Local History Researchers Copy of
‘NOTES ON SUSSEX ORNITHOLOGY’
The content of the original book is shown without changes including the original spelling except that:
Pictures have been added to the original Introduction.
The Original Page Numbers are shown, i.e. [46], [47], [48] or [Page 5], [Page 6] etc., within the body of the written material.
The Lists of Birds are referred to but are shown in a separate Section (page 19) and each list has been given a number e.g. [List 1], [List 2] etc.
Page ‘headers’ e.g. ‘1846] DIARIES OF R. N. DENNIS 12.’ have been removed.
Footnotes remain with the page that they refer to e.g. ‘2 [Hooded Crow]’
Spaces have been added between diary dates in the Diary Section..
An Index of Family Names has been added (Addendum 1).
The book was transcribed by means of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and this may have resulted in errors. You are advised to check with the original book content where complete accuracy is required.
The Book ‘NOTES ON SUSSEX ORNITHOLGY’ Selected and Edited by W.H. MULLENS and N.F. TICEHURST and published by H.F. & G WITHERBY, LONDON in 1925 is available in some libraries e.g. Seaford, Lewes and Eastbourne but mainly as reference only (i.e. not to be removed from the library).
This alternative source is offered for the use of Local History, Family History and Natural History Researchers who would prefer the convenience of home use.
It would be well worth buying the book "The Birdman of Blatchington" by Rodney Castleden which includes the diary entries plus a useful introduction. It also shows a map of Blatchington as it was in the mid 19th century and some fine bird drawings plus a detailed index. This is available at Seaford Museum.
BRENDON FRANKS - May 2010.
EXTRACTS FROM
THE DIARIES OF
ROBERT NATHANIEL DENNIS
(Sometime Rector of East Blatchington)
October 1846 to May 1847 (Vol. II and Vol. III)
November 1847 to May 1852 (Vol. IV, V, VI, VII and Vol. VIII)
September 1860 to October 1862 (Vol. IX)
January 1863 to May 1869 (Vol. X)
INTRODUCTION
[Page 5]
The Rev. Robert Nathaniel Dennis was born in the year 1817 while his parents were on a voyage from South Africa to this country. He died at Paignton in Devonshire on February 17th, 1892, aged 75, and was there buried.
Robert Nathaniel was the son of the Rev. N. R. Dennis, who seems to have at one time resided at Faringdon in Berkshire, and who afterwards removed to Blatchington, where he died. There is a window to his memory in Blatchington Parish Church, erected by his second wife.
R. N. Dennis became Rector of East Blatchington near Seaford in Sussex in 1844, the living then being in the gift of the King family with whom he afterwards became connected by marriage. His marriage with Elizabeth King took place on September 26th, 1854, the lady being ten years his senior; they had been engaged for some years but her father did not approve of the match, which was consequently postponed until his death. This alliance with the Kings, then the principal land-owners in the parish, the whole area of which with the exception of the Artillery Barracks belonging to them, made a considerable difference in the financial position of R. N. Dennis. He and his wife thereupon removed to Blatchington Court, of which she was the beneficial owner, and his father took up his residence at the Rectory. In 1857 he restored the church and during subsequent years greatly beautified and planted the churchyard which had remained neglected till 1859. He resigned his cure at Blatchington in 1880 owing to ill-health, and passed the remainder of his life at Clifton, Paignton, and other places in the west of England. The lych-gate to his memory in Blatchington churchyard was erected by his widow, and bears the following inscription:
" In memory of Robert Nathaniel Dennis, B.A., for thirty-five years Rector of this Parish, and of his [page 6] pious care of the churchyard this lych-gate was erected by his widow, A.D. 1892."
He made several attempts to draw up a list of the local flora besides collecting and cultivating exotic plants in his garden, and he also compiled ‘A History of Local Quadrupeds.’
It is, however, as an ornithologist that he is conspicuous, and he takes a high place in the short list of Sussex naturalists. Although William Borrer, author of the ‘Birds of Sussex,’ 1891, in his preface refers to the information furnished him by "the Rev. R. N. Dennis, formerly Rector of East Blatchington, a friend and correspondent of many years," and mentions in his book records and observations he received from Dennis concerning upwards of thirty of the rarer species, some of them new to the Sussex list, it is obvious, as reference to the Journals will show, how much Borrer might have added to his work had he had access to the information they contain.
It is evident that Dennis, who as a naturalist was entirely self-educated, took Gilbert White's ‘Natural History of Selborne’ as the model for his Journals, his sole books of reference when he began to collect specimens of birds
The neighbourhood in which he lived was admirably suited to his purpose—East Blatchington, then a very small village, lies on the Sussex coast between Seaford and Newhaven, the high chalk cliffs which guard the coast from Seaford to Birling Gap and embrace the headlands known locally as the Seven Sisters, were then the breeding places of numerous Ravens and Peregrines; there, perhaps or at Beachy Head, had lingered the last of the Sussex Choughs, a solitary specimen of which was brought to Mr. Dennis in 1868 (v. Borrer, p. 144) while the estuary of the Cuckmere and its adjacent marshes
Although the extracts from the Journals mostly deal with natural history, allusions to events of local interest such as the building of the railway, and to old manners and customs have been included, while incidents which mark how great is the change that sixty years have wrought, e.g., that he engaged a competent cook at a wage of £8 for the year (!) are not omitted. Some mention is also made in the Journals of the shooting which he enjoyed in a modest way, often in company of Mr. Bedford, the Rector of Denton near Newhaven, their bags consisting of wild-fowl Partridges and a few rabbits, a Pheasant being regarded as so great a rarity in the neighbourhood that the appearance of one was always carefully noted in the Diary. In the course of time his enthusiasm as a collector seems to have infected his neighbours and farmers, labourers, coast-guards and village boys all brought him specimens to examine.
It only remains to append a short account of the MS notebooks in which the Journals are contained; these consist of nine quarto MS. books, all that now remain of what must have been an extensive series. They were discovered on a second-hand bookstall near Covent Garden in 1916.
Dennis commenced his notes on March 2nd, 1846, but [page 8] subsequently destroyed the first portion, and the date of the first entry now stands as October 5th, 1846.
The first two volumes are numbered in his handwriting Vol. II and Vol. III, the rest are unnumbered but dated.
The periods covered by the different volumes are as follows:
VOL.
II. 1846, October 5th—January 18th, 1847—pp. 103.
III. 1847, January 21st—May 11th, 1847—pp. 156.
IV. 1847, November 6th—April 5th, 1848—pp. 131.
V. 1848, April 3rd—May 10th, 1848—pp. 65.
VI. 1848, May l2th—March 9th, 1849—pp. 240.
VII. 1849, March l0th—December 1st, 1849—pp. 175.
VIII. 1849, December 3rd—May 22nd, 1852—pp. 387.
IX. 1860—1862. This is entitled ‘Natural History and Churches,’ 1860, 1 and 2, and largely consists of newspaper cuttings—pp. 130.
X. 1863—1869, entitled ‘Natural History Notes with Some Churches.’ 1863, January 7th—January 6th, 1869—pp. 170.
It will be noticed that while the first seven books cover a period of five years and are fairly regular in their order, a gap of eight years then ensues, and the two last volumes contain but little of interest. There is a distinct difference between these and the first seven. In the first place the writer appears to have by this time quite given up shooting, so that he was entirely dependent for his specimens upon birds sent in to him by the village gunners, and while there are occasional notes on detailed examinations of them, there is no evidence that any of them were preserved. In the second place this lack of incentive seems to have deterred him from undertaking the rambles of long or short duration, more or less wholly given up to natural history observations, the accounts of which are such a prominent feature of the earlier volumes. It follows from this that these two volumes are far inferior in importance and interest to the earlier ones, the majority of the bird records being at second or even third hand, and therefore of indeterminate accuracy and value. Such personal observations as there are, are mostly such as could be made by anybody in a country garden, indefinite in data and for the most part exceedingly trivial.
It is much to be regretted that the volumes from May 23rd, 1852 to 1859, are missing, as there can be little doubt they would have proved to be amongst the most interesting and valuable of the series. For instance, [page 9] one of his most important contributions to Borrer's list was the Rose-coloured Pastor (Borrer, p. 143), which Dennis recorded at Blatchington in August, 1855, a year for which no Journal exists, but in which he undoubtedly made notes. At the time where the break occurs Dennis was at the height of his ornithological activities, he was in possession of the best reference books of the time, and besides having acquired a considerable knowledge of the local birds, had trained himself to be a careful and accurate observer, and was, moreover, in communication with contemporary ornithologists of repute.
The portrait of the author, which forms the frontis-piece of these notes, has been reproduced from a photograph kindly lent by one of his old parishioners at East Blatchington.
The Journals bear abundant evidence of hasty writing, so that spelling mistakes, especially in the bird names, are not infrequent, while the author's use of capitals and stops is distinctly erratic. Obvious spelling mistakes have been corrected, stops have been supplied or altered as the sense required, and the use of capitals and hyphens has been made uniform for the bird names; but with these exceptions no alterations have been made in the writer's text. Explanatory notes, or missing words, supplied by the editors have been invariably included within square brackets.
W.H.M.
N.F.T.
Diary Section
Lists of Birds shown separately
See Lists Section
VOLUME II 1.
1846
Page
[11]
October l5th, Shot a bird something like a Sandpiper, but web-footed; it was swimming in Blatchington Pond All the children had been pelting it and it had been about all day. (=Grey Phalarope— Coot-footed Tringa—or Scallop-toed Sandpiper—Bewick.)
[October l6th. The entry for this day on which the Little Gull was obtained is inserted in the Journal immediately after that of December 6th.]
November 23rd. Walked along the sea wall and shot a fine Kingfisher. Large bill and throat in proportion to its size. (Refer to White's Selborne or some Natural History.)
December 1st. A Lapwing flew up to and alighted within 15 or 20 yards of Hilder's van. The morning was misty. I walked up Newhaven Hill and the view from the top was splendid. The sun shone brightly overhead and every blade of grass and every flower stem was covered with a sparkling network as if inlaid with diamonds, while up the valley the dense body of mist was rolling and boiling, forming an impenetrable canopy though constantly shifting; the outer edges looking like fleecy clouds and the dark hill-tops just peeping out.
Four large Ravens flew past me, two of them croaking most portentously—they then flew out to sea and passed perhaps within 80 yards.
December 2nd. Flight of Chaffinches on the Shingle Bank. Cock birds among them (see White's Selborne, P. 44), Gulls and Rooks busy on the pastures and wet stubble and feeding in clusters. Gulls likewise fishing in clusters about 150 yards from shore. Many Saddle-backs about.2.
December 4th. The Ring-Dotterel has a peculiarly...
1. [VOL I was commenced March 2nd, 1846, but was not preserved ]
2 [Hooded Crow.]
[12] … shrill cry and circles in its flight like a Snipe; it is very restless, flying rapidly and with great power of wing and running incessantly when on the ground. Shot a male and female, the one with a black ring and black feathers at the base of the bill, the other a dirty brown, the rest of the plumage similar.
The Purre1. is very similar to the Dotterel in its haunts and habits in winter, but does not utter the same shrill cry when on the wing nor fly so much in circles. Saw a Kingfisher on the groins and another on the Sluice. Their flight is peculiar and strikes me as being more like that of a Quail than any other bird I know. How admirably are its whole form and proportions adapted to its mode of life. The formidable bill, heavy head and short wings and tail enable it to plunge like a plummet after a fish. The size of the gullet is such as no other English bird that I know of equals, and thus it is enabled like the regular water-fowl to swallow the fish seen, on which it preys, whole. Its plumage seen in the sun is tinted like the rainbow.
The Gulls tumbled in the air as I have sometimes seen Rooks. What might that mean?
December 6th. Walked on to Heighten Down and passed one of the ponds, which White of Selbome so refers to as peculiar to the Sussex Downs, on the highest crest of a chalk hill without spring or watercourse to supply it and yet rarely dry. The condensed vapour supplies it. Saw some Mews mixed with Gulls and a Burgomaster.2. A flock of Buntings mixed with Larks. A flight of little birds, Green Linnets, Yellow-hammers, etc.
October 16th. A gale had been blowing for some days from the south-west, on the 15th I shot a Grey Phalarope in Blatchington Pond, and on the 16th, imagining that I might find something on the beach, I walked along the sea wall towards Newhaven Piers. The sea was running high and some Terns were flying along just above the surf. I shot one, but Dick could not encounter the waves and as I stood watching it the mate kept flying backwards and forwards and hovering over it. I loaded my gun and saw it as I thought coming towards me, but instead of hovering over the dead Tern, it came right over my head within a few yards, apparently attracted by the sight of the dog, and I saw that it was not a Tern by its heavy napping flight and comparatively clumsy shape
1 [Dunlin.]
2 [Immature Black-backed Gull, but he also applies this name to the Herring-Gull.]
[13] and plain plumage; as it was flying away I shot it. [This proved to be the Little Gull (Larus minutus}, vide entry in Journal under December 25th; also Borrer's Birds of Sussex, p. 262].
December 9th. Headachy. Sawed a little wood, not much better. Walked to the Tide Mill Pond. Men drawing a seine in the Sluice hole. A Scoter (black duck) sitting on the shingle—shot at him, the dog jumped and caught part of the cartridge shot—he tumbled into the water and I was horribly frightened. Shot the Scoter a little farther up the beach. Plumage a glossy black, feet brown, and large as if a good diver, bill black and deeply serrated with a large protuberance at the base, a bright orange mark around the nostrils. Bewick speaks of it as abundant on the French coast, but scarce on the English, and says that it is caught in nets by the French fishermen and sold during Lent, being so fishy in flavour as to be reckoned a fish in their list of eatables during that season.
December 10th. A Quail caught in the Lark-nets and brought to Mr. King. Mr. King told me that he once saw a Saddle-back Crow pounce on a Reed-Sparrow and swallow it whole.
December 11th. Larks, Redwings, Thrushes and Fieldfares very numerous and tame; the cold wind and snow seem to have bewildered the poor things. Began to feed them in the garden. Got a fine specimen of the Moor-hen—a cock bird in full plumage, but unluckily the head was shot to pieces.
December 12th. Walked round Seaford Head. Sea calm. Slack tide. Many Mews flying about and fishing and some of the Herring and Burgomaster (young Herring-Gull) Gulls. A large flock of Curlews. The sentinel gave his shrill alarm but many remained until I was within shot. Many Ring-Dotterel, very tame.
December 14th. Continued frost. Saw a Diver on the shingle, a great abundance of Redwings, Larks and little birds about. A brilliant sunrise, but a ragged mass of vapour to the south. Beautiful bright frosty day. Much amused with the activity of the Purres and Ring-Dotterel constantly running, about at the edge of the surf or on a little shallow ripple of the river picking up minute insects; they are most interesting birds. A cloud of Starlings came down to roost on the face of the cliff in little clusters on the ledges and in the recesses, it is a sight I never witnessed; saw a couple of wild-fowl, a number of Curlews and Gulls, shot a [14] Gull sitting on a rock, a large Burgomaster, and picked up with it a Mew with broken wing. Was the Mew accidentally shot, was it a wounded bird, and if so, was the Burgomaster friend or enemy—was he condoling with it or designed to make a supper of it ?
December l5th. Called on Mr. Bedford. Procured two specimens more of the same species of Mew as the one I got yesterday—graceful and beautiful birds. All had a bar of black at the end of the tail, feet of a dirty yellow with black nails, the bill yellow tipped with black, the outside of the wings dusky brown, wings longer than tail when closed, many fish in company, wheeling and sailing about like the Swift; they also associate with the Rooks on the fresh ploughed land, but I did not notice any other species of Gull in their company. They breed in the cliffs of Seaford Head. Query are they Kittiwakes?1.
Sanderlings were numerous, but noticed only two species, the Ring-Dotterel and Purre, as usual. Glorious weather. Procured a second Moor-hen, but blew off its head. It alighted in a bush in a hedgerow on a hillside, the dog was on one side, I on the other, I saw it staring at me with its bright dark eyes as if paralysed with terror. I think that I might have taken it up with my hand as I have heard people talk of doing, and regret that I did not attempt it, if it had escaped it would not have mattered.
December 17th. Walked under Seaford Head, a breeze from north-west, clear sky. A Jackdaw flew towards me and checked himself so suddenly that he threw a summerset backwards in the air. Curlews feeding on the rocks. . . . Walked up the Cuckmere to Exceat Bridge. . . . Met a man near six feet high, square built and athletic, with a leathery face hardened by wind and storm, equipped in a tarpaulin hat, canvas kilt and huge leather overalls, like [Fennimore] Cooper's Leather-stocking of whom he much reminded me in face and figure. An immense duck gun was held across the left hand ready for use, and a rough black dog followed close at his heels.
December 22nd. Went to Brighton. Saw a very fine specimen of the Imber Goose or Great Loon 2. at the bird-stuffers’, also a Fire-tail, some Tawny Buntings, Mountain Finches, etc.
December 25th. A note about the Little Gull from...
1 [Immature Common Gulls.]
2 [Great Northern Diver.]
[15] ... Mr. Borrer [This refers to the bird which " was not a Tern," shot on October 16th. See also p. 12].
December 26th. A flock of Snow-Buntings in various plumage on the down near the Barrack land, their cry was very melancholy, they were very tame. I tried two hasty shots without effect, when they settled within shot and I killed three. I killed a pair flying alone in Mr. Catt's Salts, and three stragglers; the plumage varied much in the different specimens, and they differed in size. A Gull about the size of a Wood-Pigeon, greenish bill, dirty grey head, white neck, white tail, tips of the wings black (very light in weight) the back bluish-grey.
Shot a little bird, common I understand among the furze—black bill, straight, slender, crest brown, chin black, white ring on neck, breast reddish brown, back rusty-brown like a Sparrow, a white spot on each wing, wing-coverts brown, tail brown.1.
A bright clear day; towards four o'clock a haze with every appearance of continued severe weather. I noticed what I have heard of before, an immense number of Larks flying singly or by two's and three's to the westward, they kept just along the water's edge, sometimes over the water, sometimes over the beach, the tide was ebbing. Every bird kept the same direction with a fluttering sort of flight. . . .
Mr. Farncomb showed me a French Sparrow2. which he says visits this country in very sharp weather. It is smaller than an English Sparrow which I have compared with it. The head is a chocolate colour, the throat glossy black, there is a white mark on each side of the head, the bill is smaller, both mandibles of equal length and the upper one not at all hooked, and breast greyish-white, legs and feet yellow, two white marks on each wing.
List (1) of birds, rare and otherwise, procured in the winter of 1846-7. (See Lists Section)
1 [Stonechat.]
2 [Tree-Sparrow.]
[16]
1847
January 16th. Walked to Bedford's, multitudes of small Gulls following the plough with the Rooks: the ground was quite white with them.
VOLUME III
1847
Page
[17]
January 22nd. Walked on to the beach; the men at work on the wall told me that wild-fowl had been passing along the bay to the eastward all that day and the day before, more than one hundred having passed that day. I saw many Gulls, a very white-looking fowl and a small flock of small fowl like Teal. Thirteen Geese in a V passed over Denton towards the northward. I shot a Snow-Bunting, two Rock-Pipits.
January 29th. A variety of seaweed on the beach. Sand-Larks very restless. Several Rock-Pipits about the beach.
February 1st. Walked to Newhaven Piers . . . A Didapper1 in the mill-pond. Many Gulls over the usual wheat field. I shot one, a young bird of the same sort as are so numerous hereabouts. It was a beautiful specimen. . . . A bright frosty morning. Chilly and hazy afternoon.
February 5th. Saw a Jack Snipe and killed it: a fine specimen, also a Gull of the common sort, the plumage is beginning to change. Picked up oyster shells perforated by some boring insect.
February 8th. Snow quite covers the ground. Larks in great flocks, and excessively tame. Many flocks of Purres, Ring-Dotterel, etc. I procured a new variety and winged a Gull (young Herring-Gull, I believe). Larks were driving along the beach and mill-pond to the westward. Fieldfares have returned. The small birds seem utterly bewildered, and are excessively tame, as are the Thrushes and Blackbirds; the road was full of hare tracks. A flock of Gulls feeding on the worms (the whole bottom of the empty mill-pond is covered with their casts). A Jackdaw was feeding with the small birds at Mr. Catt's barn door and only rose into a tree...
l [Little Grebe.]
[18] ...on seeing me. The roof of the barn and the adjoining trees were covered with Sparrows and a variety of other small birds. I' particularly noticed the restless activity of the Purres, and that if near a watercourse they keep running along the edge of the water; their cry, too, is peculiar: I think I shall beable to distinguish them in future. I fancy I saw; a Snipe or two with them, but they might be the Dotterel for the snow glare is most deceptive, or they might be little Plovers. A driving sleet.
February 9th. Deep snow. Birds migrating westward along the beach in vast numbers—Larks were by far the most numerous, then Linnets in little flights, Furze-Chats, Starlings, Fieldfares, Song-Thrushes, Hedge-Sparrows, Redwings—the latter apparently exhausted with cold and hunger dropping about the beach and sitting till you almost trod on them, with their feathers all rumpled and in a pitiable condition. A great flight of Gulls out at sea. The flights of Sand-Larks have disappeared, and only a straggler here and there remains. Saw a Kingfisher. Two covies of Partridge, one of three, the other of eleven by the roadside leading to the Battery. Small birds very numerous in the yards. Amongst the rest a bird with a black head, a Titmouse, I think.
List (2) of Winter Birds in the Neighbourhood of East Blatchington, February 10th (See Lists Section)
[20]
List (3) of Summer Birds in the Neighbourhood of East Blatchington (See Lists Section)
February l0th. Snow much deeper. A bright, sun-shiny day, but the bottom of my trousers and gaiters froze hard in walking. . . . The migration of the Larks to the westward still continues with the flood tide. Those which remain are terribly pressed for food, they get into the gardens for the greens and into the turnip fields where here and there accident has uncovered a leaf. My neighbour and his bailiff have destroyed vast quantities of small birds, and so have many others, I trust that we shall not have a plague of insects in consequence next summer. . . . The gizzards of the Larks which I shot the other day were filled with a greenish vegetable substance, I suppose half-digested turnip leaf. The gizzard of the Mew contained nothing but mucus, the bird when skinned was exceedingly fat, it was about as good as an indifferent Curlew or Wild Duck, very eatable but no luxury. A fine Raven rose from the mill-pond and went off to seaward with a portentous croak. The Kingfisher was very tame, alighting twice in open view, first on a stone then on a post, and not going eighty yards in the two flights. About half a dozen Sanderlings (Ring-Dotterel, I think) were in the upper mill-pond, but almost the whole ponds were frozen over and covered with snow. A Full Snipe rose at the usual spot [21] in Mr. Farncomb's Salts—a little round of water which appears never to freeze. A few Gulls in the Bay, but all of the common sort. The whole country is clothed in one mantle of snow, the surface glittering like diamonds, the average depth being from 6 to 14 inches, but in some spots there are considerable drifts. . . . My wounded Gull has begun to feed himself and to drink, and seems a little reconciled to his new quarters.
