black rat lying 

 dead on the mud at Shoreham Harbour in 

 April, 1880, and about two months later 

 another under similar circumstances nearer 

 to Brighton (Harting, Essays on Sport and 

 Natural History, p. 161). Upon investiga- 

 tion it does not appear that the species sur- 

 vives in any part of the county. 



[Examples of the form M. alexandrinus 

 (readily distinguished from the common 

 brown rat by its large ears and very long 

 tail) are sometimes caught near the harbour 

 at Shoreham. Two of these caught in 1898 

 are in the possession of Mr. Daniel Francis. 

 These rats have probably been brought into 

 the harbour by ships.] 



28. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn. 

 Abundant. 



29. Long-tailed Field Mouse. Mus sylvaticus, 



Linn. 

 Abundant. 



30. Yellow-necked Mouse. Mus flavicollis, 



Melchior. 

 This mouse, first recognized as British in 

 1894 by Mr. W. E. de Winton,' will prob- 

 ably prove to be by no means infrequent in 

 the county. Specimens have been trapped by 

 Mr. Ruskin Butterfield on the railway em- 

 bankment near Crowhurst, June 13, 1899, 

 and April 8, 1901. Through the kindness 

 of Mr. de Winton these have been compared 

 with a specimen from Herefordshire. Others 

 have also been taken in 1900 at Balcombe, 

 and two of these were sent to Mr. Millais 

 by Mr. de Winton. Mr. Millais has also 

 trapped in his garden at Horsham a specimen 

 with a pale yellow throat, and there is little 

 doubt that M. flavicoUis interbreeds with true 

 M. sylvaticus. In fact the dentition of the 

 two forms is similar and their habits identical. 



31. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas. 

 Apparently the harvest mouse always had 



a somewhat restricted range in Sussex, seldom 

 being found further east than Brighton, west 

 of Worthing or north of Henfield and Pul- 

 bo rough. Fifty years ago it was extremely 

 plentiful both in the corn and grass fields be- 

 tween Henfield and Brighton, and Knox men- 

 tions having often found remains in the pellets 

 and crops of the kestrel ; but it is now a scarce 



Zoologist, 1894, p. 441. 



304 



