AN UNPUBLISHED MS. OF WILLIAM MARKWICK. 341 



to Sweden and other northern countries to breed, yet they pair before they 

 quit this country, as is well known to every sportsman ; and I have myself 

 found two Woodcocks close together in the same bush more than once in 

 the spring of the year, but not at any other season ; these most probably 

 were male and female." 



The Great Snipe, Scolopax major, referred to (Cat. p. 8) as 

 seen by the author, and killed near Horsham, was obtained on 

 the 1st Oct. 1793 (MS. p. 23), and a full description is given of 

 it, together with a water-colour drawing. 



" Woodcocks and Snipes," he says (MS. p. 24), " are certainly not so 

 numerous in this neighbourhood as they formerly were in the winter, for 

 which two reasons may be given : 1st, there are a greater number of 

 shooters, and those much better skilled in the use of a gun than was the 

 case formerly ; for when I was a boy few persons could shoot flying well, 

 but now almost every one can use a gun with effect, and these poor birds 

 not being protected by the Game Laws, may be destroyed with impunity 

 both by the gun and the snare : 2ndly, another cause of the decrease of 

 their numbers here maybe the great improvement in agriculture ; for much 

 land which used to be wet and swampy, and was then the favourite resort 

 of these birds, is now laid dry by the beneficial practice of making under- 

 ground drains " [i.e., before the year 1800]. 



Markwick did not recognise the fact that his Red Godwit and 

 Common Godwit (Cat. p. 21) were the same species in different 

 phases of plumage. His water-colour drawings (MS. pp. 36, 38) 

 show that both the specimens described by him were referable to 

 the Bar-tailed Godwit, which to the present day is a regular 

 visitor to the Sussex shores and harbours in spring and autumn. 



The Grey Plover is stated (Cat. p. 21) to be seen on our sea- 

 coasts only in the winter, and then but seldom. Markwick had 

 only seen one, which was killed on the 13th Jan. 1776 by the 

 seaside at Bexhill. This erroneous view of the status of the 

 Grey Plover in Sussex may be explained by the fact that this 

 bird prefers the mud-flats of the harbours and the mouths of 

 tidal rivers, where during the spring and autumn migrations in 

 May and October, I have repeatedly seen and shot them — in May 

 with jet-black breasts, in October with the same parts white; and 

 the birds of the year, which accompany their parents in autumn, 

 have yellow spots on the back like Golden Plover, from which, 

 however, they may be always distinguished by the presence of a 

 hind-toe, and by their black axillary plumes. 