List (4) of Birds Feeding at the Back Door (See Lists Section)
February 11th. Killed a Saddle-back. Larks devouring Mr. Bedford's cabbages. Mountain-Sparrow in the garden feeding with the fowls. Railway from Brighton to Lewes stopped during Monday and Tuesday, 8th and 9th inst. A coach ran, drawn by six horses, passengers paid 5s. each. London Mails stopped. An engine driver on the Brighton and London line nearly lost his life from the severity of the weather.
February 13th. Ten or a dozen Blackbirds were hopping about under my window and would not be driven away either by the movements of the servants or by the incessant firing of my neighbours; both they and the Greenfinches fought desperately, rising in the air and spurring like game cocks, they drove off the other birds.
William Reeds took two . . . in the clap-net yesterday and one to-day; he saw and counted more than forty wild Geese passing over.
February 15th. A wet morning, but fine afternoon. Wind blowing fresh from the westward. The Gulls went off to sea in long strings like Rooks to a Rookery about half an hour before sunset. They begin to play in the air, darting and shooting about like the Rooks. Began my collections of birds' bills and eggs. How many opportunities of collecting I have lost by wandering about.
February 19th. Fresh wind from south-west. . . . Walked to Newhaven Piers. Rush seeds or rather sedge seeds resist water wonderfully. Rooks flying in pairs. Picked up two sorts of crab shells, a green echinus and a dead Puffin (the Lesser Guillemot), black [22] and white plumage with black feet very near the tail, and a curious bill looking as if it had a sheath on. . . . Mr. King mentioned that both (Willocks and Shags were abundant in the Seaford Cliffs until the soldiers disturbed them by taking their eggs.
February 22nd. Many Saddle-backs (Choughs) collected opposite Corsica Lodge.
February 25th. Mr. Catt killed a Quail by the barley stack behind his stables in the first snow of the year (1846-7). Fossils—Seaford Cliff. Echini (very numerous) terebratula (of two kinds), spines, etc.
February 27th. Walked to Cuckmere: flocks of cream-coloured Gulls: the Saddle- backs are not gone, but keep in small parties and seem to have paired.
and http://greatwartales.home.blog/ https://greatwartales.home.blog/
about four soldiers who trained in Seaford and Eastbourne during WW1
and https://lamberecipes.blogspot.com/ being list of over 200 Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian recipes and Remedies by the Lambe family of East Blatchington.
Also a record of two trips made by road from London to Seaford in 1877 Link: https://crooksofseaford.blogspot.com/
and for research into a shipwreck at Seaford Head Link: https://seafordcliffswreck.blogspot.com/
Also to: https://blatchingtonbarracks.blogspot.com/ which includes the story of the 1795 riots and executions and also the story of the forming of the Rifle Brigade.
Seaford Museum is run entirely by volunteers and is funded by its members and day visitors. Please
take a look using the following link: http://www.seafordmuseum.co.uk/
Many thanks for reading this blog.
Ben Franks
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March 11th. Saw a couple of beautiful Avocets from Lincolnshire at
Swayslands' [at Brighton]—also a fine Hawfinch; he reports that he has had
several of the latter brought to him this winter. The Mountain-Finch has also
been unusually abundant.
March 20th. A
Puffin opposite the Buckle, followed it to the Piers. Some of the men on
Newhaven Piers killed it. It swam very strongly, breasting the waves, and dived
through them with the greatest facility.
March 22nd. Walked over Seaford Head and back by the beach. The
Gulls have returned to their breeding place and were clamouring as usual at the
approach of the Cliff-Hawks. A large party of them was fishing out at sea.
March 29th. Hilder brought me the
bird which Barnard shot at on Thursday [25th], it was a Golden Plover in
transition plumage—the breast being black— the rest of the body in the usual
winters dress. Mr. Catt shot one of the same flock on Thursday.
April 1st. Walked to Mr. Farncomb's Pells. Furze,
daisies and violets in blossom.
Three
Wheatears on the waste opposite the guard-house. The first I have seen this
year.
A Grey Wagtail
in beautiful plumage by the Buckle.
Skylarks,
Wren, and Rock-Pipit in Pells. Also many spiral shells very thin and delicate
layabout the bottom like periwinkles.
Many Rooks on the fresh-ploughed land where Farncomb's turnips stood the
winter. Fossils, principally ammonites from the Railway works near Itford.
[23]
List (5) of Birds Migrating to the Neighbourhood of East Blatchington in
Spring with the Date when first Noticed (See Lists Section)
On May 11th I first saw the boys getting the Gulls'
eggs. The foremost had a rope round his waist which was secured round the waist
of the one above, and the end made fast to an iron bar pitched in the turf
which was superintended by another y youngster (the three were from sixteen to
nineteen); two little ones were looking on; the rope was short and they did not
venture down the face of the cliff, but only along the ledges nearly on a level
with the grassy slope. The only real
danger would be from carelessness. The
birds have just begun to lay—I walked within fifteen or twenty yards of one
which, with a number of others, was on the rocks watching the rising tide, I
suppose for small Crustacea, prawns and the like.
A pair of Mistle- Thrushes are building in Mr. King's trees. Some were
about in the hard weather, I trust that the thickening foliage will protect
them from the gun. The eggs were set upon as were some Ring-Dotterel which I
procured next day.
April 5th. Shot a solitary
Wheatear on the sea wall midway between the Tide Mill and Buckle, and four
Purres in transition plumage. They appear to be getting into a rich brown
uniform instead of their sober grey. Rooks enjoying themselves in the sun.
April 9th. I think the Purres have changed their [24] plumage—I saw a brown-looking one to-day and was
very near it.
Only saw one
Gull, a Raven, a few Purres, two pair of Wheatears and a pair of Ring-Dotterels
along the beach. A pair of Rooks, a pair of Linnets and some Larks between home
and the Battery.
April 12th. Walked to Castle Hill. Larks, Rooks, Buntings, Sparrows (by
the Barrack ground), Ring-Dotterel, Purres (still in transition plumage).
Gulls, Jackdaws, Rock-Pipits, Starlings.
A bird about the size of a Thrush on a lump of earth on the earth slip
on Castle Hill, he wagged his tail, and I believe jerked in his flight, query
was he the Ring- or Water-Ousel? Bones and limpit shells in the black mould,
bits of iron ore in the coloured sands, reddish clay, oyster bed, clay running
into a layer of shell.
Marl and
shelly ferruginous conglomerate full of different species of the
"Cyclas." "Melanopsis attenuata" also abounds and a species
cerithium with another winding univalve which is smooth and delicate and looks
to me like a fresh water shell, perhaps a cyclostoma.
April 12th.
Bexhill. A submarine forest in
the western extremity just above low water mark, the remains of two hundred or
more trees firmly rooted and upright, principally oak and beech. It adjoins
Cooden Farm in Hooe Level nearly midway between Hastings and Eastbourne. An
attempt was made to procure coal in this parish in consequence of the thin
seams of fossil wood, and wood coal. Eighty thousand are said to have been
thrown away. The Hastings strata extend along the coast from Bexhill eastward
to Aldington in Kent, forming a line of irregular cliffs thirty or forty miles
in length and from twenty to six hundred feet in height, and contain numerous
fossils.
April 19th. Walked round Seaford Head. Two kinds
of Gulls. Two kinds of Hawks. A pair of Ravens. A little bird (query—Furzechat)
with a red tail, white at the base of the bill, black throat, ash-coloured back
and wing-coverts, red under the wings and on the breast, black beak and
claws. The cliffs are much shattered by
the frost. I remarked a complete stratum of shells, principally echinites, and
their spines. I procured specimens of
the heart-shaped and helmet echinus; spines and fragments of cidares,
terebratulae, corals, etc.
April 20th.
Saw a Ring-Dove (19th)
in Mr. King's trees. Two pair of Wheatears haunt the shingle bank, and appear
inclined to breed there. I must make out [25] a list of plants, one of shells and one of
insects to show my ignorance, and endeavour to improve. I am sadly at a loss
for books of reference, and good ones with plates are so expensive.
April 21st. Saw first Swallow.
April 26th. Nailed up old hats for the birds.
April 27th.
Saw a male Wheatear rising in the air for a short distance, and singing like a
Lark. Shot the bird. The hen flew round me squeaking. Shot her. Beautiful
plumage. Shot a pair of Ring-Dotterel, dull plumage (more so than in winter)
exactly matching the shingle on which they breed and live. One of them
contained eggs as big as marrowfat peas.
April 28th. The East Deaners are
as much noted for their impudence and dexterity as wreckers as their neighbours
of West Dean were as smugglers. Berlin Gap is a noted place for wrecks, the
Coast-guard of the stations from Cuckmere to Eastbourne were drawn up for their
drill with the inspecting Captain at their head, each man was equipped with
musket, bayonet and cartouche box, cutlass and pistol.
April 30th. Walk over Seaford Head. Jackdaws, Kestrels, Ravens, Gulls, Larks,
Sparrows, Linnets, Swallows, Ring-Dotterel. The cliff is very shaky; got a few
fossils. A lovely day.
May 1st. Sweeps dancing at my
door with shovels and bells fantastically dressed up with gilt paper caps,
ribbons, etc.
A line of about one
hundred children with nosegays and bunches of flowers on the end of sticks
sallying forth from Rottingdean.
Jack-in-the-Green and his suite dancing in front of the houses in
Kemptown.
May 4th. Walked to Newhaven
Piers, saw six Curlews in summer plumage and tame, but failed in getting one.
Saw but one Gull flapping along about two hundred yards from shore. A Purre in summer plumage, black on the
breast, brown on the wings. A small flight of Ring-Dotterel.
May 8th. Following Mr. Catt's
bullock plough— Common Wagtail, Lark, Linnet, Rook, Jackdaw.
May l0th. Rooks following
within a few yards of the ox-ploughs.
VOLUME IV
1847
Page
[26]
November 13th. Cut vines, leaves and fruit still on. Apple trees, leaves
green and fruit hanging. Lettuces are running away fast and everything grows: a
remarkable November.
November 15th. J. Harrison when out with his dog and gun on Saturday [13th] put up a Hawk, and on examining the
turnips, whence it rose, found a Snipe, and with its brains pecked out; he had
it for dinner. Shepherd Stace and others tell me that there is an unusual
number of Lapwings on Blatchington Down this year. Some ascribe it to the new
Railway disturbing them in their usual haunts in the Brooks, quere does it proceed from the
unusual mildness and moisture of the season which enables them to procure their
food (worms, etc.) easily upon the hills? I remarked to-day that the worms’ casts were very numerous
and mole tracts very extensive on the hills, the covered ways running to a
great distance without any heaps. The
workings were very curious and interesting.
November 18th. A large flight of Pigeon-Fieldfares on
the Bullock Downs. Shepherd Stace spoke
of their appearance as unusually early.
November 28th.
Saw an immense flight of Gulls over the Highlands, I should suppose many
hundreds. Carnegie tells me that they are popularly called the Chinting hounds.
December 1st. Shot a Whole Snipe, a Jack and a Water-Rail; a warm, sunny day
after a rainy, squally one.
December 8th.
Walked to the Brooks, saw a Hawk and a Crow apparently engaged in a pitched
battle. A sunny day—Snipes lay very close. Shot a Norway Owl.1 His pinion was touched: when he found himself
unable...
1 [There are several subsequent entries about
this bird which proved to be a Short-eared Owl.]
[27] ...to escape he pounced right at me and stuck his
claws into my coat. As I was carrying him home he erected his horns, spread his
tail, and set up his feathers when the dog approached him. When the basket was
opened he pounced boldly
at anyone who approached him, hissing and snapping his bill. He had (morning of
11th) eaten a couple of mice and looks full of life; he seized
my finger with his claws last night very strongly, for his size and weight he
is a formidable fellow. He rose from a patch of rushes near a boiler1 in the second brook (meadow) and alighted in an
old pit in a wheat stubble: there was very little cover, but I suppose the
hollow shaded him from the sun.
December 9th. A stormy morning. The
sea up nearly to the top of the Shingle Bank and the bank white with foam. . .
. The bird-stuffer [at Brighton] tells me that a Fork-tailed Petrel was caught
in the Tide Mill Pond the other day alive: it was running about the mud and was
kept alive for three days. . . . Railroad from Newhaven to Lewes opened last
Monday [6th]. Up-train in the morning and down-train in the afternoon.
December 13th. The Norway Owl is
well and feeds heartily, but is very savage and attempts to attack every-. one
who approaches, snapping its bill and striking its head against the bars of its
cage in an attempt to peck the observer.
1848
January 1st. Return home. A fine Bittern, and an old white-headed
Heron in Hungerford Market. New railroad from Lewes to Newhaven runs well, but
few passengers and no arrangements, but utter confusion.
January l0th. Cold day, frost with wind. Squire and I killed one rabbit
each. Dick caught two. Saw a lot of hares. A Snow-Bunting with a large flight
of Larks on Mr. Farncomb's hill; it seemed quite white.
January 21st. Walked out with my
gun: saw a couple of Jack Snipes and killed both at the first fire: a couple of
Goldfinches—killed both at a shot. A very large flock of Starlings. A flock of
Pigeon-Fieldfares; large flock of Larks, flock of Greenfinches, flock of
Linnets, Chaffinches and Larks; Thrushes in the brooks, a few Gulls and
Sand-Larks, but no other wild birds. Flight of Rooks. On the 19th I shot a hen Black-headed Bunting.
1 [A spring.]
[28]
January 29th. Walked to the beach. Saw a fowl and a Grey Plover. A great
deal of shooting about.
February 9th. A flock of Curlews alighted on the
wall, three remaining as
February 11th. Several Ring-Dotterel
in pairs. A beautiful day. A Snow-Bunting on the wall by the Mill Pond.
February 14th. My Gull swallows the
Limpets, shells and all, and having digested the fish casts up the shells.
A Black-headed Gull which I pinioned threw up a
mass of half-digested earthworms. Both my Short-horned Owl and Kestrel wash
their bills when devouring birds.
February 18th. Great flights of
Gulls near the first groin, but excessively shy. The largest flight of
Sand-Larks that 1 have seen this year, but equally shy: the shingle for some
space was dotted with them, waiting, I suppose, until the tide receded far
enough to allow them to commence their dinner.
A number of Grey Crows. They appear to be pairing.
Dick brought me a Razor-bill, quite fresh; it
appeared by the marks on the bill and the colour of the head and neck to be an
old bird in winter plumage and near the moult. Will Reeds tells me that the
Wild Geese the other day suffered him to come very near them. His first shot
with both barrels by his account was within twenty yards, but Mr. Catt had
loaded the gun with slugs. He had eight
shots, and killed two birds. There were fifteen in the flock.
On taking the skin off the Razor-bill I was
struck with its great thickness, the uncommon strength and flatness of the wing
bones (humeri, I suppose Macgillivray would call them), the length of the
breastbone and its resemblance to a fast sailing boat, and the great toughness
of the sinews. It was the frame of a creature having great power and endurance
in a small compass and formed to sport in the surf and dive through the waves,
the wings forming most efficient paddles as well [29] as supports when in the air. The bill is curious
and formidable.
My Hawk's
broken wing appears in a very healthy state and callus of bone appears to be
forming.
The two Gulls
were much less injured, they appear to take little heed of their hurts; though
their wings still droop. The Owl is hearty as ever and as fat as butter, even
with his wing cut his fans are so powerful that he flies about the bakehouse
with ease.
January 31st, but have not visited
the cliff myself till now.
Saw a fine Brent Goose feeding on a little island
of shingle m the Cuckmere, he was stalking about and occasionally wading into
the shoal water and seizing something as it floated past him. A Coast-guardsman
fired at him, he rose and flew out over the bay, came back and flew about half
a mile up the river mingling with some Gulls—then came straight back for the
spot where I was lying, my dog running turned him, but he came back over my
head—I rose and fired both barrels as he went off, the first barrel went
nowhere as my foot slipped in the shingle, the No. 3 cartridge in the second
seemed to go through the bird, but he flew on and the Coast-guardsman fired at
him a second time, still he flew on for a couple of hundred yards when he
suddenly circled round, his wings flew up and he fell dead upon the shingle. He
is gone to Brighton to be stuffed.
I saw the Irish Coast-guardsman to-day who shot a
Spoonbill in the autumn, he shot it in the bend of the river opposite the path,
or rather a little to the right; he killed it quite dead with a charge of No.
5 shot, and a gun of 4 1/2 feet in the barrel, throwing 2 or 2 1/4 oz. of shot. It was a
young bird in immature plumage, he gave it to the Newhaven butcher—and he sold
it at Brighton for 3s.
February
22nd. A man brought a Dusky Grebe
(Slavonian Grebe) in winter plumage for sale. It was in good condition, but
sopped with water, appearing to have been picked up dead upon the beach. The
eye was, however, still clear and full so that it had not long been killed.
It appears that Harboard,
the extra man at Cuckmere station, shot it and washed it because it was bloody.
February 24th. The Hawk seizes the
mice with one [30] claw round the body and squeezes them very tightly, burying his
talons in the body; then when he supposes it dead he invariably, when I have
watched him, pecked out the head and went on to tear it to pieces and devour
it, or if a small mouse to swallow it whole.
Several dozens of mice
have been brought me lately of all ages from bare, blind sucklings of a day old
to regular old stagers with their long teeth, and dark fur, so that these
destructive creatures appear to breed at all seasons of the year, and the increase
of a single pair of old ones must be very great in the course of a year.
February 25th. The Purres are still in flocks, but
the Ring-Dotterel are beginning to pair about the Mill Pond, and the flight of
those who have paired is
March 4th. Hilder has got a
Red-breasted Merganser, for a pair drove ashore alive on Thursday and one still
survives at Seaford.
March 6th. The
boys Green brought me a Red-breasted Merganser alive. It was weak from hunger and thirst,
but will, I think, recover.
March 7th. Mr. Farncomb mentioned that a Stormy Petrel dashed
against Hailsham Church, and Mr. King that two were taken at Eastbourne.
Saw a pair of Ravens,
they seem to have taken possession of the usual breeding place at the Cuckmere
end of the cliff. I think that I
distinguished some Black-headed Gulls among the flights of Herring-Gulls. Gulls
in pairs on the rocks.
March 8th. The Merganser and Ring-Dotterel both died in the course
of last night. The first is apparently starved; the stupid boys had been
feeding it on sharps. It eagerly devoured meat and limpets. Its movements in
the water were particularly graceful: it had the power of erecting and
depressing its crest. Its tameness was extraordinary, but it was in a very weak
state.
I forgot to put down yesterday that I saw a
throng of men and boys collected on the Common between Seaford and Corsica
Lodge, and on inquiry found that [31] a wheel-barrow race for a Cock was going on. The
Seaford Shrovetide pastime from time immemorial.
March l0th. Hilder brought up a Grebe (Dusky or Slavonian, I believe)
which answered in measurement (I measured to the extremity of the gut instead
of the tail) and plumage to the Red-necked Grebe, except as to the length of
the bill. It was shot by Banks in the Seaford backwater. The boys were pelting it on Saturday, and
Young, the Coast-guardsman, was after it with an old musket, when Banks shot
it. Its mate still haunts the backwater, Corsica Pond and the sea.
Shot a Gull (Larus communis) at the corner of
Blatchington Salt, it answers to the measurement and description of Yarrell as
an old male in winter plumage.
List (6) of Birds not before Procured at
Blatchington A.D. 1847-8 (See Lists
Section)
March 14th. Fine morning. Wind north-west. Saddle-back Crows very
tame. One flew straight towards me apparently meditating an attack upon my
puppy and approached several times within a very few yards. A pair of
Ring-Dotterel were in the usual place near Corsica Lodge, and kept circling
round my dog as is usual in the breeding season. . . .
March 17th. A wet day. Fruitless [chase] after an uncommon bird supposed
to be an albino Bunting. Set up a Grebe and prepared the skin of a Merganser.
March 18th. A bright beautiful day. . . . Shot at a [34] cock Yellow-hammer and a buck rabbit, both of
which I killed. . . . Yellow-hammers and Linnets appear to have paired and
resorted to their breeding stations. Gulls circling at a great height in the
air and uttering a shrill cry, the white of the underparts of the wings and
breast gleamed in the sun and they looked like birds of snow. Two or three
straggling Redwings in the furze. Blackbirds, Thrushes, Stonechats, Linnets,
Common Buntings, Yellow Buntings, appear to nest about the furze.
March 20th.
The Wagtail has taken possession of my lawn to-day, attracted, I believe, by
the flies which cover the seaweed. Last summer a pair of old birds frequented
the lawn and brought a brood of fine young ones to the same haunt, feeding them
as they perched on the walls and fences. In the autumn they left. Last winter I
noticed one or two all through the winter close to the Buckle, but have not
seen one this winter. (Pied Wagtail—Motacilla yarrellii.)
March 21st. Gale from south-west.
. .
. A
solitary Raven was seated on the brow of the precipice where the cliff beetles
over, apparently quite indifferent to the gale; not another living thing was in
sight. Myriads of Gulls were collected on the lee side of the hills and in the
level about Exceat Bridge. The great majority appeared to me to be the
Black-headed; I thought I made out some Herring-Gulls and one party I took for
Common Gulls; some were in the brown immature plumage.
Called at Mr. Ellis' and inquired about the
Olivaceous Gallinule (Little Crake]. It
was caught on Monday fortnight by a servant girl running up a wall and killed
as they did not know how to feed it. Mrs. Ellis was particularly struck with
the beauty of its eyes. (Yarrell describes, the irides as red).
March 23rd. Old Gull bolted eleven mice.
