Birds, 



225 



Notes on the Birds of Sussex. By A. E. Knox, Esq , M.A 

 (Continued from p. 140). 



The Avocet, {Recurvirostra Avocetta). 



The Little Bittern. — The general cultivation of waste lands, and 

 the drainage of extensive pieces of water (the natural consequences of 

 an increasing population and an improved system of agriculture), are 

 gradually banishing from the interior of the county most of the scarcer 

 wading and swimming birds, and has even rendered many, which were 

 once numerous, comparatively rare. 



I have therefore much pleasure in recording the occurrence of the 

 little bittern (Botaurus minutus) in Sussex. The specimen to which 

 I refer is an adult male, and was shot on the 7th of last May near 

 Pulborough, on the banks of a pond abounding in aquatic plants, in 

 the grounds of the Rev. Mr. Austin, the Rector of that parish, through 

 whose kindness the bird has since come into my possession. 



Avocet and Spoonbill. — Few persons have inspected a good collec- 

 tion of British birds, even in a cursory manner, or turned over the 

 leaves of an illustrated work on Ornithology, without having noticed 

 the singular form of the beak of the avocet [Recurvirostra Avocetta), 

 I well remember, while yet a child, how strongly my attention was ar- 

 rested by the admirable figure of this bird in my favorite Bewick, and 



Q 



