332 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



male has anotlier peculiar note, which almost exactly re- 

 sembles the stroke of a mallet on a stake when driven into the 

 ground. Jt. Jitters also a peculiar call-note^ a rough guttural 

 explosive syllable, resembling " hauk " or " quauk " ; ordi- 

 narilyj however, it is a silent bird. The nest is placed on a 

 tuft of grass, or under a bash in a swampy locality {vide 

 Mr. Dresser's 'Birds of Europe/ vol. vi. pp. 291-393). 



A specimen is recorded by Mr. Button, in the ' Zoologist ' 

 (p. 1098, s. s.), as having been shot by Mr. Vidler in Peven- 

 sey Marsh, on November 26th, 1867, which passed into the 

 collection of Sir John Crewe. The second Sussex specimen 

 was obtained on November 30th, 1879, from a patch of 

 reeds in Amberley Wildbrook, by a person of the name of 

 Knight, who sent it to Mr. Ellis, a naturalist of Arundel, by 

 whom it was sold to Mr. Pratt, of Brighton, and it is now 

 in my collection. This Bittern is said to be a good bird for 

 the table. 



CICONIID^, 



WHITE STOEK. 



Ciconia alba. 



This Stork has rarely appeared in the county ; in fact, it was 

 never more than an occasional straggler to any part of the 

 British Isles. It devours fish, frogs, young water-fowl, rats, 

 mice, moles, also earthworms and large spiders, and appears 

 to confine itself to animal food. The nest is' very large, 

 often on buildings in the middle of a town, consisting of 

 perhaps a cartload of sticks, lined with straw, grass, &c. ; 

 a new nest being rather flat, but fresh materials are occa- 

 sionally added to it, till it becomes of a great height. Such 