March 24th. The Shingle Bank was
very desolate— a few pair of Sand-Larks and one little bird. The former have returned to the notes of the
breeding
March 25th. The sea glittered like molten silver and I counted thirty-four
coasters and small craft from the beach. A Peregrine Falcon was wheeling about
at an immense height: all the Gulls and Daws were screaming and
wheeling—presently the tyrant swooped down among them, but ineffectually, and
continued wheeling and sailing about, being soon joined by another Hawk which
from its manner of hovering I took to be a Kestrel. A hen Daw made a most determined and gallant
rush at the Falcon. The flight of the latter was most graceful, sailing round
without moving his wings and apparently steering himself by his tail.
The Common and Herring-Gulls appear to build in
company, but the Black-backed seem to have a station of their own near a large
body of Daws.
The Saddle-backs have totally disappeared.
March 28th. A lovely day. . . . Dick flushed a magnificent cock Pheasant
in the little Norton Cover. I marked him into a bush and the puppy flushed him;
he looked most beautiful, the sun gleaming on his brilliant plumage. . . .
Spring migration of birds. A party of six or
eight Wheatears on the bank by the corner of the Pells and a similar party on
Blatchington Waste: they had apparently just arrived.
A Curlew passed overhead screaming. It rose from
the Downs back of the Buckle Bank and flew out to sea. .
. . A pair of Black-headed Buntings have returned to
Mr. Farncomb's Pells. I noticed
them first last Friday (March 24th).
March 29th. Beautiful day after a wet night. . . . Walked to Cuckmere. Saw a Kestrel Hawk rise from
the grassy slope on the Cuckmere side of the wreck. Also a pair of Ravens on
the wing. The Gulls are shy, and seem to keep sentinels high in air who
overlook everything which passes. As I stood in a chasm in the cliffs I saw
these sentinels repeatedly dart down and intercept a rash or careless comrade
who was approaching my ambush.
April 1st. A splendid day, warm and with quite an
Italian sky. John Ockenden brought me a Water-Rail quite fresh, which a boy had
knocked down with a
VOLUME V.
1848
Page
[36]
April 5th. Mr. King drove me to Firle. A hazy day. . . . Walked round Lord
Gage's Park. There is a very large Rookery mostly upon trees planted within Mr.
King's recollection. The birds were building, fighting and above all squabbling
ad infinitum. Some birds stuck close to
their nests as if they had eggs. I fancied that I heard the screams of young
birds, but think that I must have mistaken some other cry for it.
There is a decoy with an island in the midst from
which a Duck and Mallard rose as I approached (I believe I should say two
Mallards). Several Coots were swimming about and uttering their harsh cries. I
suppose that the Ducks were sitting on the island. The Mallards swam
majestically about, one on each side of the island appeared to be Lords of the
Pond and to have their separate territory.
A little brook overhung with trees runs from the
pond, and amid these trees were many little birds singing or busily gathering
moss for their nests. I particularly remarked a pair of Chaffinches cutting the
lichen from a tree with the edge of their strong bills.
Here also were a pair of
Long-tailed Titmice flitting from bough to bough and running and twisting among
them.
The hollow call of the Greenfinches was heard
almost in every part of the plantations, even more generally than the "
twink! " "twink! " of the Chaffinch.
Thrushes and Blackbirds
were very numerous and the groves rang with their clear, sweet notes.
Ring-Doves frequently passed overhead with their
rapid flight. I marked one pair to their nest among the ivy in an old tree in
the Park.
I constantly heard a low "cheep,"
" cheep," made by some skilful ventriloquist and at last saw a couple
of Creepers (I believe) quietly conversing in a thorn tree.
[37]
A lovely little Golden-crested Wren, looking more
like an insect than bird, alighted just over my head and amused me for a minute
or two with his rapid and graceful evolution, twisting and turning round the
boughs.
Starlings were flying
towards some hollow trees and onto the grass among the cattle. Partridges in pairs rose whirring from the
bank and from the furze brakes on our return.
House-Sparrows noisy, cheerful and impudent as
usual were chattering in all directions.
A quiet, modest pair of Hedge-Sparrows were
minding their own business in a corner.
April 7th. Saw two pairs of the Ring-Dotterel. A pair of Rock-Pipits and a pair of Wheatears
on the Shingle Bank. The former are now very quiet in their manner—rise
unwillingly and fly short distances with a straight flight—were it not for
their low ventriloquistic cry no ordinary observer would see them, so admirably
does their plumage blend with the shingle.
Saw a cock Red-backed Butcher-bird on a sprig of
bramble, near Blatchington Salt.
April l0th. Opened the gizzard of a Black-headed Bunting; it contained
several small, black beetles and some half-digested seeds. It was a male bird
and fat. The gizzard of a Rock-Pipit contained only a greenish pulp with minute
bits of shingle.
April 11th. Jackdaws endeavouring to rob Starlings' nests. Rooks are very
noisy and busy, but only a few remain on the nest trees when closely
approached, and therefore I conclude that they are only beginning to lay. A
small Hawk (I think a Kestrel) swept through amongst the trees, and struck at
some little birds near the bushes, not swooping down but flying after them: it
was brown on the back.
April 15th. Walked to the gap near Cuckmere. Gulls, Daws, and Starlings in
numbers about the cliffs. The Ravens were very fierce, pouncing at every Daw
which approached, and approaching me within (I should estimate) thirty yards or
less. One of them had lost some of the pen-feathers from its wing.
Charley Limps tells me that he saw a young Raven
partly fledged out of the nest yesterday.
They are sometimes destroyed by lowering a lighted furze-faggot.
April 19th. To-day the wind is cold and there is a haze over the sea, but
it is fine overhead. The ground is very wet, we must have had much rain in the
night. Walked to Cuckmere.
[38]
A bird, light olive-brown on the back, light
under the throat, sits upon a furze bush moving its tail up and down. Hovers to
a moderate height with a single shrill note and comes sweeping down like a
Skylark or still more like the Pipits.
Bought four Jackdaw's eggs of a Seaforder—he had
been a long way down the cliff, but found no Gulls' eggs.
The Gulls are much more
tame; a party rose from Buck-Church apparently, close to me, and I saw the eyes of several.
Quantity of sea anenomes
on the rocks near the gap. I saw one with a limpet in its mouth. Shell and all
were sucked in; it disgorged the shell with the half-devoured fish after being
much disturbed. They were on the bare chalk rock without protection, their
colour was different shades of red and brown. The chalk thereabout is much
stained with iron rust.
April 20th. The Jackdaws' eggs which I got yesterday vary much in
appearance, two resembling Blackbirds' eggs in shape, colour and marking: the
other two much resembling Song-Thrushes; the yolk of these latter was much
darker than that of the others, being a reddish-yellow instead of a light
yellow.
" Cuckoo! Merry bird sings as she flies,
She brings us good
tidings, she tells us no lies,
She sucks little birds'
eggs to make her sing clear,
And never sings Cuckoo
till summer draws near."
—Rhymes of Blatchingtm children.
April 20th. The Jackdaws breed in
vast numbers in the crannies of the rocks about Seaford as well as in the
cliffs to the eastward. Many build in the rabbit burrows in the warren on
Hyndover Hill.
Last summer I saw great
numbers of them breeding in old ivy-covered towers of Hurstmonceaux Castle.
Bodiam Castle, too, on the borders of Kent, is a noted breeding place.
List (7) of Nests and Eggs of British Birds with their Locality and Local
Names (See Lists Section)
[40]
April 21st. Thomas Pelham sent up a Hedge-Sparrow's nest with four eggs
slightly set upon, also either a Yellow or a Cirl Bunting with four
eggs. C. Wood brought four Starling's eggs containing young ones fully
half-formed and a Linnet's nest with four eggs. Thomas Shelton brought two
Starling's eggs and a Skylark's. Walter Stace sent a nest of four eggs set hard
(quere Tit-Lark's).
April 24th.
Tom Shelton and Walter Stace brought some Linnet's, Skylark's and Tit-Lark's
eggs, not Set. T. Pelham sent a Hedge-Sparrow's with four eggs containing
three-quarter grown young. The white of the egg was all absorbed, a portion of
the coagulated yolk was attached to the abdomen. The shell was excessively
brittle and appeared to me lighter than the shell of a fresh-laid egg.
The nest was of moss
lined with horsehair, taken from a gooseberry bush; the Tit- Larks
of fine, dry bents; the Linnet of moss and wool, lined with horsehair.
April 25th. Yesterday the large Herring-Gull killed the little one by
fracturing his skull with a stroke of his bill. I tied the dead bird round his
neck and to-day he strangled himself in his furious efforts to disengage
himself.
April 26th.
Fine morning. Saw a Swallow about the Mill Pond near the Buckle, and three near
the Tide Mill.
[41] Anne tells me that several were sitting singing
on the chimney-tops in the village. Two or three pairs of Wheatears appear to
be breeding amongst the timber in the Mill Pond.
George Stace reports a
Tit-Lark's nest with five, and John Towner a Yellow-hammer's with six,
newly-hatched ones in them. This nest turns out to be a Robin's, it is on the
ground concealed with a thick bunch of chickweed in a dyke.
May 1st. A fine day, easterly
wind. Mr. Catt shot a Black Tern in full plumage and saw two others fishing in
the ditch near the Workhouse. . . . Swallows in abundance.
May 2nd.
Beautiful morning. A small flight of Terns in the Bay. I thought that I
distinguished Black, Black-winged and Common Terns. I failed in procuring a
specimen. Yellow Wagtails are over. I saw one near the Workhouse.
I really think that no creature can exceed the
Tern in lightness, grace and beauty. I felt sorry to fire. They fish with the
flood-tide and if not disturbed rest on the shingle, or a buoy or any spar in
the water during the ebb. They keep much in pairs. They hover a few feet over
the water, a good deal like a Kestrel, and dash down on the little fish, seldom
failing in their pounce. A brood of young Hedge-Sparrows about my backyard and
garden. A pair of common Sandpipers on
the Shingle Bank, near the Tide Mill, very tame, allowing both me and my dog to
approach within a yard and alighting after a flight of a few yards. They
appeared to be picking up insects. Had they a nest near? (Quere Purres.)
May 3rd. Procured a specimen of the Lesser Tern in full plumage. Bill
orange with a black tip. Feet orange. Claws black. Forehead white. Nape of the
neck and crown of the head black. Back,
wing-coverts, etc., smoky blue. Breast, tail and tail-coverts white. First
quill feather the longest. Shot another Tern which was carried off to sea by
the tide. Many Sand-Larks.
Curlews feeding on the Salts and a bird in their company about half the
size (Whimbrel, I suppose). A flock of Curlews on the Shingle Bank with a pair
of smaller birds in company, and a black bird which the little Fothergills said [was] a Black Tern. Swallows over the water.
A burning hot
day. Anne saw a pair of Martins about the old nests in front of the house.
May 5th. Walked to the Tide
Mill to settle my bill. [42] Saw eight
or ten Stone-Curlews opposite the Buckle Bank. They flew along the water's edge
to the eastward.
How cunning the Ring-Dotterel are in drawing a dog or man away
from their eggs.
I forget
whether I mentioned that a Nightingale sang last Sunday [April 30th] and some
evenings before. I have not heard it since.
May 9th. Shot a Whimbrel. Purres apparently breeding on Shingle Bank
near the upper Mill Pond.
May 10th. Lime trees in flower. Young House-Sparrows—hard set
eggs—eggs—nest building.
Partridges have had eggs for some days.
Tom Shelton tells me that
he chased a full-fledged Skylark to-day and that the Robins have been flown for
a week or more.
Martins examining their
old nest, from which I threw out the Sparrow's nest.
A pair of Swallows seem
to have selected the bake-house chimney for a nest. . . . Mr. King heard the
Cuckoo yesterday.
May 11th. Saw a pair of birds
feeding close to and apparently in company with a flock of Purres. Put a
cartridge into my gun and crept towards them. To my surprise they suffered me
to approach within easy shot, they were close together in line; at the moment that
I fired my right leg sunk in the mud, and, I suppose, caused the muzzle of the
gun to rise as the brown bird fell instead of the red one which was nearest. As
I went to pick it up it rose and flew heavily towards the sea, and losing the
direction I did not find it until my return when I had to fire two more shots
in order to secure it. After the last shot it rose and flew some little
distance, falling into the sea, whence my dog brought it to me. It was a hen
bird of the Barred Godwit, and corresponded with Yarrell's description. It was
in good condition.
1848
Page
[43]
May 12th. The Swifts have made their appearance
for the first time on Monday, the 8th of May. I saw the House-Martin for the
first time May l0th at Shillingford. A
pair of Sparrows were turned out of a hole in the roof of Reynold's house by a
pair of Starlings, and they in their turn were attacked by a pair of Swifts.
Walked to the beach, saw
a bird with a black throat, white neck, black breast with the Purres, about the
size of a Godwit. It was wary, and would not suffer me to approach within
gunshot—at first it was in company with some Dunlins.
John Ockenden brought a
pair of Olives (Oystercatchers) in fine plumage, I gave him half a crown for
them. They correspond exactly with Yarrell's description.
May 15th. Whimbrel feeding on the wall and beach. A pair of
Tern flying about the bay and screaming. Trained vines, they show well for
blossom. Buried a child at Seaford. The
poor Beadle has notice that his office will be abolished.
Master Stace moulded up
potatoes. He reports nest of young Curlews on Firle Hill.
List (8) of Birds Procured or Observed in Blatchington and the
Neighbourhood from May 12th A.D. 1848 (See Lists Section)
[45]
May 17th. Walked to Bishopstone
and Denton. Found a pair of blind-worms under a piece of fallen masonry.
Found four fallen squab Rooks of different sizes from the bare, black, little
object just hatched to one with black stump feathers and almost able to fly. They did not appear to be
very numerous, therefore I suppose that Rook shooting is over.
Heard a Ring-Dove cooing in the little plantation
and saw it rise. Cuckoo calling lustily at Denton opposite to Mr. Bedford's. He
told me that he heard two.
. . . On my return I heard a Land-Rail calling on the
hillside beneath Bishopstone hedge, it appeared to be in the standing rye, but
they are great ventriloquists.
Little Harry Pelham
brought me a young cock Lark full fledged.
May 22nd. Mr.
F. [Farncomb] heard a Quail at Bishopstone the other day.
June 6th. Walked to the Piers. Ring-Dotterel as usual I failed in finding
their eggs after a close search, neither could I find the nest of the
Black-headed Bunting.
June 7th
Skinned and preserved a Willock (Common Guillemot). Excessively fat and oily. A female containing small eggs.
Girl Green brought four Cliff-Hawk's eggs.
June 8th. Set up Guillemot. Made bad work of it, the iron wire was too
stubborn.
June 12th Walk to Denton across
Bishopstone Brooks and thence by the road. . . . Wheatears on fresh-turned
fallows; were their nests turned up or were they seeking a nesting-place ?
Sedge-Warblers
very clamorous in the reeds, their manoeuvres to draw enemies from the
nest. Peculiar alarm note of Linnets.
Tadpole and perfect little frogs collected in great black clusters—query did this portend a
storm ?
June 14th. A beautiful day, wind fresh, but not
unpleasant.
Swallows very busy over
Blatchington Salt. I saw them alight on
the ground. A brood of young Wagtails, Rock-Pipits, a Starling, a Ring-Dotterel,
were all [46]
feeding on the same ground which at seven a.m. was occupied by a large flock of
Rooks.
June 20th. Saw
a pair of Swifts, if not more, hawking about the Battery road; I thought I saw one pass over my
garden yesterday and over Blatchington Salt on the 14th. Wheatears and Starlings busy collecting food. A Starling was
flying toward Newhaven Cliff with a quantity of food in its bill. Ring-Dotterel
are tame.
Whitethroats. A pair of Common among the thick
bushes and brambles of the Barrack road; on being alarmed they buried
themselves in the bushes and were driven out with difficulty.
June 21st. I forgot to mention on the 20th that I saw Sand-Martins flying close to the ground about the
Waste. Swallows skim close along high-water mark; flies, etc.,
are abundant on the seaweed and refuse thrown up by the tide.
June 22nd. The
mowers have cut out a great number of Common Buntings' nests, some containing
fresh eggs, some hard set, but I have heard of no Larks' eggs, so that the
Buntings appear to be a late breeding bird.
None were brought until within a few days, though Skylarks' were
plentiful. All the nests are formed of
bents.
A nest of young Whinchats are just fledged and
out of the nest, which is open, large in proportion to the bird, thick and
warm, about a foot from the ground, in a small patch of short furze. I
attentively examined the old birds.
Unknown bird (this was a hen Red-backed Shrike) [interlined] with a long
tail, sitting low, flesh-coloured legs, brown mottled
plumage. It is very tame and sits generally on a high bramble or on a bush or
low tree. There are a pair of old birds and a brood of young ones. They keep
about the same spot. Multitudes of young Linnets and young Sparrows, along the
furze on the Mill Road and about the pond.
An old cock Linnet with the sun shining full on
his beautiful rose-coloured breast.
Yellow-hammers, Whitethroats, Buntings, hen
Black-bird, Starling [among] the sheep, Rooks on a gratten, Skylarks,
Furze-Hackles, etc.
List(9) of Birds' Eggs (See Lists Section)
[47]
June 24th.
Walked to see the nest spoken of by Tom Shelton. It was merely a hollow with a
strand or two of grass twisted round and contained two eggs of a dirty white
with a line of dusky spots, near the size of the Common Bunting's. It was on a
piece of turnip just coming up and therefore not many days sown.
June
26th. Sweep-Jack's eggs, five, set four or five days.
For some days
past I have been much amused with the evolutions of a brood of Chimney-Swallows
fresh out of the nest. I first noticed them flying about my Windsor [Pear], the
sweetness of which attracts many insects, the old ones dashing about and
occasionally feeding them on the wing: then they would perch on the top of
stakes, or on the handle of a fork, or spud stuck upright in the ground,
waiting for their food.
I saw some Swifts floating about at a great
height in the air. They appear, if I may hazard a guess, to come from
north-east, perhaps Alfriston Church, to feed near the sea, where insects are
at times especially abundant. I see them in a party gliding towards the sea in
the morning, and in the evening inland in a party of twelve to twenty. (Some
breed in the cliffs of Seaford Head.)
The Clerk's boy brought
me a young Butcher-bird on Saturday [24th]. It
[48] Ran about the room and
endeavoured to escape, and to conceal itself, but showed no fear. It was dead
this morning. I think from impatience of confinement
June 30th. Wet morning. Wind blowing hard from west by south. Many Ring-Dotterel about the Mill Pond; their curious
manoeuvres to draw the dogs from the nests.
Tom Shelton brought two eggs picked up by his
father on the Farncomb's turnips. They resembled those which he
took me to see on Mr. Catt's turnips and were set rather hard. The latter lay
in a slight hole with two or three bents twisted round, but no nest. Quere are they Goat-suckers ?
July 1st. A fine still morning,
half-past one p.m. there was a thunderstorm, and towards evening there were
showers flying about to west and south-west and the sky looked squally.
A party of Turtle-Doves
on the fresh sown rape, six apparently, two old and four young—a brood. They
have been about for some days and the shepherd tells me are usually about for a
few days at this time of year. Quere, do they come from Firle covers? A great number
of Swifts were flying about skimming quite low over the corn and over the
road. The shepherd tells me that
occasionally in windy weather they catch young ones who have ventured out
before their wings were strong enough to struggle against the gale. I was particularly struck with the ease and
strength of their flight as they glided and wheeled about, to all appearance
not heeding a strong breeze which was sweeping over the hills.
July 4th. Fine day. Mr. Turner sent a Peregrine Falcon.
July 7th. Rye cut on the Brighton road. Specimens noticed at
bird-stuffer's of interesting birds.
White Stork. Scarlet Ibis. Godwit.
July l0th. Visited Beachy Head.
A splendid day. Two Kestrels hawking after Larks on the Downs. . . . Peregrine Falcon,
hawking after Gulls, alighted on the cliff about two-thirds of the way up and
rested for some time. Flight of Willocks coming in and going out. I fancy that
I distinguished two couple of Black-backed Gulls in a particular spot, their note
was peculiarly harsh and hollow; but as the birds kept high overhead I had no
certain view of the plumage.
July 15th. Shot a Chiff-chaff on
the top of my wall. I had previously watched it searching the cherry tree for
insects, much in the manner of a Wren. I shot it by mistake for a young
Sparrow. Yarrell's description is most accurate.
July 17th. Walked up the hill,
saw several Cuckoos ranging about the hedges and furze. Two Turtle-Doves. One
rose from thin wheat, the other from fallow at the edge of clover. A bird rose
from the potato piece on the hill with much white about it. Quere an albino. I carried
three Stone-Larks (Ring-Dotterel) to the beach, which had been brought me.
There were very pretty little things covered with soft down. Made much use of
their wings in rising: the legs looked disproportionately large and long, and the
head seemed naturally to move downward.
They stuck their bills into the shingle or any soft substance, whether
to seek food or concealment I cannot tell. Many Swifts about the Waste, hawking
at a great rate and apparently feeding [on] the swarms of chafers which were
apparently emerging from the turf and burring in every direction, striking you
in the face, sticking in your hair or alighting on your hat. This waste always
abounds with chafers in the season, and I remark that it is a favourite feeding
ground with Rooks.
July 29th. Wheatears are in
pairs and about the holes in the cliffs so I conclude that their young have not
yet flown. Many young Gulls were swimming outside the surf and some flying
about. A brood of Kestrels were about just able to fly, and the old ones flew screaming
around the intruder, the hen hovering overhead screaming, with the tail spread
like a fan, and the male circling round and sweeping up as if to attack.
August 7th. A beautiful day, wind south-west, but
moderate. . . . Several Chiff-chaffs about the garden: they are very pretty
familiar little creatures and expert insect catchers, examining every crevice
in the wall and the boughs of the trees.
The young Martins in my nest are nearly full fledged, there are four. The
young Wheatears are but just out; out of three which I shot I think that two
were old ones.
Young Purres and
especially Ring-Dotterel; some of the latter flew but indifferently and the old
birds were anxious. They are beginning to flock. The Sandpipers [50] are less numerous, and
all these little birds are so wild that I think they must have been shot at a good [deal] since I was last
down: two or three Gulls were sailing over the surf as the tide rose. Many
Rooks near the Buckle. Larks singing.
[Away in Somersetshire and Essex.]
