BIRDS 139. Sparrow-Hawk. Accipiter nisui {L n.) Common and resident in spite of constant persecution. 140. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. Formerly well known and breeding in the Weald. After 1830 it was considered a rare bird in the county, and Knox mentions only two instances of its occurrence — once near Brighton and once at Sidlcsham between the years 1840-50. 141. Honey-Buzzard. Pernis apivorus {Linn.) There is no record of the honey-buzzard having ever bred in the county, though it is highly probable that it has done so. Till recently it regularly nested in the neighbour- ing county of Hants as well as in other southern counties. Coming to us generally when the woods are in full leaf, and frequent- ing for the most part densely wooded tracts, the species is both inconspicuous, silent and shy in its ways, so that it may even escape the notice of the most watchful keeper. Knox gives several instances of its capture, and also charmingly describes the appearance of a honey-buzzard which he saw in Charlton Forest in the act of tearing out a wasps' nest. There are two fine examples in the collection of the late Mr. William Borrer. One of these, killed at Poyning's Common, September, 1845, is of the creamy breasted type. I once had the good fortune to obtain alive a bird of this species, and must confess that it was by far the most interesting pet I have ever possessed. Only the very point of the wing was injured when I shot it at Frostendon in Suffolk, so I determined to try and save its life. For more than a week it refused all food, so that I feared it would soon die of starvation. Little birds, frogs and insects were offered in vain, and only as an experi- ment did I force a French plum down its throat, for that was the nearest approach to honey at hand. To my surprise the bird picked up and swallowed the next plum with avidity, and from that moment I had no trouble with the menu.^ From this date he lived on French plums and their juice for a month, when I managed to procure heather honey regularly from Scotland, and principally on this diet, varied with the contents of an occasional wasps' nest, I kept him till the end of winter. He was of a most amiable and even gentle disposition, giving a loud and long peevish scream as one approached, and 1 As an instance of the extraordinary tastes of this mild raptorial, it may be mentioned that the late Lord Lilford fed his specimen for a long time on rice pudding. would fly down and rest on my hand as I carried him about the garden looking for bees and wasps. These he would capture with remarkable grace and certainty, his powers of flight being soon quite restored. If I sat reading a book under a tree he would never go far away, but soon came flying back utter- ing his peevish, whistling cry. I shall never forget the first time we went to attack a wasps' nest to which a farm boy was guiding me. ' Where is it ? ' I said to the boy, but before he gave answer the honey-buzzard suddenly stretched his neck, and intently watching a wasp that flew by cast itself into the air and with great rapidity flew low and straight to the ' bike,' about a hundred yards distant and situated in a high bank. In a moment the bird was suddenly transformed from a listless, apathetic dullard to the most energetic and business-like excavator. He used his beak occasionally to pull aside a root or other obstruction, but most of the work of unearthing the nest was done with his feet. Meanwhile the wasps in access of fury swarmed all over him, and of these little tor- mentors he seemed not to take the smallest notice, a circumstance explained, as I after- wards found out, by the fact that though the wasps entered his plumage with their heads and could even reach the skin, they neverthe- less found it impossible to screw round their meta-thorax and sting the bird owing to the way in which he held his feathers and to the strength and elasticity of the down. The honey-buzzard swallowed grubs, comb and full-grown wasps during his meal, and for three days afterwards wasps still remained in the plumage of the bird. This seemed to cause the buzzard no inconvenience but rather a pleasant source of supply, for I constantly saw him during this time searching his plum- age and abstract a wasp, which he at once nipped and swallowed. 142. Greenland Falcon. Fa/co candiians, J. F. Gmelin. A female bird of this species was shot on September 26, 1882, at Bullock's Hill, Bals- dean near Lewes. It is now in Mr. Monk's collection at Lewes (Gurney, Zoologist, 1883, p. 80). . 143. Gyr-Falcon. Fa/co gyrfa/co, Linn. There is a fine adult specimen of the gyr- falcon in the Borrer collection. It is the only Sussex specimen recorded, and was shot in January, 1845, at Mayfield. 144. Peregrine Falcon. Fa/co peregr'inus, Tunstall. A regular visitor, appearing in almost eery 285
