SOME SOUTHERN CLIFFS. 101 



and I was almost dumbfounded to behold three precisely similar specimens ! 

 Had they seen the bird, was my prompt enquiry ? " Yes ; they had put it 

 out of a hole in the cliff; black, with red legs and red beak." It seemed a 

 clear case on the face of it, but I was eager to see for myself. Some days 

 later I set out, but, though I walked to Birling Gap and scanned every sable 

 form with the utmost care, there were no signs of a red beak, and I returned 

 very much disappointed from my quest. Another visit was equally futile. A 

 dense sea-fog came on, and though we went some way beyond Birling Gap 

 we could not find a Chough. We came back along the top of the cliff, and 

 there were dozens of Jackdaws feeding on the turf, but the fog prevented any 

 comprehensive view, and was, generally speaking, so deceptive that the 

 flocks I was going to say herds of Gulls seated on the grass looked almost 

 as big as Geese ; indeed, the mist was so solid that on a black coat it showed 

 up white like hoar-frost. The eggs were then submitted to the scrutiny of 

 the College Natural History Society, and the discussion that followed left us 

 just as wise as we were before, the finder still grimly sticking to his red beak. 

 Alas for juvenile confidence! When at length I got the chance of visiting 

 the South Kensington Museum, our hopes were soon laid to rest. I found two 

 Jackdaw's eggs exactly like ours, while the Chough's had a still lighter ground 

 and much heavier blotches. So much for our attempt to resuscitate the Chough 

 as a Sussex breeding species. Not that I have quite given up hope even now. 

 I am informed by Mr. Bates that in December, 1905, a Chough was certainly 

 seen on Pevensey Marsh. It was in the company of, or rather being mobbed 

 by, some Rooks, a fact which first drew attention to its presence. The red 

 beak and legs were then observed. Can it be that the Chough is now so 

 utterly forgotten by the local Corvidae that, when one does turn up amongst 

 them, it is regarded as a monstrosity, and forthwith attacked as such ? 