September 5th. Young Farncomb brought a Lesser
Tern, a young bird in immature plumage shot in one of the Bishopstone marsh
ditches about August 20th.
Bailiff Mace brought a
Night-Hawk on August 28th, in fine plumage, which my father sent to Swaysland.
My father saw a Curlew on the Bullock down. I have seen three Land-Rails this
autumn.
September 16th.
Walter Stace brought me a Night-Hawk with its wing cut off with a sickle by his
brother. Vast numbers of Martins cover the housetops and church, and at times
trees, at Blatchington.
September 19th. Skinned and preserved
the Night-Hawk brought me on Saturday [16th].
It was a young bird. The stomach was large and crammed with the wing cases and
legs of chafers. It is a curious and
remarkable bird. The numerous bristles which surround the mouth must be a great
assistance in capturing their insect prey. The bill precisely resembles that of
the Common Swallow. Weather still
continues beautiful. Took a walk, saw many Sand-Larks along the Bank of the
upper Mill Pond and Wheatears about Barrack land.
September 21st. Walked to Newhaven
Piers, saw three Tern, either Common or Arctic and a pair of Black Tern, at one
of which I fired without success. No
Wheatears about the Barrack land or adjacent downs, but many Sky- and Tit-Larks.
A good many Wheatears around the Mill Pond. Saw a small Gull and watched it for
some time, both my father and myself took it for Larus minutus, but failing to
get a shot the matter remains uncertain.
September 24th. Trees alive with Martins.
September 25th. Many Chiff-chaffs in
the garden. Tit-mouse, Wren and Robin have returned to the garden.
October 5th. A great flight of
Linnets on the Waste. Swarms of Swallows about the Shingle Bank.
I counted fifteen Wheatears about the Mill Pond and Shingle Bank, and I
believe saw more. Saw a Kingfisher flying along the Mill Pond with a harsh
peculiar cry.
October 7th. The south side of the Church roof
clustered over with House-Martins, and multitudes were in the air around,
Another flight, but smaller, were [51] settled on the Mill and sweeps, or flying
around. Another flight were wheeling around Mr. Farncomb's pond.
October 9th. Dull morning. No dew.
Wind from south-west increasing in strength towards afternoon. I counted six
Wheatears in walking to the lower Tide Mill Pond and saw several on my return,
they were particularly tame. A great flight of Sand-Larks (Ox-birds) were
collected about the lower Mill Pond. A small flock of Peewits rose very wild
from Mr. Cooper's brooks opposite the Newhaven end of Park Gut. A
Chimney-Swallow about Mr. Catt's Salts and another over Blatchington Salt: not
a House-Martin to be seen. No signs as yet of any of the northern birds.
October 11th. A fine, bright frosty
morning. Walked to Denton and Heighten and was abroad all day, but not a Martin
or Swallow did I see.
October 13th. Wind north-east. Shot
a Jack Snipe in Mr. Farncomb's meads. Large flakes of snow fell with the
rain to-day and the wind was cold.
October l4th. A wet morning. A
party of the large Tit-mice are about my garden searching the trees for
insects; they are very pretty lively birds with their glossy, black and white
heads, and parti-coloured bodies.
October 16th.
Fine bright morning. Rainy after-noon.
Evening dull, but without rain. Shot a Snipe in Mr. Farncomb's Park Gut, and saw
three more. Mr. F. tells me that he saw a Grey Crow (Cranstown Crow he called
it) yesterday. I saw two Swallows flying over Mr. F.'s Pells. Land wind.
October 19th. A pair of
House-Martins flying about in front of my study window. Four or five
Chimney-Swallows flying about Mr. King's lawn.
A pair of House-Martins flying about the Tide Mill. Three or four Grey Crows. A flock of the
Black-headed Gulls. A great flight of Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Linnets and
other small birds. A Kestrel hovering over the pond. Many Blackbirds and
Thrushes.
October 24th. Saw a fine Woodcock in a game shop (Swaysland told
me that he had received several within a few days). . . . Three Martins were
seen flying in front of my study window in the middle of the day.
October 31st. Bedford and I sallied forth for
Heighten Hill [rabbit shooting]. . . . Blackbirds, Thrushes, Wrens and Robins
were numerous in the furze, also there was a little party or two of Buntings,
but not a single Partridge to-day; though we saw so many two or three weeks
ago. On our return a boy pointed
November 6th. Saw a
Saddle-back rising a short distance into the air and throwing a complete
summerset in its descent; I watched it do this repeatedly. Flocks of Gulls came
inland towards the sea a little before sunset.
November l0th. White frost. A beautiful day, but there are symptoms of
the wind shifting and weather changing. . . . Called on Bedford. . . . A flock of twenty
Fieldfares passed over my head as I stood in his garden. They were the first that I have seen. Mr. King mentioned having
seen a couple on Monday [6th].
November 13th. A bright beautiful day, sun quite hot. I shot a Water Wagtail (Motacilla
yarrellii)
in Mr. King's trees, a Swallow (one of a pair) on Seaford Head playing about
the end of the cliff, where I saw likewise a bird, apparently a Warbler, and
watched it feeding for many minutes, but lost it over the cliff. Swarms of
Jackdaws were about the cliffs and Downs sporting or feeding, and many Gulls
fishing at the base (top of the flood of a high spring tide). Gulls were
feeding about Cuckmere Harbour and Rock-Pipits both on the line of seaweed and
up the Pells. Many Gulls, Grey Crows, Rooks, etc., were feeding about the
Levels where they had been flooded, and a flight of Lapwings were circling
about in an unsettled way. I shot a
Goldfinch at the foot of the Down on a thistle. Great flights of Sparrows and Greenfinches
were collected. Mr. King told me that he saw immense flights of Larks and
Starlings pass over the village. Bedford
dined with me and reported that a flight of Wild Geese passed Lewes Level going
south two or three days ago.
November 17th. A dull disagreeable morning, wind blowing strongly from west
by south. Went to Brighton and back by Hilder [Carrier]. Swaysland showed me a
great Bustard's egg, it was much larger than that of a Turkey, a very dull,
light olive colour clouded with a darker shade in large blotches; also the eggs
of the Grey and Red Phalarope much resembling a Redshank in form and colour,
but scarcely one-third the size; they were much alike, also the eggs of the
Ptarmigan and the Red Grouse a little resembling those of Plover in size and
colour, but with much smaller spots. Got from Brown's a copy of Penant's Brit.
Zool. 1812, 16s., Monkies, 2s.
6d., Felinae, 3s., Jardine's Nat. Lib., also [53] Beale on the Sperm
Whale, 9d., Edwards1 on the Migration of
Birds, 1s., and White's (of Selbourne) Nat. Cal., 1s.
November 22nd. Shot a Carrion-Crow with a curious bill [vide p. 44].
November 27th. Jolted to Lewes in Hilder's van in a pouring rain, took the
first train and reached London at half-past eleven. Weather pleasant and sunshiny. Went into
Leadenhall Market. Pheasants, Black and
Red Grouse, Common and Red-legged Partridges, Wood-cocks, Snipes, Lapwings,
etc. Among other things, a large fox was dangling from a hook. A great variety
of fancy dogs, cats, rabbits, pigeons, singing birds, monkeys, etc., were exhibited.
In a shop in Oxford Street, I saw splendid specimens of the Great Horned and Snowy Owl.
List (10) of Birds Either
Permanently at East Blatchington or the Neighbourhood, or Occasionally Visiting
it (See Lists Section)
1 [This was by John Legg, it was falsely attributed to Edwards on
the title.]
[62]
December 8th.
Windy. The sky cleared a little and I took a walk to the Piers; but the rain
came on again before I got home. I shot a Jack Snipe, a Purre and a
Snow-Bunting. Saddle-back Crows were busy on the line of seaweed and a few
Gulls of different sorts were hovering over the breakers and apparently
securing an abundant feast. A flock of Lapwings over Denton Brooks.
December 9th. A fine day. . . . Shot a Mountain-Sparrow in Mr. King's
plantation.
December 11th. Walked over Seaford Head. Legions of Daws intermixed with a
few Gulls were about the cliffs. As I stood over Cuckmere a great flight of the
larger Gulls came sweeping round towards the Head. Many hundreds of the
Black-headed Gulls were seated in clusters about the grass on the river's bank
or on the river's margin. Opposite West
Dean a flock of nine Herons rose, I watched them for some time both sitting and
flying. A single Lapwing flew rapidly
past to seaward until out of sight. I shot three little Blue Tits, but saw few
birds on the whole.
December l2th. Picked up a Willock at the
edge of [63] the Buckle Creek. A
flight of Lapwings towards the Tide Mill.
Swaysland showed me a
Little Auk taken by some Brighton fisherman to the eastward. Also a Lapland
Finch taken at Rottingdean. The latter
was sold for two guineas to Lord Breadalbane's brother.
Number of specimens, December i3th, 1853, 151.
December 22nd. Clear, frost, wind north-west. Mr.
King reports on Mr. Sangar's authority a great quantity of wild-fowl up the
Cuckmere. A flight of Snipes about Alfriston. A Wild Swan shot by Mr. Pegden
under Hyndover.
Mr. Catt showed me a
Golden Plover and a Turnstone shot by him this evening. The Turnstone was
pecking about in the road.
1849
January 2nd.
Bitter wind from south-east. A
tremendous sea off Beachy Head. Walked to the Piers. Saw two Whole Snipes and a
Jack. Many Lapwings. A small flock of Golden Plover. A string of wild-fowl. A
single fowl, vast flights of Larks, etc.
January 3rd. I saw a small Hawk
sitting on a wall close to the spot where some men and boys were faking over
the thatch of a wheat stack. A man told me that it had struck several mice
which they had driven out. On my approach with a gun it flew twenty or thirty
yards and lighted in the Bishopstone foot-track. It was, I suppose, a Kestrel.
A flock of eight Geese passed over the Tide Mill flying low and a similar or
the same flock passed over Blatchington flying to the eastward. I saw one of
the Millers shoot a Saw-billed Duck, I believe a female Smew. There were a pair
of the birds. They had been seen about the Mill Pond for some days.
The Bishopstone blacksmith brought me a curious Thrush. It is very
light coloured and is probably the one seen by Will Horscraft on Christmas Day.
January 8th. A great flock of
Golden Plover; towards feeding [time?] it broke into four or five smaller
flocks. I never saw [so] many birds of this species collected together.
January 12th.
Shot a Snipe and a Guillemot, surprising tenacity of life of the latter. Bought a Grebe (quere Red-necked) of some
boys. Saw two small wild-fowl and (I believe) six Wild Swans; they circled
about the Level with a very musical sort of bugle note. When I last saw them
they were flying to the eastward. They looked [64] small and might be Bewick's Swan, but flew high.
I believe the Hooper arid Bewick's Swan utter a musical note.
January 20th. Skinned, preserved and set up a
Red-necked Grebe. Its length was twenty
inches, not including the feet and legs.
It was a male bird. Back parts
nearly black. A white mark at the bend
of the wing, and one on the wing. Neck very long and snake-like. Flesh very
dark, but tolerably well flavoured; it was wretchedly poor. Stomach a very
large, oval sac full of greenish mucilage mixed with feathers and down and offensive. Entrails large. The
figure and description in Yarrell precisely correspond, unless that this
specimen is a trifle larger than his measurement.
February 15th. Saw Frog's spawn in
the Bishopstone Brooks and saw Frogs spawning, they were croaking at a great
rate and I have heard them croak for some days past. A Snipe still in Park Gut. A most
beautiful day, the sun quite hot.
February 17th. A bright, beautiful
day. Wind west. Walked to Cuckmere.
Gulls (Herring) have taken possession of their breeding places on the
cliffs in numbers and were wheeling and screaming about: the Daws also arrived,
but it appears to me not as yet in their usual numbers. A Kestrel swept along
the face of the cliff for some distance, passing me without notice, and then
turned inland. The Daws are in pairs and the Gulls take their seats on the
pinnacles. A large Hawk with a much shorter tail than the Kestrel and a steady,
powerful flight, was sweeping slowly over the Gulls who were clamounng at a
great rate. I saw one pair of Ring-Dotterel, but the main of them were in flock
as were the Purres; they were very shy. The Curlews, too, were in a flock, and
even more cautious than usual. .
. . . A pair of Ravens were about their usual breeding
place. . . . My dog flushed a brace
of Partridges close to the path leading to Sutton, they had evidently paired.
February 23rd. A beautiful day.
Ring-Dotterel have begun to pair. . . . Noticed a flock of Black-headed
Buntings about Park Gut.
February 24th. The Chinting hounds passed my study window in full
cry. . . . The shepherd J. Stace tells me that he pulled nine or ten
Wrens out of a hole in the thatch, whither he supposed they had clustered for
warmth as the weather was cold.
March 9th. Rooks are busy about
their nesting trees.
VOLUME VII
1849
Page
[65]
March l0th. Ground covered with
snow. Saw two Wheatears on the Shingle Bank just by the new Coast-guard
buildings. Sharp frost at night, wind
north-west.
March 16th. Went to Lewes with my father. Walking
back I put up a Snipe in Park Gut. Saw a Pied Wagtail near the
cattle-pond. Cock Yellow-hammers and
Black-headed Bunting sitting on walls and the tops of furze bushes in the sun
and calling to their mates: they seemed in good plumage. The Yellow-hammer with
crest erect, and the bright yellow glittering in the sun looked very beautiful.
Larks were singing away merrily. Gulls circling about at a great height. Rooks
flying backwards and forwards in a busy business-like way (they are building).
The little active Stonechats were hopping about flirting their tails up and
down as usual, and all was life and cheerfulness.
March 22nd. Bitter cold wind from north, nevertheless I saw three
Wheatears running about apparently catching insects on the bank between the
Salt and the Battery; also one or two on Colwell's ground and an old man at
plough there told me that there were a good many about.
The Ring-Dotterel seem to have paired generally;
the flocks are broken up.
March
24th. Bitter cold north wind, heavy snow
storms. A clear frosty night. Shot a Redshank near the Buckle. A man at work at
the groins told me that a Grey Plover had been about the pond for some days and
had been whistling about all the morning. I believe this was the Redshank, for
I have heard them called Grey Plovers before, and I never met with the true
Grey Plover here. The Ring-Dotterel are in pairs mostly. A Hedge-Sparrow's nest
with four eggs was brought me [66] yesterday, and the man who took it reported that
he knew of other nests. Blackbirds'.
March 26th. A cold wind from north-east and north. . . . I walked to the mouth of
the Cuckmere and up the river as far as the Bridge of Alfriston, but did not
see one of the Peewit-Gulls; neither have I seen them about Blatchington for
some days.
A little party of Pied
Wagtails were hopping about near the river's mouth in a dry salt-water ditch: they appeared to be just arrived and
pairing, yearly every sheep-pond which I passed afterwards had its pair of
Wagtails.
The Ravens have taken
possession of their favourite bluff and appear to have either eggs or young
ones from their assaults upon every creature which approaches their nesting
place.
March 29th. An old Raven was
flying about the chalk pit and was uttering his "porck porck" with
great emphasis, probably catching sight of some dead ewe or lamb.
March 30th. Bedford showed me a Wren's nest built in a creeper just over
his stable dung-hill; it was curiously constructed of straw, two or three loose
straws being left dangling so that at first it had the appearance of a few
loose straws, though in fact a compact snug little domicile.
April l0th. Skinned and opened a
Scoter (Common). . . . The fisherman who brought this bird to me said that it
was taken in their nets.
April 11th. Cold north wind. Saw the first House-Martin near Park
Gut. Saw many Warblers along Park Gut
(Willow-Warblers). Mr. Turner of Chinting tells me that there were Tern about
in the warm weather two or three days ago. I watched a Purre jumping and
dancing on the sand to draw up the sand worms and he seemed to succeed. His
companions seemed glutted: and were enjoying themselves in the shoal water or
squatted at the edge. Mr. Farncomb tells me that the Rooks are mostly sitting.
April 12th. I walked along the cliffs to Cuckmere.
Gulls and Daws very numerous and clamorous, but sufficiently wary. A pair of Ravens had garrisoned their usual
bluff. Gull, Daw and Kestrel were attacked in turn and with success, even my
spaniel was threatened. Their manoeuvres were very curious and detained me some
time in the teeth of the wind. A pair of
Kestrels appeared to have settled near Buck-Church, from their boldness they must,
I think, have had eggs. I think [67] that there are two pairs of Kestrels breeding in
the cliff and likewise two pairs of Ravens, one at the Seaford, the other at
the Hope Gap end of the cliffs.
I believe that I saw a
pair of Peregrine Falcons sailing high in air over the Bay in the direction of
Beachy Head.
April 16th. Cold north-west wind. Bay like a Mill
Pond. Wheatears on furze (a pair and a single one). A Warbler something like a
Chiff-chaff on the bushes near Blatchington Salt.
April 18th. This morning the ground
is white in every direction and there is ice
April 20th. Hills very white with snow. A cutting north or
north-west wind. . . . Yellow Wagtails were following the ploughs as well as
the common ones.
April 23rd. Mild showery weather. Mr. King's trees full of Warblers,
apparently Chiff-chaffs and the like. Mr. King tells me that he saw a flock of
perhaps one thousand Starlings fly over.
April
24th. Wind north shifting to south in
the afternoon. . . . I saw no Willow-Warblers
about Park Gut; but the Black-headed Bunting were in pairs among the reeds in
all directions. I saw one pair of
Willow-Warblers at the entrance of Denton. Bedford tells me that both he and his
boy heard the Cuckoo on April 12th
and that a brood of Thrushes had flown April 20th.
April 25th. Fine, mild day. Saw a perfectly white bird near the barn. It
rose from amongst the furze. I saw a single Redstart and afterwards, a pair.
April 26th. Heard the Cuckoo calling about twenty minutes past
seven. Heard a Butcher-bird screaming for the first time.
Every bush near the sea was full of Warblers.
Apparently just arrived—Redstarts, Willow-Wrens and the like. The cock Redstart
looked most beautiful in the sun; they were rather shy, while the little
Willow-Wrens were tame to a degree. There were as many as three or four kinds
of Warblers differing in size and marking, but all alike in form and general
aspect, and coloured with olive and yellow. One species larger
than the Willow- [68] Wrens, wanting the bright yellow mark at the
bend of the wing, and having the mark over the eye less bright and distinct and
the breast a darker colour, were busy in a party of five or six pecking at the
furze blossoms, and fluttering about, I concluded that they were catching
insects.
I should think that I saw
ten or twelve pairs of Redstarts. Three
pair in Mr. King's plantation, or rather feeding on the young wheat, just
outside, running about after insects and anon perching on a stone or a sprig in
the hedge. About the lower part of t the Bishopstone hedgerow there were several,
and I thought that I distinguished a Whinchat and a little bird or two strange
to me in company with them, and the other little Warblers. There were three or
four along the hedge in the Cow Brooks and one pair in a furze patch just on
the opposite Down. I saw either two Swallows or the same bird twice about Bishopstone Brooks, and on my return home Anne called me to look
at a pair seated on the top of Johnny Wilson's chimney. Mr. King tells me that several Snipes were
seen in Pevensey Level on Monday, April 23rd.
April 27th. A bright, beautiful day, but there was a sharp frost
last night. Mr. King . . . told me that John Harrison knocked down and lost a
Blackbird with a white breast, supposed to be a Ring-Ousel, in the thick furze
near the Warren.
April 30th. Saw a Whimbrel about the middle of the upper Mill Pond: it was
tame.
May 1st. Heard the Nightingale
sing about ten p.m. A beautiful little Goldfinch visited my cage-birds in the
verandah this morning, and perched on the iron railings; the same, or a similar
bird, has come to the same spot before.
May 2nd. Shot
a male Red-backed Shrike in fine plumage, it was perched on one of the little
thorn bushes beside the Workhouse ditch.
Saw a flock of twenty Whimbrel on the beach—got a
shot at one by creeping over the Shingle Bank and killed it. It was in good
plumage and condition. Heard the Nightingale again to-night. It appeared to be
at some distance, nine to ten p.m. . . . Hilder told me that Mr. —— of
Littlington had shot a Hoopoe which he gave to one of the men, who sent it to
Brighton for sale. Swaysland offered two shillings for it. It was in bad
condition, the bill, etc., being shattered with shot.
May 7th. Mr. Swaysland of Cranbourn Street having been
informed in the afternoon that several "Storm-[69] Petrels" were running on the water about
three-quarters of a mile at sea, opposite West Street, took his gun and put off
in a boat. In a short time he fell in with the birds and succeeded in shooting
five, which he has now in his possession, with the intention of stuffing them.
It is rare to see these little birds on this part of the coast, especially in
calm weather (Yarrell's Brit. Birds), (Brighton Gazette, May l0th, 1849).
Thought I saw some Black Tern near the Newhaven
Station, but am by no means sure of their identity, a few Whimbrel passed over
going inland.
May 13th. Mr. King tells me that Mr. Catt shot a Ring-Ousel and Will
Reeds a Hoopoe while I was absent
[May 7th—l3th]. John Harrison sent me a
living Ring-Ousel on Monday [May 7th]—it ate worms, slugs and snails and
breadcrumbs, the last unwillingly, hopped about in its cage, chirruped and
twice whistled beauti-fully: it quickly got tame. On Monday, May 14th, it died: on taking
off the skin I found it a perfect skeleton.
A Nightjar was brought to
my house on Tuesday, 8th, and another on Friday, 11th.
May 16th. A boy reported a Quail near the Sutton
path: I looked but could not find it, although I heard the note repeatedly.
May 18th. Stiff breeze from south-west. Gulls hunting along the edge of the surf for
sundries. . . . Boy brought six Wheatear's eggs from East Dean.
May 24th. Walked round and examined Bullock Down but saw no new
birds. . . .
Four Ravens were flying in pairs in the direction
of the cliffs croaking most vehemently. . . .
Boy Holloway from
Bishopstone brought three young Barn-Owls covered with down taken from the roof
of a house at Denton, there were five in the brood. I was glad to hear this
morning that Cripps the Bailiff had made him return them to the nest as they
killed mice. I should scarcely have given a bailiff credit for so much humanity
and intelligence. In general they are sad murderers of all wild birds and
animals.
