NOTES FROM ST. LEONARDS. 3877 
On my arrival at Hastings in April, Guillemots, or “ Willocks,” 
were very common; but when I left, in June, not one was to be 
seen. A gentleman, who is very fond of birds, told me that during 
a part of April there was a constant movement eastward of Guille 
mots and allied species, while Scoters also, I believe, joined in the 
same movement. Mr. Bates, the taxidermist, of Eastbourne, 
informs me that no birds of the Guillemot tribe breed at Beechy 
Head now. He saw seven Spotted Redshanks at Eastbourne on 
May 4th, the same day that I saw the Godwits. One which was 
shot was described as being in magnificent summer plumage. The 
legs, Mr. Bates informs me, were entirely black; no red colour at 
allin them. The May passage of waders on the south coast lasts 
but a short time; by the 20th it seems over. Many other migratory 
birds, if not detected by the observer on the day they are passing, 
are not seen at all. For three days Whinchats were abundant at 
Bexhill, after which they disappeared. At the same place, for a 
few days, there were numbers of beautiful Yellow Wagtails; but 
the majority made no stay. The Pied Flycatcher, as I learn from 
Mr. Bates, occurred twice at Kastbourne—on the 5th and 20th of 
May; and on the 19th a female Black Redstart was identified. 
I learn from the same source that a white Red-necked Grebe, 
almost an albino, was obtained off Beachy Head. 
Before leaving St. Leonards I paid a visit to the fine old 
red-brick Castle of Hurstmonceaux, of the time of Henry VI. 
‘Its ivy-mantled walls are very fastnesses for the Owl and the 
Jackdaw. There were scores of egg-shells of the latter birds in 
its side towers. The Stock Dove, too, as might be expected, 
nests in its walls. A short walk across Mr. Curteis’s park took 
us to the Heronry, a goodly colony of nearly fifty nests, placed, 
with a few exceptions, upon oak trees, the exceptions being beech. 
The numerous rabbits of the vicinity are laid-under contribution 
by the Herons; we found two young ones under the trees, together 
with a mole, a rat, and a perch. Very little comes amiss to these 
voracious birds. They formerly nested close to the house; but, 
as often happens when disturbed by Rooks, they deserted the spot, 
and migrated to a field opposite. 
The Cuckoo is a bird which seems to be increasing in England 
It is exceedingly common at St. Leonards and Hastings. In one 
of my walks I put up a Cuckoo in a meadow, which, as it flew 
away, was pursued and mobbed by two Titlarks. On going to the 
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