BIRDS breeding range of the ducks, and at no distant date we may reasonably hope to name the wigeon, the gadwall, the pintail, the shoveler, the pochard and perhaps even the garganey as resident within the county. The great crested grebe too has greatly increased as a summer bird in the southern counties, and why he has so far avoided Sussex during the nesting season is somewhat of a mystery, as so many sheets of water are especially suited to his habits. In all we can include in the birds of the county 302 species which are either resident, summer or winter visitors, or rare stragglers. In the following list brackets placed round the name of the original describer of a species indicate that he did not employ the generic named which is now adopted. 1. Missel-Thrush. Turdus visclvorus, Linn. A very common resident and a species that is evidently largely on the increase. 2. Song-Thrush. Turdus musiais, Linn. Very abundant during the summer and autumn months, the majority remaining throughout the winter unless severe w^eather sets in. 3. Redwing. Turdus i/iacus, Linn. A few redwings commence to arrive in September, being joined by larger flocks as winter advances. They associate in numbers with the next species, a few missel-thrushes joining them in mild weather. Redwings stay every year in west Sussex till the end of April. 4. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn. The number of fieldfares that visit Sussex during the winter months seems to be principally regulated by the mildness or severity of the season. In hard weather, when they come in large numbers, field- fares become much tamer than redwings or missel-thrushes, even waiting to pick off the haws within a few feet of the passer-by, whilst the two other species will hardly per- mit an approach within gunshot. 5. Black-throated Thrush. Turdus atngu- /aris, Temminck. Yarrell in his British Birds mentions that a young male of this species was shot near Lewes on December 23, 1868, and passed into the collection of the late Mr. T. J. Monk of that town. 6. Blackbird. Turdus merula, Linn. Very abundant and less migratory than other thrushes. As an instance of the con- servative habits and smallness of range of the blackbird I may mention that a pied cock blackbird has lived regularly in one garden at Horsham for the past six years, and so far as I know has never been seen two fields away. 7. Ring-Ouzel. Turdus torquatus, Linn. A somewhat rare spring and autumn migrant. Mr. Booth was of opinion that the species had nested in the South Downs in 1865. 8. Wheatear. Saxicola oenanthe (Linn.) The first spring migrant after the wag- tails, a few only stopping to nest. 9. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.) A fairly common migrant. 10. Stonechat. Pratincola ruhicola (Linn.) More numerous than the last species and breeding on the commons where furze and heath are found. Stonechats also frequently stay with us through the winter, and in east Sussex Mr. Butterfield considers that they are equally common at all seasons. 11. Redstart. Rutici lla phcenicurus {h n.) Of all the spring visitors there is no bird so local as the redstart. I have only once observed the species near Horsham, viz. in Denne Park in 1899, whilst I have frequently seen it near the coast. Very few apparently breed in Sussex. 12. Black Redstart. Ruticilla tiiys (Scopoli). A regular autumnal visitor, arriving in October in small numbers. The black red- start often stays with us throughout the winter, and I have a beautiful old male in full breeding dress that was killed near Brighton in the spring of 1880. The species seems fond of frequenting market gardens ; indi- viduals were seen by Mr. A. H. M. Cox in the same allotments in 1900 and 1 901, two of which in the latter year were taken by Mr. M. J. Nicoll. 275