May 28th. Tom
Shelton brought me a pair of Stoats. A young one and its dam. The Shepherd
while watching his sheep saw a Stoat come out of the furze with a young [one]
in its mouth, he instantly gave chase with crook and dog and in its effort to
escape it dropped the young one but returned in face of man and dog, took it up
again and made off, but was attacked and compelled to drop its burden, and
killed. She was small of her species, and from the tenderness of the muscles I
should think not [70] more than
a year old. The cub could see, and had its teeth sufficiently developed to eat
flesh, and from its size and weight must have been a heavy burden for its poor
mother. From the appearance of her teats, her litter consisted of four. Though probably able to eat they were too
young to hunt successfully by themselves. Does the male assist the female in
feeding and protecting the young ?
June 11th. Wind south-east, rather fresh and very
cold. . . . Master Stace tells me that he lived two years at Crowlink and the
Willies were very plentiful, hundreds in flocks, and people used to shoot
quantities. I saw a flock of some fifty clustered together in a circle off
Langley Fort at about the turn of the tide: they all rose together and changing
from a confused flight into a long string directed their course for Beachy Head, flying rapidly and close to the water.
A solitary fellow was fishing in the foul water a few hundred yards from
the shore. They show larger in the water than on the wing. The roughness of the
water did not appear to interfere with them in any way, they swam backwards or
forwards, rode over the waves or breasted them like a vessel lying to with
equal apparent ease, being no less at home in the tide way than a Swift (of
Simmons the butcher told me that the Skiffs
(provincial for Terns) laid their eggs in the morning, were out fishing in the
Bay all day, and returned to the shingle in the evening where they lay so close
and so nearly resemble the shingle in colour that it requires a dog to find
them. He said that great numbers of their eggs were found, and that a boy
passed his house every day with them for sale.
I examined the shingle bed to some extent but did
not see a Tern though the shrill cry of the Ring-Dotterel sounded in every
direction, one pair after another taking up the cry as I intruded on the
purlieus of their nursery. Two or three Tern rose from the beach and another
was flying along it, while out in the Bay I could distinguish several: none
were approachable. A Coast-guardsman said that two gentlemen had shot five the
other day by throwing up the first bird shot as a lure.
THE CRUMBLES.
A mixture of furze-covered hillocks, swamp covered with rushes and sedge,
running here and there into water holes: while a weedy sort of brook runs
amidst it, apparently losing itself in the shingle, but terminating in a large
pond in the middle of which was a [71] small water bird (Moor-hen, I suppose) which
dived on my approach; amid the rushes of the brook I saw a Moor-hen running on
the heavy weeds; it disappeared amid the thick rushes of the bank: hereabouts I
also put up a Partridge, saw a Wheatear, a pair of Stonechats, Greenfinches, a
pair of Goldfinches, a pair of Yellow Buntings, Pipits, etc., while Larks
seemed to be numerous even on the waste of shingle, a hare rose on the shingle
and rabbits seemed to be numerous among the furze and bushes. It is one of the
wildest spots that I ever visited, and from the variety of soil from shingle to
swamp and from the variety of plants which I noticed in a cursory glance, must
be a paradise for a botanist no less than for the birds'-nesting boys whom I
saw engaged in their vocation.
The shingle lays in
ridges and is covered with a very, very light crop of grass and plants peculiar
to dry spots near the sea, such as the horned poppy and others whose names I do
not know, though I am familiar with the plants themselves. A hard road is driven
through the centre of the broadest part of the beach leading from Langley Fort
(a wretched-looking little fortification) to a large Martello Tower standing on
a conical hill on the inland side of the road. The Coast-guard people in the
Towers must lead isolated lives, but they seem busy and cheerful. Shrimping nets were lying
about. One man was dressing canvas with linseed oil to make it
water-proof. Children appeared to
swarm. Several little, some of them very
little, gardens peeped out amidst the wilderness of shingle and displayed
really thriving crops of potatoes, peas, onions, lettuces, etc. Returned by
Beachy Head. Coast-guardsman told me that the great Hawk's (Peregrine Falcon's)
nest was robbed four or five days ago.
I admire the wild,
tumbling crags of the Head more than the perpendicular cliffs to the westward
of it, they admit of so much more variety and character and their surface is
varied with vegetation.
June 14th. Gulls more shy than usual. Five Ravens [72] (a family no doubt) foraging about the cliff in
the neighbourhood of Buck-Church and another party to the eastward. A Peregrine
Falcon about a high bluff towards the centre of the cliffs. I saw and heard
both male and female Kestrels in various parts of the cliffs: there are two
pair at least breeding there: one towards the Cuckmere end, one towards
Seaford. The Kittiwakes appear to keep
to the highest parts of the cliff.
July 20th. A
spring tide at seven a.m., the beach was uncovered to an unusual extent, and a
good many little sand-birds were feeding on the sand and in the shoal water. I
flushed a small flock of (I believe) six Tum-stones and killed one of them. I
then fired into a small flock of sand-birds and picked up a Turnstone and three Purres,
then shot at a pair of birds busy feeding among the seaweed at high water and
killed them together with a Purre which was feeding beyond them. The cry of the
Turnstone is peculiar and unmistakable and they are, I think, the least shy of
any shore bird. I miss them from the shore for a considerable part of the day
and they come circling down with their peculiar cry at ebb-tide and turn over
the stones or poke about among the sea-weed.
Two days afterwards I killed another: they all differed more or less in
plumage, but the colours were similar although the distribution of them was
various.
July 31st. Saw a Kingfisher for the first time in Mr. Catt's creek. Also
a Redshank in one of the ditches. The
Sandpipers and Purres have greatly increased in number.
Close, hot day, bright moonlight night. A
Nightjar flew past my verandah.
September 5th. I forgot to mention that on August 30th
while driving with Mr. Carnegie across the Downs to Firle, I saw a pair of very
large Hawks which Mr. Carnegie, who has passed a good deal of time in Scotland,
at first took for Eagles: they were dark coloured and flapped their wings a
good deal: they seemed to be hunting as they regularly quartered the
hillsides. It was hazy which added to
their apparent size.
I shot at a flight of
eight Purres and killed and bagged every bird: they are good eating, but it
seems a pity to slaughter such interesting and amusing little creatures.
September 5th. Mr. King sent in a young Cuckoo, a fine specimen.
September 27th. William Farncomb told me on the 25th
that he had seen twelve Golden Plover.
[78]
Land-Rails
appear to be unusually numerous both in Sussex and Somersetshire.
October 1st. Found a Grey Plover
sitting on the edge of a ditch in Mr. Catt's Salts, he rose with a shrill
scream and settled on a little patch of ground surrounded by water, where I
shot him; he was exceedingly fat and in beautiful plumage (winter). The description and figure in Yarrell are
both admirable.
October 4th.
On my return my father found a Grebe (Slavonian Grebe) and I shot it, it
answered to Yarrell's description and second figure.
October 9th. Swallows very numerous
about the beach and down between Colwell's land and Seaford.
October 11th. Wind north-east. Shot a large Diver by the groins (a Red- or
Black-throated one I believe) through the head with a cartridge. He was fishing
in-shore. Saw many Saddle-backs, apparently just arrived, for they were
ravenous and would not leave their food, also the Black-headed Gulls.
October l5th. A living Little Gull,
and a Red-throated Grebe with a red throat, brought me, the latter I believe to
be the same bird which I shot on Thursday.
The Little Gull eats and drinks heartily. After cramming him with a piece or two of
beef he took it greedily from my fingers.
Mr. Woodhams tells me that he shot four and a
half couple of Land-Rail in one day. Mr. King was speaking of seven brace being
shot in one piece of clover, and a case was mentioned of seventeen and a half
brace being shot by two guns near Hastings.
Mr. Woodhams said that
two Ring-Ousels had been brought him, and others seen in the neighbourhood of
Alfriston. Mr. McKillop shot a Scaup-Duck in the creek by his house on
Thursday.
October 16th. Received a young Ring-Ousel from
Bishopstone, shot by W. Farncomb.
October l7th. Swallows about the
Cuckmere Level in some numbers.
Mr. Ellis' shepherd reports many Ring-Ousel on
the hill near the cliff.
Beautiful sunshiny
weather, warm and still.
October 19th. Received a
Short-eared Owl shot by W. Farncomb while rabbit-shooting at East Dean. The
shepherd reports two Ring-Ousels at Bish. [opstone] and a Water-Rail. Bedford tells me that Coots are commonly shot
in the old river.
Will Reeds brought in a
living Mountain-Sparrow. Sparrow-catchers and shooters seem to esteem them [74] rare,
and I think they cannot be common or more would occur among the multitudes of
the common sort yearly shot or netted: the bird ate and drank readily in its
cage, shelling ears of wheat very cleverly: it crouches on being looked at, but
roosts on the perch.
I have not seen a Swallow since the l8th, when
the great flight was collected on the Buckle Bank
October 23rd. Mr. Borrer came over: he says that my Little Gull is the finest
specimen he ever saw. He is a very pleasant man, and his museum one of the
first in England for British birds. He
gave me a catalogue. He has shot the Chough at Sark. They haunt the highest
precipices. He killed four couple of Spotted Rails in a day on Henfield Common
about seven years ago. To the best of my recollection it was the same year in
which I killed so many at North Cury [Somerset].
October 24th.
Saw several Swallows about Sutton Hill.
October 25th. Saw a Martin and some
Swallows about the valley of the Ouse.
Shot an adult Spotted Crake in Park Gut in good
condition and plumage.
October 29th. Bright day, very hot. Evening chilly. Wind seems creeping by
south to east. Saw a Dove at the entrance to Denton.
Shot a Dartford Warbler in Heighten Furze, as it
rested on the top-most spray of some old furze, apparently basking in the sun.
November 2nd.
Master Stace tells me that he and the other men who were earth-filling saw two
Saddle-backs chase a Hawk (a Kestrel he said) and buffet it until they
compelled it to drop a bird which it held in its claws: the bird fell, as they
calculated, on Mr. King's lawn which might prevent the Saddle-backs from
descending after it. Report of a Woodcock in the rape above the Mill: seen
October 29th.
November 13th. Went to Brighton. Swaysland showed me a beautiful specimen of
Tengmalm's Owl, which he called British. Also a pair of Sanderlings shot near
Worthing. In summer plumage they have no
black breast, in winter they are lighter coloured and they have no hind toe,
being true Plovers.
Also a pair of Cirl Buntings—they are redder
underneath than the Yellow Bunting—the cock has no yellow [75] on the top of the head, and a blackish throat.
Swaysland says that they perch much less uprightly on a bough than the Yellow
Bunting. Grey Wagtail—a longer
yellow-looking bird.
My Guillemot
is the Bridled.
November
20th. Mist. Wind north-west. Saw a pair of Divers off B.'s beach and Gulls
fishing with them. The rate at which they swim, and the length of time they
stay under water is surprising. The Gulls seemed to be successful in surface
fishing, the Divers chasing their prey under water could not of course be
readily watched. Whether there was any concert between them I cannot say, but
they certainly played into each other's hands.
November 22nd. Wind north-east to south-east. Shot a Water-Rail,
the first I have seen when shooting. A live one was brought me the other day.
It ate raw beef, worms, limpets (scalded out of their shells) and the
freshwater shell-fish.
November 26th. Shot a Pintail Duck, a bird of the year just
changing plumage. It was in good condition. I saw two nights of wild-fowl
passing over the Bay, a Willock and a few Gulls off the Pier. The sand-birds
are tamer. [The Pintail was shot on the lower Mill Pond.]
December 1st. Shot a female Long-tailed Duck and shot at a male
(as I suppose). Pier-men reported
Wigeon, etc. A boy brought a couple of Teal from the Cuckmere, and said that
Ducks had been killed there.
1849
Page
[76]
December 29th. Cutting north-west wind. The water froze in my jug for the
first time this year. .
. . I saw no large flocks of small birds, but
the soft-billed birds, Thrushes, Redwings and Pipits seemed to feel the weather
and were searching eagerly for food.
Chapman, the Coast-guardsman, brought a bird
which I believe to be a female Goosander, as the wind-pipe is straight. It somewhat exceeds the male Red-breasted
Mergansers, which were brought me, in length, and is a broader-backed bird. (It
answers to Yarrell's description). He
was standing on the beach at the cliff end (Seaford) when a man fired at some
Starlings, the shot raised this bird from the backwater, it came over the Shingle
Bank and (not perceiving him) close over his head, when he shot it.
December 31st. Bright, frosty
morning. Heard Grant shoot in the
middle of the upper Mill Pond—saw the bird struggling in the water, it was a
Golden-Eye in the state in which it used to be called a Morillon, and
considered a different species.
1850
January 7th. Will Reeds brought a living Brambling taken with the
Sparrow-net. It was roosting in one of Mr. King's shrubs (forwarded it next
morning according to Mr. Borrer's direction). Sharp, dry frost.
January 8th. Charley Lymphs brought a young male Merganser, which he had
picked up on the beach. It was a full-sized bird, but very poor.
January 14th. Bitter cold easterly wind.
Bedford came over and we strolled to the Cuckmere
opposite the lowest ford. A Goosander rose, and flew up the river, after it had
passed me the wind blew it towards [77] me, when I fired and
brought it thump on to the bank; it made a faint attempt to regain the water,
but was dead in an instant, being shot through. It was a large, very powerful
bird, and I think an old female. (It was a young male, having the two enlargements
and labyrinth in the wind-pipe).
January 15th. Strong north wind
with drifting snow. Larks, Starlings, Fieldfares, Redwings, etc., flying along
the Shingle Bank to the westward. I distinguished at least one hard-billed
bird, the Mountain-Finch among them.
January 17th. Ground just covered
with snow. Wind north, but not very cold. Just as I started a man told me that
he had walked up twenty Wild Geese within shot and they had flown towards
Sutton. Between Sutton and Exceat Banks
the mason boy told me of a similar (probably the same) flight which he had seen
flying toward Hyndover. Walked to the station and back without seeing anything
but a Swan, which I could not get a shot at. While standing under the cliff a
flock of fowl (Wigeon, I think) came in from the sea, but I could not mark
them; just afterwards about a dozen Wild Geese came in and were saluted with a
regular broadside of duck-guns from a party in ambush behind the river wall.
January 18th. A dull morning. It
had frozen slightly during the night. Walked to Cuckmere River. Heard the
clanking of Geese going north-east. Many
Sandpipers of various sorts, but very wild. One fowl came in from the sea, it
looked like a sort of dun colour, like a female Merganser.
January 22nd. Saw a small party of Golden-eyed Divers in the
Cuckmere backwater. They flew from the eastward rather low. I watched them for
a long time, they swam very fast, the male bird being much higher out of water
and more conspicuous than the female. They dived very frequently and actively,
as if for food, but did not remain long under water. I conclude that they were
taking small fry, as the throat of one which I saw shot in the Tide Mill Pond
was full of very small fish. A female was shot by two gunners armed with long
duck guns, they fired, I think, considerably more than twenty shots before they
secured it. I also saw a Tufted Duck, apparently an old male (with glass)
floating about and apparently enjoying himself in the glassy water of the Bay
to leeward of West Dean Cliffs. He was not feeding, but rather basking in a
little gleam of sunshine.
January 23rd. Shot a Grebe in Hope Gap, apparently [78] feeding in the little bay between the rocks. The
man who told me of it said that it was almost as large as a Goose, and it was a
large bird, head, neck and back dark-coloured—breast snow-white, legs and feet
very dark and making a great show after the bird was dead. It dived exceedingly
well and quickly, but not to any great distance. The breast was boat-shaped and
broad at the shoulders, tapering most admirably into the long neck and small
head and sharp bill, and backwards to the down from which the immense legs and
feet seem to spring. It was for some time within a few yards of the shore. I afterwards saw a Golden-eyed Diver in the
backwater, and two or three other fowl.
January 24th.
Banks, the bricklayer, showed me a Red-throated Diver which he had just shot,
and I watched another for some time (as I stood on the cliff) fishing outside
the rocks near the Hope Gap. Every time I see them I am more struck with their
wonderful powers of diving. The
diamond-shaped white marks were very conspicuous in this bird.
Bedford tells me that a
Bohemian Waxwing was seen repeatedly eating the pyrocanthus berries in the
garden of the Denton carpenter, Rutland. Bedford and his boy went after it, and
the latter fired at it within twenty yards, but missed. It was afterwards
killed by a Newhaven man.
Two specimens were killed: one by a Newhaven man
named Harns who sold it to Stone the miller, the other was shot feeding on
berries in front of the cottage opposite W. Elphick's stables.
I saw a specimen at C. Potter's, Lewes, procured
at Tarring (he said). . . . W. Borrer, Esq., of Cowfold, reports two specimens
occurring in his neighbourhood.
February 2nd.
A gale from south-west. A vessel reported on shore to the westward of
Newhaven. Saw three or four Divers in
the Tide Mill Pond, and had an opportunity for several hours of marking their
habits. They always rise in the direction in which the head is pointed, and
generally in a straight line. When
driven into a narrow and shallow passage they take wing heavily and fly slowly,
and seldom to any great distance. Their tenacity of life is wonderful, shot
seems to have no [79] effect on them, and it is no easy matter to hit
them in the water as they dive when the gun is raised. I shot one close to the
sluice between the upper and lower Mill Ponds.
The sea seemed to be too rough, even for them.
When flying voluntarily they look a good deal like wild Geese, and make a great
show, when in the water they float low and look comparatively small.
February 16th. Six Brent, or as the Coast-guardsmen
call them, Bar-Geese, came in with the ebb tide. On being disturbed they flew
over the Shingle Bank and dropped in the Bay. An hour or two afterwards I saw
them busily feeding among the breakers at the river's mouth (the wind had then
sunk). Quantities of weed were drifting
out with the tide. On attempting to get
nearer for the purpose of watching them, they rose at a great distance and flew
out into the Bay.
February 28th. Heard from my garden the cry of a bird
which I suppose to be the Stone-Curlew.
I have heard it repeatedly before, and sometimes apparently
March 1st. Called at C. Potter's, Lewes; saw a pair of beautiful Kentish
Plovers with an immature bird with some down still about him. The brown patch
at the back of the head is a very distinct characteristic. Also a Fire-crest, a
poor specimen. At a little distance it could not be distinguished from the
common Gold-crest, though in the hand the black and white lines along the
cheeks form a plain distinction. A fine Tufted Duck shot inland at Buxted. He
said that he had received several Merlins, four from one bird-catcher, who had
taken them in his [80] nets—they
having struck at his decoy birds. A pair of Hawfinches. A Bearded Tit.
March 5th. Two pair of Ravens
seemed to be contending for the old breeding station.
March 16th. Fine, bright morning. . . . Saw the Ravens.
At the first breeding station one of them was driving off a flight of Daws, and
as contrasted with them looked very large. From her manoeuvres I think she had
eggs.
March 18th. Chapman, the Coast-guardsman, brought me three Raven's eggs,
they were set, and each contained an embryo bird, but the embryo in each seemed
to be in a different stage, one in particular being very much advanced in
comparison with the other two. I have
noticed a very great difference in the size of young Jackdaws, the same nest
containing a full-fledged bird just ready to fly, one fast advancing to the
same state, and a callow squab.
Chapman told me that Newington witnessed a severe
battle between a Raven and a Cliff Hawk. After a protracted struggle the
Peregrine struck the Raven and it fluttered almost to the ground, but as he ran
forward to seize it recovered itself, and made off apparently quite satisfied
with the dose which it had received.
April l0th. Pair of Ravens about Buck-Church in the usual place. They seem to have young by their manoeuvres.
One of the Peregrine Falcons rose screaming wildly from a ledge, and swept off
to the eastward striking terror into all the feathered denizens of the cliffs
in its passage.
I have seen the Kestrels in various directions.
Chapman tells me that he
took a Kestrel's and a Jackdaw's from the same small hole not many inches wide,
and that the Hawks build farther from the entrance of the holes than any other
bird.
April 17th. The base of the cliff near Crowlink was covered to the height
of some feet with two species of sandhoppers, one salmon colour, the other
greenish, and an insect resembling a wood-louse, but with long antennae and
longer legs than the wood-louse, the crevices were literally choked with heaps
of them, and the shingle at the foot swarming.
It struck me that there was an abundance of food for any insect feeding
migratory birds, who might chance to drop thereabout tired and hungry after
their aerial voyage.
A pair of Kestrels had fixed their abode in the
highest bluff of the Head, and I saw several more in returning by the cliffs.
Had to dash through the surf at the point [81] after a fatiguing run over heavy shingle and
huge blocks of sandstone. I was but just in time to pass.
Met the Chief Boatman on the cliff; he said that
the birds had diminished greatly in numbers since the great fall of the cliff,
most of their breeding places having gone down.
April
22nd. Bright beautiful morning. Walked to Berwick station. The blackthorn was
in full flower by the road-side about Alfriston. The willow too was in full
leaf and everything appeared more forward than on the coast. The parliamentary
carriage from Berwick to Polegate was very comfortable, but an open third class
to Hailsham very uncomfortable, the north wind cutting keenly and driving the
dust full into the eyes of those who faced the engine.
From Hailsham I passed
through a country sprinkled with hop grounds and woods, the gardens and
orchards by the roadside abounded with cherry and plum-trees which were in full
and abundant blossom and looked most beautiful: after walking something near two
miles I began to ascend the sandstone ridge, the sand showing in the roadside
cuttings, though I met with no quarries as yet, and the road material was still
beach. There were frequent plantations of firs and orchards with very
picturesque oaks though they did not attain a large size. There were four
opposite a farm house of considerable size and apparently of great antiquity,
the tops being dead and withered. The hedgerows were entwined with honeysuckle.
I frequently came upon patches of gorse in full flower, the
banks were gay with the lilac flower provincially termed in Kent
"Dairymaids," violets, and above all primroses abounded; the Larks
were singing merrily in every direction, the shrill notes of the Thrush
April 26th. An
immensity of building going on at Hastings and St. Leonards, the two towns will
very soon meet. They are at work tunnelling the sand hills for the coast line
of railway and I saw the navigators very busy in a cutting on the Rye Railway.
May 1st. Children came garlanding and to tea. Jane Mace and Phoebe
Pelham had the best garland.
May 4th. Mr.
King shot a cock Blackcap which fell in my garden.
The little Warblers were
fluttering about in almost every bush. Saw three Whimbrel on the Tide Mill
Salt. Chased a Turnstone in full summer plumage, but could not get
near it. Its cry while flying was the same as in autumn. There seemed to be
much black both on back and breast. Shot a Dunlin in full summer plumage.
