PAGHAM HARBOUR 



43 



channels of no great depth, and for the most part 

 only just wide enough to work a gunning punt in. 

 On these "muds," as they were locally termed, in 

 spring and autumn, when the tide was out, flocks 

 of Gulls and Sandpipers might be seen scattered 

 about in all directions, gleaning hastily the harvest 

 of the sea. Ringed Plovers (locally called "Wide- 

 awakes") and Dunling (or "Oxbird") were as 

 common as Sparrows in a farmyard. The musical 

 notes of the Redshank and the weird cry of the 

 Curlew might be heard all day long at intervals, 

 sounding wild and melancholy over the dreary 

 waste of mud and water, and agreeably relieving the 

 otherwise monotonous silence which prevailed. 

 Although most numerous in spring and autumn, 

 when they received great accessions to their ranks 

 from the migrating flocks which continually joined 

 them, these birds might be seen there all the year 

 round, as might also, in smaller numbers, the Knot 

 {Tringa canutus), locally known as the "Little 

 Plover," the Bar-tailed Godwit or " Strant," the 

 Turnstone or " Shell-turner," and the Oyster- 

 catcher or "Olive." Other species appeared for a 

 few week only in spring and autumn. In May the 

 Whimbrel {Nuinenius phaopus), known in Sussex 

 as the " Titterel " from its cry, and in Norfolk as 

 the Maybird, from the regularity of its appearance 

 in that month, was for a brief period quite numerous. 

 About the same time of year came the Knot, 

 the Curlew Sandpiper (Tringa subarquata), and the 

 Bar-tailed Godwits, with their speckled backs and 

 bright bay breasts, which characterise the plumage 



