Birds. 9601 



Wryneck, Redstart and Whinchat. — The wryneck I first heard on 

 the 22nd of April, but I heard of it about a week before. The red- 

 start has made no stay with us this year; the only one that I have 

 seen was a male on the downs on the 2-2nd. The whinchat also 

 appears to have reached the downs (where it breeds) %vithout stopping 

 in the lowlands, as it sometimes does for a few days. On the 22nd 

 I ^aw several of these birds on the downs. 



Willow Warbler. — Very numerous and in full song on the 9lh of 

 April. 



Whiletliront. — Almost every hedge was full of these birds on the 

 15th and 16lh of April, after which they seem to have dispersed. 



Sedge Warbler. — Not plentiful until the 18lh of April. 



Blackcap. — Yarrell says the males of this species arrive before the 

 females; I have always fancied that this bird comes in pairs, as I have 

 almost invariably seen male and female together. I observed a pair 

 on the I6th of April, being the first day I saw this species this year; 

 the male singing and the female sitting just b}'. 



Rays Wagtail. — From the 13lh of April to the end of the month 

 I have occasional!}' seen, and oflcner heard, these birds passing over, 

 general!}- in a northerly direction ; not in large numbers, however, and 

 often singly. 1 cannot ascertain that these birds breed in Sussex, but 

 they usually visit us in the spring and autumn, and while here in the 

 spring may frequently be seen running about round the legs of cattle 

 or following tlie plough in search of food ; at this season they are very 

 shy, often rising just as you get within gunshot of them, if not before, 

 and not settling again until fairly out of sight. They do not, while 

 they are here, frequent water-courses, as the gray and pied species do. 

 Captain HaJfield (Zool. 9500) notes that the gray wagtail is more 

 arboreal than the rest; my own observations tend to corroborate this, 

 and I think that it is also more aquatic than the others, being rarely 

 found but at the edge of a pond or water-course. 



Green Sandpiper. — Scarce through the winter; one heard on the 

 16th of April. 



Hoopoe. — A fine specimen of this curious bird was shot on a piece 

 of low ground adjoining Pagham Harbour, ou the 18th of April, and is 

 now in my collection. The stomach contained the remains of about 

 thirty grubs nearly one inch and a half long; one or two of them that 

 were least decomposed were nearly white, with dark spots on the 

 sides; I think they were the. larvae of the cockchafTer, but am not 

 certain. The flesh of this bird, even when fresh, has a strong dis- 

 agreeable smell. Two other hoopoes have been killed in the neigh- 

 VOL. XXIII. 2 F 