May 7th. Wet morning.
Bright, still, warm afternoon. . . . Saw thirteen Whimbrel and shot one.
Saw six wild-fowl flying
to the eastward, they were flying at a moderate height and appeared to come
from the Lewes Level. From their size, flight and colour and the season I thought they might be Blue-winged Shovellers.
May l0th. Saw a single Whimbrel and shot it. Also three Redshanks and a
flock of Purres, the cock birds in beautiful plumage with their shining black
breasts.
A boy brought a Land-Rail in good plumage.
Examined a Black Tern killed at Falmer in the
act of hawking at insects over the large pond.
May 11th. I saw a Martin
building against my house to-day, they must have been over some days. I have [88] killed both the Common and Lesser Whitethroats
this spring, also the Whinchat.
June 7th. A Rocker named Tom Hills brought a Greater Shearwater. It was
all over of a dull, brownish-black or blackish-brown; when he took it from his
basket oil poured from it. The wings
were long and Tern-shaped, and it appeared to be a bird of powerful flight. It
had a hind claw (very sharp) but no visible toe. The foot was something like
that of the Guillemot. The bill is very curious. The upper mandible very much
hooked, the nostrils placed high up at the head of a sort of groove, and they
look like two tiny spouts. The roof of the mouth and tongue are furnished with
serrated points, inclined backwards so that even the most slippery substance
may be firmly held. A modification apparently of the Goosander's bill, less
powerful but equally efficacious for securing a different kind of prey. I never
before had the opportunity of handling a specimen of any kind of Petrel in the
flesh. Length eighteen inches and a fraction. First joint of wing over twelve
inches. Tarsus over two inches. The measurement in every particular a trifle
over that given by Yarrell of a dark specimen supposed to be young. . . .
Swaysland tells me that the bird was a
two-year-old male in fine plumage, and that in more than twenty years he had
not received one before. Mr. Knox1 had never seen one
before and Mr. Borrer only one (in the British Museum).
June 11th. Watching the Martins
this morning I remarked that the sitting birds were fed by their mates.
I shot a cock Sparrow who was attacking the
Martins, he was within a few inches of one nest in which a Martin was sitting
and within a yard of another, yet neither of the birds quitted their nests and
both permitted me to put my finger into the nest. On being touched one merely
drew back, the other pecked at my finger and then flew out. One of these
sitting birds was killed by the Sparrows, but the nest is not forsaken.
June 15th. I have not seen a Swift in this
neighbourhood this spring until this evening, when a number of them were
hawking over Blatchington Pond and the adjoining
corn, flying close to the ground, their wings making a rushing sound like a
bullet as they swept past me; I killed a specimen for the first time in my
life.
Master Awcott brought me a nest of ten
Land-Rail's...
1. [A. E. Knox, Ornithological Rambles in Sussex, 1849, et seq,]
[84] ...eggs which he had mown out at Denton. They varied much in their
marking, but the colour both of ground and spots was similar in all. I set four
under a Bantam hen.
June 25th. Saw some Yellow Wagtails about the cattle in Mr. Farncomb's farther Brooks;
doubtless they had bred thereabouts. The
old cock was very persevering in his endeavours to attract my dog's
attention and looked very beautiful with his bright yellow breast glancing in
the sun.
The Sedge-Warblers were
chattering away among the reeds and one impudent fellow was twirling about on a
detached reed within a couple of yards and particularly clamorous. They are
lively, beautiful birds, and the note is very cheerful, if not musical. The Black-headed Buntings were among the
willows and on the margin of the water.
July 8th.
Walked to Cuckmere Haven and two or three miles up the river and back.
Gulls still numerous about their breeding stations. One or two pairs of
Sand-Martins were flying about the low cliffs near the Coast-guard Station and
I saw one Martin in its nest, or fragment of a nest, in a small recess in the
chalk. I could not ascertain to my satisfaction whether or no this latter was a
House-Martin.
A bird rose from a small, square pond near Chinting Furze which I took for
a Green Sandpiper. It rose with a loud, shrill cry and flew much like a Snipe,
and completely out of sight. Higher up I saw many Common Sandpipers both singly
and in parties of two or three. I shot one which was old, and from their
comparative shyness and the strength of their flight I took them for old birds.
A good many Rock-Pipits about the beach and neighbourhood, apparently young
birds. . . .
On my return I fell in with a brood of young Kestrels just out of the nest,
about the edge of the cliff, they might have been easily shot, not having yet
acquired confidence in their wings; I walked up within a few yards of them
before they rose. To the eye they were as big as their parents, though down was
yet hanging about their feathers.
July 12th. Swaysland reports that
Mr. Borrer came over to see the Greater Shearwater, he had seen only one
specimen before, in the British Museum.
Charley Lymphs reports "Olives," but I saw none, though I thought
I heard their cry.
July 29th. Heard of a bird swimming and diving in Sutton New Pond, but
could not find it (quere Phalarope). It was about the
size of a Thrush, white under the throat with very long wings, and was seen on
Saturday by the dung-turners and for two days previously by a bullock boy. It
was very tame. Swifts were flying in great numbers about the Pond (five a.m.). Shot a bird in the
act of devouring a cherry, it turned out to be a young Garden Warbler only just
fledged.
August 5th. Received two "Great Plover's" eggs from Alciston
(Mrs. Boyce). They contained each a nearly perfect chick. The length of the
legs and still more the neck was very conspicuous. They were found under the
shade of a flint.
September 2nd.
Mr. Farncomb and friends killed five Quail in a piece of high rape on
Bishopstone Farm on the 4th or 5th.
Mr. Borrer speaks of an unusual number of
Land-Rails for that country. We put up only one thereabouts.
September 4th.
Lindfield. . . .
We put up a flock of Wood-Larks and the pointer
pointed some Nightjars in some short cover, five rose around him. The keeper
said that they laid two or three eggs, and that the young were curious little
things.
September 9th. Saw a Nightjar in Blatchington Furze and one in my own garden.
September 12th.
Mr. Turner of Chinting sent me a large Hawk which I believe to be a Common
Buzzard. Swaysland tells me that it is the Hen-Harrier (young).
October 26th. Mr. Lamb shot a Woodcock on Blatchington Down.
October 31st.
About half-past two p.m. I saw a Heron flapping about the same part of
the Level as if looking out for his dinner.
I remarked with some surprise that in each case the Rooks and Daws
attacked the Heron as they would a Hawk, teasing and persecuting him for some
distance. The first bird was assailed by three individuals (Rooks, I believe)
the other was surrounded on all sides by a
large flight of Daws who were most clamorous, and when he broke out from
amongst them some individuals still gave chase. One in particular following him
close after all its comrades had retreated, it went off at last in a hurry, but
whether struck or only menaced by the Heron's spearlike bill, I do not know.
November 15th. A young
Chimney-Swallow flying [86] about my house, apparently hawking for flies in the sunshine,
though the air was very cold the frost of the previous night having been by far
the most severe of the season, cutting down all the dahlias, etc.
December 23rd. John Catt killed two
Spear-Ducks (I think Mergansers) close to the Mill, they fell in the Pond and I
do not know whether he recovered them: there was a third in company and they
had been about the Pond for some days.
1851
January 27th. Tom Mills brought me
a Razor-bill and an adult Puffin, the first I have seen here. It corresponded
with Yarrell's measurement and description.
January 28th. Harry Smith brought me an adult Razor-bill,
being the fourth which I have obtained within this few days: within the same
time I have received three Common Guillemots.
April 9th. Strange variety of
notes of the Starlings. Some a little like those of the Blackbird, some like
those of the Jackdaw. A strange
clattering with the bill during which the throat is much distended, which seems
to be the call of the male bird to its mate, as the bird makes it sitting on
the top-most twig of a tree, whilst I have sometimes seen the female near on
the top of a chimney, or the like, near her intended nesting-place.
April 15th. Stace saw a
Ring-Ousel on Mr, King's lawn. I went with him and followed the bird for some
time, it was not shy, but rose just as I got almost within shot. It was a cock
bird with glossy plumage and a fine crescent on the breast, and its actions
were very bold and interesting, a good deal like those of a Mistle-Thrush.
April 16th.
Redstarts, Willow-Wrens and Wheatears very numerous. I saw
three of the latter and a Willow-Wren or two on the 12th, and Swaysland reports that they have
been over some time. Whinchats. The great spring migration.
April 17th. Only one Redstart to be seen. Many
Willow-Wrens, Whitethroats, Whinchats, Wheatears.
May 15th. Shot a male Godwit in full summer plumage
with the bright bay breast at the backwater of Newhaven Harbour. It was of the
Bar-tailed species.
May 16th. Saw another Godwit in
the same place, apparently a female; it was tame; neither it nor the former
uttered any cry, they were resting just on the edge of the water.
[87]
Mr. Lamb sent in a brace of Bar-tailed Godwits as
Curlews. (They are called hereabouts Stone-Curlews.) He shot them out of a
flock of thirty which the miller saw from the Mill on the piece of rye grass at
the back of his cottage, both he and Mr. Lamb took them for Woodcocks. A party
of seven were seen on the Barrack Down, by Fred Stace the shepherd, the day
before. Both of Mr. Lamb's Godwits contained eggs from the size of a pea to
that of a mustard-seed. The front of the necks were reddish. The stomachs,
contained centipedes and a digested mass of grass.
May 23rd. Shot a Bar-tailed Godwit in the grey plumage,
in good condition, in the Salts, also a Redshank which I lost, but a boy in Mr.
Catt's employment caught it and I have it alive in the garden. They were
feeding in company at a pond left by the tide in the Salts.
BREEDING OF PIED FLYCATCHER IN MR. KING'S PEAR TREE
First egg was laid May l0th, on 12th
there were three—on the 14th
the hen was sitting on four blue eggs. She suffered me to approach within a
yard before they left the nest, and then only flew to the top of the adjoining
wall. Being, I suppose, frequently visited she has since become a little more
shy, but still permits near approach, moving its head a little restlessly. The
nest is large for the size of the bird, and built without any attempt at
concealment, and is conspicuous at some distance. I have not yet caught sight
of the male bird (May 19th).
May 23rd. Male Flycatcher
sitting on the nest. The head was turned towards me and the white mark at the
base of the bill was conspicuous, the body was almost hidden, but looked dark,
the tail much like that of the hen.
May 24th.
Three young birds, one egg.
May 26th. Four young birds with much dark down on the head and some on the
back, the family clustered together looked like a lump of down save for a
June 3rd. Young birds fledged, but with some down still on them, brown
marked with dirty yellow all over. Long bills. Both male and female were
feeding them. I could see no marks on the breast of either.
The young flew
on June 4th.
May 24th. Saw
a flock of ten Sanderlings apparently just arrived, flying
backwards and forwards and bathing with great apparent enjoyment. The male
birds had [88] a conspicuous white bar
on each wing and some of the birds were very grey, while others were dark
brown. I watched them for more than half an hour. On the 26th (Monday) I could
see nothing of them.
May 27th. Swaysland tells me that a Worthing gunner saw
two flocks of Godwits the other day. One of seventy, the other of thirty. The
first all males with the red breasts, the second flock all females. Two of the
first flock which he shot weighed six ounces each, two of the other nine ounces
each.
June 26th. Mrs. Everett came as
cook at £8 per annum wages, month's wages or month's warning.
July 7th. Journey to London—train full of French people going up to the
Great Exhibition.
September 14th. Wasps very numerous
and troublesome.
Horse bitten by an adder—whole body swollen, its
sufferings must have been great, but after being under the farrier's hands a
month it was recovering. Adders numerous and troublesome about Stow Manis.
October 6th.
The boy Burgess from Seaford brought me a Little Gull with a black head, and in
nearly full plumage, alive, but so much injured that I was compelled to kill it. He said that it was
knocked down (by the stinking ditch at Seaford) this morning with a stone.
(This bird was an Arctic Tern not a Gull). I shot four Tern, one Arctic, three
Common and saw another, also three Kingfishers and three Snipe.
October 4th,
1851. Sussex Express., "Ornithology— on Saturday last J. B. Ellman shot on
the Landport Hill a Dartford Warbler.
This very rare bird is mentioned in Knox's ornithology. That gentleman having often unsuccessfully
searched for a specimen. It has a very peculiar note, by which it is known. Mr.
Ellman was about an hour and a half getting a shot at it."
October 16th. Saw three
wild-fowl (Wigeon, I think) flying over the Mill Pond towards the
sea.
Three birds rose from the edge of the Mill Pond
(lee side) with a circling flight and very wild, loud cry (I think from the cry
identical with the species of Sandpiper, which I have repeatedly seen on
Northey Island without being able to get a specimen). I fired at a long
distance and one fell dead: the other two settled again some distance down the
Pond: I put them up without getting a shot (being on the wrong side of the
Pond) and as it was getting dusk I lost sight of them, and though I went down
at sunrise next morning I could see no more of [89] them. The bird I shot was (I believe) a young
Knot (Tringa canutus), as it answers to Wilson's figure and description of the
"Ash-coloured Sandpiper (Tringa cinerea)" (Vol. II., p.
328, plate LVII, fig. 2) (Bewick, II, p. 102) which bird is simply a Knot in
the plumage of the young.
These birds were rather
tame, those on Northey Island always very wild, so I conclude that our three
visitors were very recent arrivals from some quiet spot far to the north.
October 20th. Saw a pair of Saddle-backs and a flock of
Black-headed Gulls. Close, warm day.
October 21st. A pair of Divers in the Bay; saw a Godwit.
Swaysland showed me two of the three Spoonbills
shot on Hailsham Common. They both belonged to Mr. Ellman. Both were in full,
mature plumage as far as I could tell by gas-light.
October
22nd. Saw a Fieldfare and a flock of
Redwings in Mr. King's farther plantation.
A pair of Gold-crests in my garden.
October 28th.
Mr. King showed me several walnuts which had been attacked apparently by a
Nuthatch from the appearance of the irregular holes. He says that he has
several times seen a bird corresponding in appearance with a Nuthatch about the
garden. If the culprit be a Nuthatch it will be the first specimen of his
species that has visited this parish within my knowledge.
(The Ox-eye or Great Tit was the culprit.)
Tom Mills brought a Woodcock, which he had picked
up under the cliff, it was fresh and apparently perished in the gale of last
night.
November 21st. Saw a large flock of
Golden Plover.
November 26th.
Mr. Farncomb gave me a small Hawk which he shot on the 22nd. It is a
Merlin, and, I believe, a male bird beginning to assume full plumage.
December 1st. A large, bluish-grey Hawk rushed at
some Saddle-back Crows perched on an
ash tree and missing its stroke wheeled and attacked from the other side of the
tree. The Crows remained still as if conscious that they would have no chance
on the wing against their enemies. (I have no recollection of seeing
Saddle-backs on trees before, certainly in the district which they usually
frequent there are no trees). About a quarter of a mile farther on a small
flock of Crows scurried past in front of my gig chased closely by a Hawk,
apparently the same; they, however, reached a high hedge with trees in which
they took refuge, and the baffled hawk after hesitating a [90] little, soared to an immense height and
disappeared to the southward.
1852
January 1st. Saw a pure white Lark with a flight on the right-hand side of the
Barrack road. I chased it for some time, but its companions were restless and I
could not get near it.
January 17th. Beautiful day. Had an excellent opportunity of watching a
Red-necked Grebe in fullest plumage with bright red neck. It flew with a very
rapid flight and splashed into the centre of the upper Mill Pond in the same
sort of way as I have seen a Diver. It
dived admirably, but took wing when fired at. It went off to sea.
March 11th. Saw several female Redstarts among the reeds
along Park Gut. [Presumably Black
Redstarts, from the date.—EDS.] . . . Saw several Saddle-backs.
March 22nd.
Wheatears about beach.
Shot a Grey Plover in transition plumage, a small
and apparently young specimen.
Saw one of the old Ravens flying across the Bay.
Many small Waders of different sorts. A large
Diver was resting near shore close to a shrimp trawler. Coast-guardsmen report
five Geese and about twenty Duck gone eastward.
March 23rd. I saw a pair of
birds, which I took for Godwits, on the beach, and one of the birds which I
took for Knots. On 22nd I saw the same pair and the three Knots, who
have been so long about the Mill Pond.
March 27th. Sussex Express. "Chichester. Some very fine specimens of
the Hawfinch (Coccothraustes vulgaris) were shot in Peckham's
Copse, a few days since and were eagerly purchased for private collections, in
the city."
March 30th. During the rain and wind on 30th a great flight of Black-headed Gulls
(Chinting hounds) passed with much clamour from the direction of Hyndover over
the lower part of Mr. King's lawn towards the sea.
March 31st. Whilst Hervey and I were examining the Seaford Cave, Pudding, who
was sniffing about after a very inquisitive fashion, flushed a fine Water-Rail,
which passing close under Hervey's nose flew round to the eastward (under the
cliffs) until out of sight.
April 10th. Saw a pair of Cirl-Buntings on the old thorn on this side Mr.
Cooper's cottages (Foxhole). They were in fine plumage and the black throat of the
male was very conspicuous.
[91]
April 13th. Mr. McKillop tells me that he saw hundreds of Black Duck
flying to the eastward in going to Shoreham yesterday.
April 17th. A pair of Ravens about Poperarie, from their manner they had
young. A pair of Kestrels nesting in the first of the Seven Sisters.
Saw a pair of Shovellers close to the last rocks
in Cuckmere Bay. They were very tame, taking no notice of the shouts of a man
who was catching shrimps just by, he said that they had been there for hours;
they allowed me to approach very close, but I failed in getting one. They swam
high out of water, showing a conspicuous white mark under the tail: the tail
was cocked up, they swam, flew and walked well (they were on the sand when I
first saw them). The male was the shyest, but was very affectionate to his
mate, returning to her if she lagged behind and apparently guiding and
encouraging her. His long, lithe green neck was very conspicuous. I noticed
that he rose on the wing and flew over the crests of the higher breakers
instead of diving like the oceanic ducks.
They appeared to be attracted to the spot by the shrimps. In feeding
they thrust their spoon-like bills forward and quaffered, but did not thrust
the head under water or make any attempts at diving.
April 22nd.
Saw the first Swallows, a pair over Blatchington Pond, one over Mr. King's
farther plantation, one over Buckle Bank, one over Mr. Catt's Salts.
Charley Limps brought me one of the old Ravens,
which he had picked up under the cliff, its living mate was with it, mourning
its fate. The shooting it was a cruel act, as they have young, and a sad
pity. I had been watching with great
interest the manoeuvres of the brood on the bluff near Hope Gap.
Saw four Curlew and killed one, the first I ever
shot.
[Under this date in the "List of specimens
procured from March 22nd, 1852" occurs "Male Green Grosbeak, Mr.
King's Trees."]
April 27th. Saw female Redstart, Whinchats, Common and Lesser Whitethroats,
female Blackcap, pair Nightingales; I heard another, heard Cuckoo. Furze by the
roadside on Rookery Hill alive with Willow-Wrens; pair Whimbrel.
May 1st. Common Sandpipers were very numerous about the mouth of the
Cuckmere, there were also a few Purres in full plumage and Ring-Dotterel, three
Curlews, some Lapwings, Gulls and Daws, Skylarks, a pair of Rock-Pipits, a
Swallow or two. A Thrush was singing beautifully from Exceat Hill.
[92]
May 12th. Shot a Bar-tailed Godwit, a male in full
summer plumage, in Mill Pond opposite the Tide Mill. I had seen it the evening
before.
May 14th. Saw a party of four Whimbrel in the
upper Mill Pond and oae of three in the lower. I procured all the latter,
killing two and winging the third, which I have alive in the garden.
May 19th Two Curlew's (quere Stone-Curlew) eggs brought me from
Alciston. They were hard set.
1860
Page
[93]
September 4th. Reeds counted five Nightjars on the rails outside
the Peach slip basking in the sun, and I saw five of them (one very grey,
apparently an old one) sitting in the same spot; they were very tame.
September 5th. Reeds counted eight
Nightjars in the old place, and I saw most of them sitting there, but Flo
disturbed them and I could not count them accurately.
Mr. Hutchins tells me he
saw one at Telscombe. It rose from the ground and wheeled round and round the
Rectory. One bird to-day when frightened by Flo, took a wheeling flight towards
the cottage gardens and was attacked and mobbed by a party of six or eight
Swallows.
October 29th. A considerable flock of
House-Martins hawking about between Blatchington Street and the Sutton Road.
November 6th. Stevens brought me a fine fat Land-Rail which he
said had been driven in from the water by a large Cliff Hawk (Peregrine Falcon)
and struck down.
November 7th. Newington brought up a fine full-plumaged male Wigeon in good
condition. A child brought up a Peewit quite fat.
November 22nd. Mr. Turner of Chinton sent me a Stone-Curlew
(Thick-knee). The bird was in good
condition. The gizzard contained portions of the wing-cases of beetles and the
forceps of earwigs and small pieces of gravel.
It was very muscular, but rather small for the size of the bird. We
cooked it and it was eatable, but strong.
December 5th. Lizzy saw very many Dabchickens in the old river going towards
Lewes. As many as a dozen were assembled in a flock.
December 6th. Stormy Petrel in fair condition picked up on the
beach by young Simmons. Gizzard filled
with roe.
[94]
December 18th. Mr. Woodham brought me a Green
Sandpiper in good condition and
plumage shot to-day at Lullington.
December 19th. Snow set in.
December
24th. Thrushes and Redwings very
numerous and completely exhausted with cold. Boys were knocking them down with
sticks, or catching them with their hands in plenty, even old George Mace in
spite of years and lameness, caught a couple.
December 26th.
A flock of nineteen or twenty Wild Geese and a single one came in from the sea
and flew towards Hyndover, I thought at first they would have dropped before
coming to Sutton.
December 27th. It snowed during the night and at intervals during the day. A
great drift.
Reeds shot a pair of Quails—fat and in good
plumage; they were among the cobbler's cabbages. The under-shepherd put up two
birds, no doubt from his description the same, from the bank by the side of the
Barrack Road. He saw a Wild Goose which Mr. Lambe fired at ineffectually twice.
When picked up dead by L. Pelham it proved to be a Bean-Goose.
December 31st. Excessively damp. No sun. Saw Mrs. Pelham's bees swarming
about 11a.m. . . . Poor things, their
migration was sadly out of season.
