MAMMALS 



the boundaries of the fine old walled park at 

 Petworth, and cannot be considered as a purely 

 feral animal as their range is restricted. The 

 date of their introduction to this enclosure is 

 not known to Lord Leconfield, who has kindly 

 sent the following note : ' I have been quite 

 unable to find any records to show when the 

 roe were imported or how they got into the 

 park at Petworth. The portion which they 

 inhabit was originally a wild and rough bit of 

 ground where red deer were kept. These 

 were destroyed by my grandfather and this 

 part of the park was ploughed up. The roe 

 deer which were there at the time were how- 

 ever preserved and are there still. It is, I 

 fear, impossible to correctly estimate their 



numbers. Some years ago, within my recol- 

 lection, there were only seven left when my 

 father introduced a change of blood from 

 Scotland and once more put them on their 

 legs again, and there are now quite a good 

 stock.' About six or seven bucks are killed 

 annually. Sir Edmund Loder, Bart., has on 

 more than one occasion tried roe at 

 Leonardslee, but they have never thriven well 

 there in spite of the excellent natural protec- 

 tion and wild ground apparently so well suited 

 to their habits. The last buck died at 

 Leonardslee in 1897. It is not improbable 

 that at some future date wandering roc may 

 find their way from Hampshire where they 

 are now increasins;. 



CETACEA 



40. Common Rorqual. Balamptera musmlui, 

 Linn. B. physalus (Linn.). True. 

 This cetacean may fairly claim a place 

 amongst the Sussex mammals as it is the 

 commonest whale that visits the Channel.' It 

 has been frequently seen by those qualified to 

 give an opinion, although there is no actual 

 record of its capture unless we accept the 

 following note taken from Mrs. Merrifield's 

 A Sketch of the Natural History of Brighton, 

 i860, p. 114: 'About the year 1833 °'^ 

 1834 a large whale 70 feet in length and 35 

 feet in circumference was stranded on the 

 shore near Roe-dean turnpike gate. The 

 blubber was melted down into oil, and the 

 enormous skeleton, after being cleaned, was 

 again put together and exhibited on the level 

 as a show. The jaw bones were set up in 



1 Old records show that the 'Oyl fish' industry 

 was at one time largely carried on in the Channel. 

 The object of the chase was probably the members 

 of this species, which seems to have been common. 



Mr. Bass's garden.' Mr. Lydckker says that 

 specimens of this whale are 'stranded on the 

 British coasts, more especially those of the 

 southern parts of England.' 



41. Porpoise. Phodena communis, Lesson. 



A common and regular summer visitor to 

 the Channel. 



42. Risso's Grampus. Grampus griseus, Cuv. 

 A young male assigned to this species was 



captured at Siddlesham in west Sussex in July, 

 1875, and kept alive for some hours at the 

 Brighton Aquarium. 



[Common Dolphin. Delphinus delphis, Linn. 

 A probable visitor. In the Second Supple- 

 ment (1888) to The Natural History of 

 Hastings and St. Leonards and the Ficinity the 

 dolphin is added to the list of cetaceans, but 

 no particulars are given of the alleged occur- 

 rence.] 



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