1861
January 7th. Reeds heard that six
Swans were seen in the Lewes river yesterday and between half-past one and two
saw two Swans pass over and marked beyond the Bishopstone Ledge, where they
were flying very low. Saw and heard Fieldfares. Redwings have almost entirely
disappeared.
Mr. Turner of Chinton sent me an adult female
Smew, shot by his cowman. The bird was plump and measured full 15 inches from
top of bill to tip of tail, 7 inches from flexure of wing to tip, and 1 1/4 inches bill.
I opened the bird and
examined the wind-pipe to be sure of the sex. The first specimen I have
procured here. It appeared to have been feeding on the lug-worm, but the food
was macerated. A few small gravels in the gizzard.
January 9th. Reeds brought the Head of a Goosander shot by a
Coast-guardsman at Cuckmere.
January 12th. It thawed
slightly with wind nearly due south, but it is still very
Ned Green sent up a Bar-tailed Godwit, George [Green] a [95]
Sanderling in good winter plumage, and Bob Banks a Purple Sandpiper. Reeds saw
great numbers of wild-fowl about Cuckmere. Flocks of Geese both black and grey
were flying about the Bay, some going east and some west.
January 14th. George Green sent up a full plumaged male Tufted Duck in good
condition.
January 15th. Reeds got a Wigeon at Cuckmere and saw a variety of wild-fowl.
A Swan had been seen the day before and one supposed to be the same had been
shot at Newhaven.
January 24th. Ned Green brought up word that four Swans passed
close over his brother George and his brother-in-law as they stood on the
beach, they flew just over the surf and within easy shot. The same birds were
put up by Mr. Turner's cattle-man near the barn on the hill, no doubt they had
been grazing on the young clover or something of the sort. They were shot at by
the Aides of Charleston in the morning and afterwards were seen in Alfriston
Brooks and pursued by a levy-en-masse of everyone who could beg, borrow or
steal a gun, rushing out after them. Of course in vain. Two were brown birds
(cygnets). Five had been seen the day before.
January 25th. Reeds brought me a pair of Goosanders, shot by the Aides of
Charleston in the Cuckmere under Hyndover, out of a flock of ten, and a
Smew killed by them in the same place. Male Goosander (not in full plumage).
Length 25 in.; to flexure of wing l0 3/4 in.; length of bill 2 7/8 in.; length of tarsus 1 3/4 in.; length of middle toe 2 7/8 in. Female ditto, length
25 in.; to flexure 10 3/4 in.; length of bill 2 3/4 in.; length of tarsus 1 7/8 in.; length of middle toe 3 1/8 in. Both birds were of a beautiful light salmon
colour on the breast. The primary clear
black, the white bar on the wing very clear and distinct. The male was considerably the stouter made
and heavier bird, though young, while the female appeared to be a mature bird.
Smew 15 7/8 in. long; from flexure
of wing 7 1/4 in.; length of tarsus 1 in.; length of middle
toe 2 1/8 in. Three white bars across the wings, white tips to
secondaries and tertails and white wing-coverts. (Length of bill 1 1/2 in.). Young male bird.
February 5th. Sussex
Express. "Angmering. A fine specimen of the Bittern was taken one
day last week by Mr. Mills, in the Decoy Tunnel. It had evidently been shot at,
as one of its legs was broken."
April l7th. Will Cheale brought me three Peregrine Falcons' eggs; they
were but slightly set. Not more than a week certainly, and the eyes seemed the
only part of the chick at all developed. They were taken from one of the Seven
Sisters, I think he said the first, and they had made their nest in the middle
of an old Raven's nest which had been there two or three years. They know of
another Falcon's nest and Captain Dodd thinks he can get them customers for the
young birds. They got £6 for one brood
and £5 for another last year.
The Ravens' were taken
some time since (eggs) and there is a nest with three young and two addled eggs now on Newhaven Cliff.
April 18th. Reed told me that
Alfred saw a bird. supposed to be a Hoopoe in our field. The small birds were
mobbing the Hoopoe. Joe Banks told him that he saw two Hoopoes by the Pond.
April 19th. Saw a beautiful
Hoopoe hopping about on the Seaford side of the Pond, after a while it flew
across the Pond to the Sutton Drove about ninety yards, after a little while I
followed it, and it had run on to a little hillock where it stood raising and depressing
its crest and looking very graceful and beautiful in the full sun, and right
against the sky after it rose and flew slowly within a few yards of me and
settled in our plantation out of sight.
At six o'clock as I was walking just above the
elm trees I saw a bird, the flight of which struck me as very peculiar, and
exactly resembling the Golden Orioles which I saw two years ago. It settled on
the little ash in the farther plantation; I walked towards it, and when I came
within forty yards or so it slipped over the narrow belt and dropped under the
farther hedge, and as I stood trying to get sight of it, it rose, crossed back
again and flew beneath me, showing a great deal of yellow about the back; it
attempted to settle on the bank over the road but was disturbed, and catching
sight of Sparkes picking up earth near the Pond, it wheeled, and I lost sight
of it, but I fancied that it returned to the opposite plantation.
April 20th. Mistle-Thrush's nest in the elm tree over the gate. Saw the
Golden Oriole or another bird of the same species twice to-day. The first time
it came from [97] the
trees near the kitchen garden and alighted in the plantation near the burnt
house, the second time it rose from the top of the left-hand plantation and
alighted about the middle of the right-hand one.
Some boys from Newhaven
brought me a Red-throated Diver in full summer plumage
with the red throat; they had caught it on the rocks under the cliff. It
measured 24 in. in length, first point of wing to flexure 11 1/2, tarsus 2 1/4, middle toe 3 1/2 in. The bill was
injured.
April 21st. Saw Golden Oriole
flying from one plantation to the other.
April 27th.
Ned Green sent up an adult male Tufted Duck in good condition.
May 11th. Ned Green sent up a male and two female Bar-tailed Godwits,
advanced in summer plumage.
May 21st. Many scad or
horse-mackerel in the Bay. About six hundred taken at a haul with the seine.
Tom Mills took twenty among the rocks with his hands. Stomachs of some which I
examined were stuffed with sand-launces (small). One stomach was infested with parasites.
May 22nd. Hurstmonceaux Heronry. The Herons build in two spots, one at
the bottom of the Park among some thick timber, the other close to the house.
We visited the latter and examined it closely—the main establishment was in the
top of a splendid old Scotch fir; five old Herons rose as we approached, one
unlucky bird dangled dead from the tree, probably wounded while looking out for
a frog, water-rat or eel in the marshes, and just retaining strength to reach
home and die. There were several nests full of young and also several Rooks'
nests and young Rooks. The tree looked
loaded with nests altogether, an old elm held four or five Herons' nests mostly
containing young, there were one or two nests in a comparatively low wych-elm,
and some scattered about on other trees in company with Rooks. There was a good
deal of squabbling and scolding among the Herons, but they seemed to be
substantially good friends as their nests were mixed up on the same trees, and
close together. The heavy, clanging cry of the young Herons was a great
contrast to the noisy cawing of the Rooks. The Scotch fir which was the Heron's
headquarters was not one hundred yards from the house, and the gardener told us
that in old Mr. Curteis' time (father of the present man) they built in trees
(now cut down) close to, and almost overhanging, the house.
May 25th. Will Cheale brought me
up a rotten Peregrine Falcon's egg. On the 23rd he, old Chapman, [98] Dick Simmons, and
Newington took two young Falcons and this egg from a nest in one of the
pinnacles of the cliff. The hole was not visible either from above or
below, but Cheale marked the birds to it by laying in wait among the rocks.
Cheale and Simmons were obliged to go out on the pinnacle to lower old Chapman,
while Newington looked to the bar to which the hand-rope was made fast.
June 1st. Wryneck in the elm
opposite bedroom window assailed by cock Sparrow.
Will Cheale brought up a
Peregrine Falcon’s egg taken from a nest containing three Gull's
eggs in a hole on Beachy Head; they took the young Falcons from this hole last
year, and supposed that there had been a brood there again this year, but were
disappointed. The egg was fresh, but
unusually small. A Coast-guardsman showed them a nest of young Falcons near the
light-house. Chapman went over, but the cliff overhung so much that he could
not get at the nest, though he could see the young birds.
June 9th. A splendid Peregrine Falcon passed over the
garden apparently on the look-out for prey, just after sunset.
July 2nd. Cheale and Newington brought up the young Falcons. The birds were in fine condition, and very
fat. They were perfectly tame and very
bold and active.
Poor fellows, after all their risk and trouble
and expense for meat, the cock bird was shot from the top of his house by
Gerring, the clocksmith, and the pair being thus spoiled they killed the other
to get rid of the expense of feeding it. The Eastbourne people had taken the
other brood, when Chapman went to make a second trial.
July 8th. Found a Common Bunting's nest with four eggs in a tuft of
grass in our bottom field. The hen sat very close. Five or six cows, a pony,
and a donkey were grazing in the field, quere how do the eggs escape
being trodden on, or crushed by the animals in laying down? Can the birds by
rising suddenly so far startle them as to save her treasures ?
July 30th.
Found a Cirl-Bunting's nest, with two eggs very hard set, in the bushes on
Hyndover Hill.
August 1st. Saw Mr. Rowley's1 collection of eggs. A very interesting and
excellent one. He has many very rare eggs.
1. [George Dawson Rowley
(1822-78) author of the Ornithological Miscellany, He resided at Brighton.]
[99]
September 23rd. Mr. R. Lambe brought in a Cross-bill in red plumage. Wings were
brown and the red brightest on the rump.
It answered to Yarrell's description and measurement pretty exactly.
September 28th. Mr. Lambe was riding down Newhaven Street with young Mr.
Noakes from the Poor Law Board, when he saw two curious birds in Miss Catt's
shrubbery; he threw up his stick and brought down one, the specimen which he
sent me; this was on Friday, 20th. [Crossbill, supra.]
October l0th. Saw four Clouded Yellow
Butterflies along the Bishopstone Banks and several Dragon-flies crossing the
road.
October 28th. A Great Spotted
Woodpecker sent up by Hilder. Young bird of the year with the top of the head
red. It measured 9 3/4 in length and 5 3/4 from carpal joint to end
of wing, being a trifle more than Yarrell's measurement.
Reed had told me of a
bird of this species, which he had seen among the trees, and searching for
insects about the dead fence. Alfred had seen it searching for insects about
some posts and rails. It had been seen about for about a month. This species
was new to me here.
Potter brought up a
Short-eared Owl.
November 1st. Eagle reported by old Tommy Reed as having been shot at by Mr.
Turner's cowman in the Brooks. It was about as big as a hen turkey.
November 2nd. Sussex
Express.
"Littlehampton. An Eagle shot. A very large and fine Eagle was seen in and
over the fields on this side of the town on the evening of Wednesday. As may be
supposed, a pretty sharp look-out was kept for bringing down such a prize. This
was accomplished towards evening by a person in the employ of Mr. Graves,
miller, of Rustington. It measures from
wing to wing eight feet, and is, we believe, of the golden eagle variety."
November 5th. A gale from south-west set in last night and still
continues. High tide. Large Hawk (Harrier, I believe) passed over
as I stood in the churchyard.
November 30th. Reeds reports that many
wild-fowl have been seen. Ned Green sent up a Fulmar Petrel and a Mallard.
Measurement of Fulmar—length l8 1/4 in.; from flexure to tip of wing 11 3/4; tarsus 2; beak 1 1/2 in. It seemed an
immature bird. It was very light, like a
lump. of feathers. The beak seems very
powerful. Female bird, mass of eggs in ovary, from size of mustard seed to sweet
pea. Throat and oesophagus distended with [100] a mass of whitish, oily matter. Gizzard very
small, contained beaks of small cuttle-fish, etc. (the fatty substance turned
out to be slush thrown overboard from some ship, which probably tempted the
poor Fulmar within range of a gun).
December 27th. Reed reports great numbers of wild-fowl out at sea. Tom
Boots, Mr. Catt's
gardener, shot a Hawfinch in Mr. Stonham's garden at Newhaven. Mr. Harry Catt
gave him 5s. for it.
1862
January 13th. Vast quantities of Gulls along the line of surf [hundreds of
cuttle-fish thrown up on shore—south-west gale].
January 18th. Frost continued. . . . Reed shot one of two Smews, a young male
just beginning to assume the black and white plumage. It was very fat, but the
gizzard and oesophagus contained only a few seeds and a little greenish fibre
with some head bones of a small fish and a quantity of bright, clear particles
of stone seemingly from some clear, running stream. I saw three Wigeon about
Mill Pond.
January 31st. A Coast-guardsman
brought a Gannet which had been washed on shore at Cuckmere. If appeared to be a full plumaged bird.
Length from tip of beak to tip of tail 41 in.; from tip to tip of wings 78 in.;
from flexure to tip of wing 20 in.; beak from gape to tip 6 in.
March 26th.
Bats found in unroofing the Rectory, Pipistrelle, Long-eared. The former most
numerous. They seemed rather torpid until aroused by the warmth of the hand, or
the fire.
April 7th. Willow-Wrens and other summer birds numerous about the village
gardens.
Saw two fir cones fixed in a cleft of a post, no doubt by a
Nuthatch.
April 9th. Lydy Alce brought up a live Water-Rail.
April l0th. A couple of Wrynecks shot at Seaford by the foreman of the
stonemasons at work on the Church.
April 21st. Saw a Swallow (the
first I have seen this year) on the Whitehawk Down, Brighton Racecourse, while
looking at the Volunteer sham fight, and another at Ovingdean on our return.
May l0th. A child brought up a fine Death's Head moth.
May 29th. Willy Banks sent up two Gull's eggs and a [101] Kestrel's of rather an
unusual colour. Mr. Cane tells me that the young Falcons have been taken.
August 25th. Mr. Turner sent me a
["Red-footed Falcon (Falco rufipes),"
erased] Hobby, Swaysland says; apparently a young bird. Been killed two days.
Base of beak yellowish white, the rest dark horn colour; cere and eyelids yellow with a shade of orange,
too far gone to identify safely, seemingly dark brown. Feathers of head mouse
colour, shafts black, nape of neck white, back, wing-coverts and
tail-coverts grey, with a tinge of brown and black shafts. Inner web of tail
feathers barred brown and black shaded with grey, outer web grey, shafts brown.
Throat white, breast white barred with brown.
Thighs, vent and under tail-coverts ferruginous, legs and toes orange
yellow, claws brown, darker towards the points, length of bird 13 1/8 in. From flexure to
extremity of wing 10 1/2 in.; tarsus 1 1/4 in.; beak l in. A
curious groove very well defined running from the right nostril to within 5/32 in. of tip.
The Red-footed Falcon was killed August 22nd by Mr Turner. It rose from some wattles pitched near Seaford short cliff. When shot the claws were full of rabbit
fleck. Mr. Turner told me that he shot the bird himself, and it was so tame
that he thought of knocking it down with his whip. A large Buzzard has been seen
about Chinton (quere, what large Hawk do they mean ?)
Reed tells me that two Buzzards frequented our
hill in the spring for some time, his son, John, saw them every morning when he
went to plough, and they quartered the rape like dogs.
September 13th. Osprey shot at noon, September l2th, while flying the Castle
Hill, Newhaven, back of the Coast-guard Station, by John Ancell, a
Coast-guardsman. The bird had been seen
about for three days, and one of the Coast-guard had seen it take a fish in the
Mill Pond. From tip to tip of wings 5 ft. 4 1/2 in. From flexure to tip 1 ft 7 1/4 in. Length of tarsus 2 in.; beak 1 3/4 in. From tip of beak to tip of
tail 1 ft. 10 in. The tarsus very rough and scaly and
exceedingly stout and strong, claws very much curved and prodigiously
strong. The bird was in fair condition.
It swarmed with ticks, flattish and active, but not very large in proportion to
the bird.
Weight about 2 3/4 lb. as near as I could
tell by the steel yards.
Crest very conspicuous in life. The eyes are most
beautiful, the irides dark amber yellow, the expression bold but gentle.
Feathers of back, wing-coverts, etc., dark brown edged with very light brown
approaching to [102] white. Primaries, shaft and all, black, but
tipped with the same light brown. Inner web of secondaries barred brown and
white, legs and toes yellowish-white just tinged with blue. From the variations
from Yarrell's description (which is a most admirable one) I presume the bird
must be a young one. The gullet was very
capacious. In the stomach I found
several pieces of shingle (flint), a bit of seaweed, doubtless swallowed
accidentally, one or two ear-bones of a fish and a small quantity of digested
matter. The stomach was only moderately muscular. Heart rather large, pectoral muscles
unusually large. The bird was in good condition.
September 22nd. The two Nightjars have continued about the garden
ever since they were first seen (September 6th). They sit day after day
precisely in the same spots on the wall above the peach and at dusk commence
hawking for moths about the trees. Mr.
Bedford's son called them "Moth Hawks," which, I suppose, would be
the Irish name, and by no means an incorrect one. They are most interesting
birds. When the east wind blew so cold to-day, the one who occupied the most
exposed position had moved to the ground on the lee side of the wall. I noticed
yesterday that although it had crouched as far as it could under shelter of the
crest of the wall, the wind blew up its feathers very much.
October 9th. Saw a little flock of Ring-Ousels about our plantations, they
were not wild.
October 23rd. A Skua sent up by Ned Green which answers to Dr. Richardson's
description of Stercorarius cepphus (Leach), Northern Zoology, Birds, p. 432.
From tip of beak to tip of tail 16 1/2 in. From flexure to tip
of wing 12 1/4 in. Spread of wings from tip 42 in. Length of bill to rictus
2 in. Length of tarsus 1 3/4 in. Weight 13 1/2 oz. Rather out of condition. The breadth of beak
and its peculiar colouring answer exactly to the description of Stercorarius
cepphus as
do the black feet. The whole aspect of the bird seems to me different from that
of Richardson's Skua. (Swaysland pronounces it to be Richardson's Skua, but in
a state of plumage he has not previously seen.)
October 27th.
Harry, Ned Green's brother-in-law, sent up a Pomatorhine Skua seemingly in
transition plumage, seven longest primaries brown, three last black; the four
outside tail feathers on each side brown, the two central ones black. Top of
the head black, some of the feathers being tipped with brown. Under part of
wings, brown and blackish grey feathers intermingled. Feet (webs and all) and
tarsi black, bill a peculiar [103] brownish horn colour
shaded above, flesh beneath, tip black; neck and throat, under tail-coverts and
a patch under each wing barred with brown; vent dark grey, shaded with white.
Length 20 1/4 in.; from flexure to point of wing 15 in.; bill from gape to
point 2 in. (measured straight, does not include the curve of the tip). Spread
of wings 48 in.; weight l6 1/2 ozs.
VOLUME X
1863
Page
[104]
January 23rd. Walter Stace shot a fine Black-backed Gull in full plumage with
the exception of a few brown streaks on the top of the head and nape of neck.
January 24th.
A fine Lesser Black-back shot by the same [Walter Stace]. A young Puffin sent up by old fisherman Green. Evidently a bird
of the year.
March 3rd. The trunk of a small fir tree was picked up by Ned Green and
another man under Seaford Cliff from which they took five gallons of barnacle
shells; I split it up and it was full of T. megotara.
Wood sorrel in bloom over the tank.
May 1st. Ned Green and party
took the Peregrine Falcon's eggs from one of the Seven Sisters. The nest
contained three eggs, very hard set. Two contained chicks, the third was
addled.
May 20th. Four Ring-Dotterel's
eggs brought from Seaford, seemingly hard set.
June 1st. A young Peregrine Falcon, perhaps three weeks old, and two
rotten eggs taken from Seaford Cliff from a new spot, were brought up this
afternoon.
July 11th, 1863, Sussex
Express.
"Seaford—Fatal accident on the New Railway. On Thursday afternoon, 2nd, a
labourer named Thomas Fox, was accidentally killed on the railway in course of
construction between this town and Newhaven. The deceased was driving a wagon
laden with chalk drawn by one horse, and by some means fell under the wheel
just as the wagon was about to discharge its contents down the embankment. He
was instantaneously crushed to death. On
the following day J. S. Turner, Esq., bailiff and coroner for the town and
port, held an inquest on the body at the Town Hall. Mr. B. J. Tuck, surgeon,
described the nature of the injuries sustained. The jury returned a verdict of
accidental death. Deceased was about
thirty years of age."
[105]
October 11th. A Nightjar rose from the fernery. Reed
tells me there are several about. Old Tom Mills brought up a beautiful
Fire-crested Wren alive, which had flown into the house and been captured.
November 1st. Two Swallows about
the garden. Black-headed Gulls and Grey Crows (the first I have seen this
autumn) flew over the garden.
November 3rd. Ned Green sent up a female Scaup-Duck, and in the afternoon a
Little Auk.
Young Woodhams, the brewer's son, showed me two
Kingfishers which were shot at Cuckmere yesterday, and a Skua like the
nondescript which occurred last year. Length 18
3/4 in.;
from flexure to point of wing 14 in. Spread of wings about 4 ft.; tarsus 1 1/4 in.; middle toe 1 3/16 in.; from gape to point
of beak 2 in. Claw of the hind toe rudimentary as in the Kittiwake or
Three-toed Gull (the Pomarine Skua has the claw of this toe large and curved).
Weight, 19 oz.
The Little Auk sent up by Ned Green weighed . . .
Length from tip of beak to tip of tail 8 1/4 in.; from flexure to tip
of wing 4 1/2 in. Tarsus 3/4 in. From gape to tip of
beak 1 in. The
bird was in good condition and weighed about 3 ozs.
December 5th. Ned Green sent up a
young Shoveller and a young female Pintail Duck killed December 3rd.
The Shoveller had the
blue on the wing-coverts very pale and faint.
1864
January 4th.
Severe frost, both new and old river at Cuckmere frozen. Hother sent up a fine
Bald Coot.
January l0th. Reed saw and shot at
a bird which has [106] been about John Mace's garden for some days. By
his description it must be a Hawfinch.
January 12th.
Ned Green sent up a female Scaup-Duck.
January l9th. Simmons and his son
brought up the jaws of a grampus which was washed ashore near Cuckmere. It was
a female, and contained a full-formed young one. It was twenty feet long.
April 23rd. Sussex
Express.
"Ornithological Rarities —Two rare birds, shot in the neighbourhood of
Hastings last week, have been entrusted to Mr. Crittenden, naturalist, of
George Street, for preservation. The
smaller bird is a Hoopoe, belonging to the Upupidae family, and one of the plume bird genera. The wing feathers of the pretty little
fellow—a full-grown male— are beautifully variegated, and it exhibits a
striking plume on the crown, giving a somewhat pert appearance, though its
habits are retiring. It is a native of Asia and Africa, and is not frequently
seen in England, although it spreads over Europe in the spring. The bird is
eleven or twelve inches in length, and the wings extend to nineteen inches. The
name is derived from its peculiar call. It was brought down near the Harrow
Inn. The second bird is very much larger in size, being a mature male of the
Heron family (Ardeidae), the Spoonbill. It was
shot on Mr. Shadwell's estate, near Pett. Though frequently seen in the marshy
districts of Holland and Germany, the Spoonbill does not often visit our
shores. Its food is chiefly fish, as its structure and family grouping at once
render apparent. Both birds may be seen
at Mr. Crittenden's for two or three days."
May 4th. A
large flock of more than one hundred May-birds (Whimbrel or Godwits) have just
passed over Blatchington, and one was shot yesterday by Cheale.
May 9th. Mr. Harrison's man,
Mocket, brought a Turnstone in summer plumage.
July 12th.
The Great Eastern steamship passed across the Bay near shore, the wind being
fresh from east. She was on her way from Liverpool to the Thames to take on the
Atlantic Cable.
October 4th (Tuesday). Forward, the old Coast-guardsman, brought
up a Wigeon. He reported that many
wild-fowl had been seen in the Cuckmere river and three shot.
Reed tells me that the week before last while we
were in Essex flocks of Dotterel, one numbering fifty birds, were seen on
Blatchington and Bishopstone hills, they were so tame that the shepherd boys
pelted them with stones, and George Alce knocked one down which
Reed [107] cooked
and ate, as the Alces were going to throw it away.
1865
April 19th. Saw Swallows near North Case. Mr. Beard's shepherd shot a
Hoopoe at Telscombe. It had been seen about for some days—he showed it to Mr.
George Hutchins.
April 26th.
Hother sent up a fine Ring-Ouzel in good plumage and condition.
June 6th. Reed heard the call of the Golden Oriole at intervals
all day and saw a pair, specially noting the bright yellow breast of the male.
I heard the male for a considerable time in the clump of trees above Shelton's
garden, and while the men were gone to dinner Mrs. Dennis and I heard the male
and female answering each other, the latter seeming to be among the trees in
the coach-road. I have not met with the bird before for some years.
October 20th. A fine Death's Head Moth brought from Seaford.
October 21st. A frost with ice this
morning. A Death's Head Moth brought
from Seaford, they seem unusually abundant this year.
1866
January 2nd. Sussex
Express. "Rogate—Singular capture of an uncommon
bird. A few days ago, at Rogate, as a young man, named Collins, was wheeling a
barrow in a lane, loaded with flesh for dogs, he was suddenly startled by the
appearance of a large bird alighting on the flesh and beginning rapidly to make
a meal of it. Collins made a noose in a piece of string and captured the bird,
which he presented to A. E. Knox, Esq., the author of Ornithological
Rambles in Sussex, who says it is the only adult specimen of the Pomarine Skua he
ever met with in Sussex, the breast being of a dirty white instead of the usual
mottled brown, which is characteristic of the immature bird. The scientific
name of the bird is Lestris Pomarinus. The first example ever noticed in
England was killed at Brighton and was mentioned in the Catalogue of Mr.
Bullock's collection which was sold in the year 1819."
(I have a very adult
specimen killed at Seaford.)
March 1st. Ground quite covered with snow. James [108] Carter brought a Great
Plover benumbed with cold, which he had found in the sheep-fold.
April 29th. Mr. George Hutchins,
Sarah, Reed, etc., saw a full plumaged Golden Oriole in the Rectory garden.
September 18th. Two Grey Phalaropes
were brought me, one shot at Cuckmere, one at Seaford. Wind from west to south.
September 21st. Several pupae of the Death's Head Hawk Moth
were brought to me to-day by a Crowlinck Coast-guardsman who had found them in
digging potatoes.
September
24th. A beautiful cock Gold-crest was
brought up alive by the baker boy, Banks (in a paper bag),
doubtless it was on its migration.
In the afternoon Potter brought up a living
Nightjar.
September 30th. The southern side of
our church roof, chancel, nave and even the shingled spire was covered with
Swallows when we went in to take the book, etc., about ten; when we came out of
church at twelve forty-five they were all gone. I have often seen migratory
flights gathered on the roof, but never recollect seeing it so thickly covered.
They were all Chimney-Swallows, not a Martin or Sand-Martin among them.
October 1st. We walked to Denton
and back to-day but not a Swallow did we see, neither have I seen an Hirundo of any kind since the
flock departed. Saw a Wheatear on Denton
Hill and a large Hawk circling about, seemingly a Buzzard.
October 13th. The further garden
was alive with migratory Warblers, Chiff-chaffs, Willow-Wrens, etc., and a pair
of Gold-crests (or Fire-crests). A single Swallow flew over at a great height
going south-south-east or thereabouts.
October 15th. A Chiff-chaff catching
insects on the west garden wall. Swallows.
November 14th. Three Dabchicks swimming about separately in
the old river. A Swallow flying about the first house in Bexhill village, it
alighted on the shoot.
November 15th. Ned Green sent up a
handsome Red-necked Grebe. It retained some of the red colour about the throat.
Length 17 3/4 in. Flexure to point of wing 6 3/4 in. Tarsus 2 1/4 in. Beak along ridge 1 1/4 in. The bird was in good condition and plumage.
November 28th. Saw a Swallow and a House-Martin
flying about over Seaford churchyard, near William Woolgar's blacksmith's
shop. They appeared to be young birds
and flew but slowly, the Swallow more especially. A very bright day.
[109]
December 14th. Saw six Saddle-backs flying over Blatchington Pond towards the
north as if they had come from the cliff end. The first of the species which I
have seen in this parish this year. A large hawk, seemingly a Marsh-Harrier
flying over the marsh between Southease and Beddingham.
1867
January 3rd. Reed shot a Snipe.
Many wild-fowl reported to be seen. The poor Larks, Thrushes, etc., have
flocked down to the coast and are slaughtered wholesale by cruel, idle boys and
men. Many wild-fowl seen and heard.
January 16th.
French Partridges flocking on the hill. [First mention of this species in
Diary, cf. pp. 44 and 53.]
May 18th. Took a walk under
Seaford Cliff. Saw seven Bar-tailed Godwits, the males having the reddish
chestnut breast of the summer plumage. They alighted on the edge of the
receding tide, and seemed greatly to enjoy bathing, and letting the waves wash
over them. They were very tame, permitting me to walk quietly up within half
gunshot on the open beach without cover of any sort.
May 22nd. Heard Reed-Wren among reeds by the roadside near Dean's
Piddinghoe. Showers of snow, flakes both large and falling thickly. A man
brought up a Nightjar from Seaford.
July 8th. Saw a Black Tern, I believe, hawking for insects over a
piece of the Lewes old river near Beddingham railway crossing.
1868
January l0th. Snow still. . . . Two
female Scaup-Ducks brought. Reed reports four large Geese flying about the
stacks.
January 29th. A Red-legged Chough in good plumage and
condition shot by Joe Banks, the bricklayer, on Seaford Head. Gape to point of
curved beak 2 in.; bare part of tarsus 2 in.
From point of the beak to the tip of the tail 14 in. From flexure to the point of the wing 10 1/4 in. Spread of wings
about 25 in.; 4th and 5th feathers longest.
A bare mark, somewhat crescent shaped, under each eye. The feathers at the base of the beak overlap the upper
mandible. Stiff black bristles are scattered under the lower mandible.
W. Borrer, Esq., writes me word that no Sussex [110] specimen has occurred
within his experience. Mr. Knox in his Birds of Sussex speaks of it as extinct
in the county.
May 29th. Bird supposed to be a
Reeve shot by a man of the name of Mockett (Coast-guard), May 29th, out of a
flock of either seven or eight. Total length from tip of beak to tip of tail 10 1/4 in. Of beak 1 1/2 in. (Colour dark brown.) Irides brown. From carpal joint to the
end of the wing (the first quill feather is the longest) 6 in. Length of tarsus
2 3/4
in., of bare part of the thigh 1 1/4 in., colour green
slightly mottled with yellow. Weight 3 1/2 oz. Feathers of the head
dark, edged with light, wing primaries light brown. The quill of the first
feather is pure white, the rest nearly so. The bird appeared to be moulting,
the light brown shabby worn winter plumage showing amid the darker and brighter
summer dress, which it was assuming. A circle of white round the eye.
Within a day or two of
this time two broods of Peregrine Falcons were taken, one of two under Seaford
Cliff, one of three under the Sevens.
August 14th. A Wryneck in good
plumage and condition was taken in a Wheatear trap at Cuckmere yesterday, and
brought to me this morning by a boy named Mockford.
1869
March l0th. Two Wild Swans
alighted in Mr. Farncomb's Brook near the Tide Mill, one in the
little cattle pond, the other standing on the brink. One train passed
unnoticed, but the next whistled in passing and at the unearthly screech the
birds rose, happily just in time to escape a salute from Mr. Boots' long gun.
March 12th.
The East Sussex News of to-day mentions a fine Swan being shot, but gives no
particulars: was it one of this pair?
May 1st. Saw a Sandpiper in
the Heighten ditch.
Sarah saw a Hoopoe
running about our little grass-plot on April 29th, and William Reed and his
son, William, saw it down by the pond April 30th. Reed reports many May-birds.
May l0th. Mr. Turner sent me a
Pigmy Curlew, with the red breast, in good condition, nearly in full plumage; a
pair of Sanderlings almost in full summer plumage; a Redshank.
FINIS
REFERENCES TO EVENTS, PEOPLE AND PLACES
OF
LOCAL INTEREST
December 1st, 1846.
I walked up Newhaven Hill and the view from the
top was splendid. The sun shone brightly overhead and every blade of grass and
every flower stem was covered with a sparkling network as if inlaid with
diamonds, while up the valley the dense body of mist was rolling and boiling,
forming an impenetrable canopy though constantly shifting; the outer edges
looking like fleecy clouds and the dark hill-tops just peeping out.
December
6th, 1846.
Walked on to Heighton Down and passed one of
the ponds, which White of Selborne so refers to as peculiar to the Sussex
Downs, on the highest crest of a chalk hill without spring or watercourse to
supply it and yet rarely dry. The condensed vapour supplies it.
December 9th, 1846.
Headachy. Sawed a little wood, not much better.
Walked to the Tide Mill Pond. Men drawing a seine in the Sluice hole.
[A seine is a fishing net which hangs vertically in the water with floats at the top and weights at the bottom edge, the ends being drawn together to encircle the fish.]
[A seine is a fishing net which hangs vertically in the water with floats at the top and weights at the bottom edge, the ends being drawn together to encircle the fish.]
December 17th, 1846.
Walked up the Cuckmere to Exceat Bridge. . . .
Met a man near six feet high, square built and athletic, with a leathery face
hardened by wind and storm, equipped in a tarpaulin hat, canvas kilt and huge
leather overalls, like [Fennimore] Cooper's Leatherstocking of whom he much
reminded me in face and figure. An immense duck gun was held across the left
hand ready for use, and a rough black dog followed close at his heels.
January 22nd,
1847.
Walked on to the beach;
the men at work on the wall told me that wild-fowl had been passing along the bay to the
eastward all that day and the day before.....
February l0th,
1847.
Snow much deeper. A
bright, sunshiny day, but the bottom of my trousers and gaiters froze hard in
walking. . . . The migration of the Larks to the westward still continues
with the flood tide. Those which remain are terribly pressed for food,
they get into the gardens for the greens and into the turnip fields where here
and there accident has uncovered a leaf. My neighbour and his bailiff have
destroyed vast quantities of small birds, and so have many
February
11th, 1847.
Railway
from Brighton to Lewes stopped during Monday and Tuesday, 8th and 9th
inst. A coach ran, drawn by six horses,
passengers paid 5s. each. London Mails
stopped. An engine driver on the Brighton and London line nearly lost his life
from the severity of the weather.
February 13th, 1847.
Reeds took two... [blackbirds]
in the
clap-net yesterday and one to-day:....
February
19th, 1847.
Mr. King mentioned that
both Willocks and Shags were abundant in the Seaford Cliffs until the soldiers
disturbed them by taking their eggs.
April 12th, 1847.
Walked to Castle Hill. Larks, Rooks, Buntings,
Sparrows (by the Barrack ground), Ring-Dotterel, Purres (still in transition
plumage), Gulls, Jackdaws, Rock-Pipits, Starlings. A bird about the size of a Thrush on a lump
of earth on the earth slip on Castle Hill, he wagged his tail, and I believe
jerked in his flight, query was he the Ring- or Water-Ousel? Bones and limpit
shells in the black mould, bits of iron ore in the coloured sands, reddish
clay, oyster bed, clay running into a layer of shell.
Marl and shelly ferruginous conglomerate full of different species
of the "Cyclas." "Melanopsis attenuata" also abounds and a
species cerithium with another winding univalve which is smooth and delicate
and looks to me like a fresh water shell, perhaps a cyclostoma.
April 12th, 1847.
Bexhill. A
submarine forest in the western extremity just above low water mark, the
remains of two hundred or more trees firmly rooted and upright, principally oak
and beech. It adjoins Cooden Farm in Hooe Level nearly midway between Hastings
and Eastbourne. An attempt was made to procure coal in this parish in
consequence of the thin seams of fossil wood, and wood coal. Eighty thousand
are said to have been thrown away. The Hastings strata extend along the coast from
Bexhill eastward to Aldington in Kent, forming a line of irregular cliffs
thirty or forty miles in length and from twenty to six hundred feet in height,
and contain numerous fossils.
April
26th 1847.
Nailed up old hats for the birds.
The
East Deaners are as much noted for their impudence and dexterity as wreckers as
their neighbouring West Dean were as smugglers.
Berlin[g] Gap is a noted place for
wrecks, to Coastguard of the stations from Cuckmere to Eastbourne were drawn up
for their drill with the inspecting captain at their head, each man was
equipped with musket, cutlass and pistol.
May
1st, 1847.
Sweeps
dancing at my door with shovels and bells fantastically dressed up with gilt
paper caps, ribbons, etc.
A line of about one hundred children
with nosegays and bunches of flowers on the end of sticks sullying forth from
Rottingdean, Jack-in-the-Green and his suite dancing in front of the houses in
Kemptown.
May
8th, 1847.
Following Mr. Catt’s bullock
plough—….
May
11th, 1847.
On May 11th I first saw the boys getting the
Gulls' eggs. The foremost had a rope round his waist which was secured round the
waist of the one above and the end made fast to an iron bar pitched in the turf
which was superintended by another youngster (the three were from sixteen to
nineteen); two little ones were looking on; the rope was short and they did not
venture down the face of the cliff, but only along the ledges nearly on a level
with the grassy slope. The only real
danger would be from carelessness.
November 13th, 1847.
Cut vines, leaves and fruit still on. Apple
trees, leaves green and fruit hanging. Lettuces are running away fast and
everything grows: a remarkable November.
December
9th, 1847.
Railroad
from Newhaven to Lewes opened last Monday [6th]. Up-train in the morning and
down-train in the afternoon.
January
1st, 1848.
New
Railroad from Lewes to Newhaven runs well, but few passengers and no
arrangements, but utter confusion.
I saw the Irish
Coast-guardsman to-day who shot a Spoonbill in the autumn, he shot it in the
bend of the river opposite the path, or rather a little to the right; he
killed it quite dead with a charge of No. 5 shot, and a gun of 4 1/2 feet in the barrel,
throwing 2 or 2 1/4 oz. of shot. It was a young bird in immature
plumage, he gave it to the Newhaven butcher—and he sold it at Brighton for 3s.
March
8th, 1848.
I forgot to put down
yesterday that I saw a throng of men and boys collected on the Common between
Seaford and Corsica Lodge, and on inquiry found that a wheel-barrow race for a
Cock was going on. The Seaford Shrovetide pastime from time
immemorial.
March 25th, 1848.
The sea glittered like molten silver and I
counted thirty-four coasters and small craft from the beach.
April
19th, 1848.
Quantity of sea anenomes
on the rocks near the gap. I saw one with a limpet in its mouth. Shell and all
were sucked in; it disgorged the shell with the half-devoured fish after being
much disturbed. They were on the bare chalk rock without protection, their
colour was different shades of red and brown. The chalk thereabout is much
stained with iron rust.
April
20th, 1848.
"Cuckoo! Merry bird sings as she flies,
She brings us
good tidings, she tells us no lies,
She sucks
little birds' eggs to make her sing clear,
And never
sings Cuckoo till summer draws near."
—Rhymes of
Blatchington children.
May
15th, 1848.
The poor Beadle had notice that his
office will be abolished.
November
17th, 1848.
1. Went to Brighton and back by
Hilder (Carrier).
2. Got from Brown’s a copy of Penant’s Brit.
Zool. 1812, 16s., Monkies, 2s. 6d., Felinae, 3s., Jardine’s Nat. Lib., also
Beal on Sperm Whale 9d., Edwards [actually John
Legg] on the Migration of Birds, 1s., and White’s (of
Selbourne) Nat. Cal., 1s.
November
27th, 1848.
Jolted
to Lewes in Hilder’s van in pouring rain, took the first train and reached
London at half-past eleven. Weather pleasant and
sunshiny. Went into Leadenhall Market.
Pheasants, Black and Red Grouse, Common and Red-legged Partridges,
Woodcocks, Snipes, Lapwing's, etc. Among other things, a large fox was dangling
from a hook. A great variety of fancy dogs, cats, rabbits, pigeons, singing
birds, monkeys, etc., were exhibited. In a shop in Oxford Street, I saw
splendid specimens of the Great Horned and Snowy Owl.
February
24th, 1849.
The Chinting hounds
passed my study window in full cry. . . . The shepherd J. Stace tells me that
he pulled nine or ten Wrens out of a hole in the thatch, whither he supposed
they had clustered for warmth as the weather was cold.
June 11th, 1849.
THE CRUMBLES. A mixture
of furze-covered hillocks, swamp covered with rushes and sedge, running here
and there into water holes: while a weedy sort of brook runs amidst it,
apparently losing itself in the shingle, but terminating in a large pond in the
middle of which was a small water bird (Moor-hen, I suppose) which dived on my
approach; amid the rushes of the brook I saw a Moor-hen running on the heavy
weeds; it disappeared amid the thick rushes of the bank: hereabouts I also put
up a Partridge, saw a Wheatear, a pair of Stonechats, Greenfinches, a pair of
Goldfinches, a pair of Yellow Buntings, Pipits, etc., while Larks seemed to be
numerous even on the waste of shingle, a hare rose on the shingle and rabbits
seemed to be numerous among the furze and bushes. It is one of the wildest
spots that I ever visited, and from the variety of soil from shingle to swamp
and from the variety of plants which I noticed in a cursory glance, must be a
paradise for a botanist no less than for the birds'-nesting boys whom I saw
engaged in their vocation.
The shingle lays in
ridges and is covered with a very, very light crop of grass and plants peculiar
to dry spots near the sea, such as the horned poppy and others whose names I do
not know, though I am familiar with the plants themselves. A hard road is driven
through the centre of the broadest part of the beach leading from Langley Fort
(a wretched-looking little fortification) to a large Martello Tower standing on
a conical hill on the inland side of the road. The Coast-guard people in the
Towers must lead isolated lives, but they seem busy and cheerful. Shrimping
nets were lying about. One man was dressing canvas with linseed oil to make it
waterproof. Children appeared to swarm.
Several little, some of them very little, gardens peeped out amidst the
wilderness of shingle and displayed really thriving crops of potatoes, peas,
onions, lettuces, etc. Returned by Beachy Head. Coast-guardsman told me that
the great Hawk's (Peregrine Falcon's) nest was robbed four or five days ago.
August 30th, 1849.
While
driving with Mr. Carnegie across the Downs to Firle, I saw a pair of very large
Hawks which Mr. Carnegie, who passed a good deal of time in Scotland, at first
took to be Eagles……
August 30th, 1849.
Went
to Lewes with my father. Walking back I put a Snipe up in Park Gut. [referred to on October 16th, 1848 as ‘Mr Farncomb’s Park Gut’]
April
17th, 1850.
The base of the cliff
near Crowlink was covered to the height of some feet with two species of
sandhoppers, one salmon colour, the other greenish, and an insect resembling a
wood-louse, but with long antennae and longer legs than the wood-louse, the
crevices were literally choked with heaps of them, and the shingle at the foot
swarming. It struck me that there was an
abundance of food for any insect feeding migratory birds, who might chance to
drop thereabout tired and hungry after their aerial voyage.
February 2nd, 1850.
A gale from south-west. A vessel
reported on shore to the wesward of Newhaven…..
April 22nd, 1850.
Bright beautiful morning. Walked to Berwick station. The blackthorn was
in full flower by the road-side about Alfriston. The willow too was in full
leaf and everything appeared more forward than on the coast. The parliamentary
carriage from Berwick to Polegate was very comfortable, but an open third class
to Hailsham very uncomfortable, the north wind cutting keenly and driving the
dust full into the eyes of those who faced the engine.
From Hailsham I passed
through a country sprinkled with hop grounds and woods, the gardens and
orchards by the roadside abounded with cherry and plum-trees which were in full
and abundant blossom and looked most beautiful: after walking something near two
miles I began to ascend the sandstone ridge, the sand showing in the roadside
cuttings, though I met with no quarries as yet, and the road material was still
beach. There were frequent plantations of firs and orchards with very
picturesque oaks though they did not attain a large size. There were four
opposite a farm house of considerable size and apparently of great antiquity,
the tops being dead and withered. The hedgerows were entwined with honeysuckle.
I frequently came upon patches of gorse in full flower, the
banks were gay with the lilac flower, provincially termed in
Kent "Dairymaids," violets, and above all primroses abounded; the
[ A ‘parliamentary carriage’ was for third-class
passengers so-called because there was an act of parliament in 1844 which laid
down minimum standards for the construction of third-class carriages. This
resulted from the death of 9 passengers at Sonning Cutting on Christmas Eve,
1841 when the train hit a landslide throwing its passengers out of the ‘open’
carriage.]
April 26th, 1850.
An immensity of building
going on at Hastings and St. Leonards, the two towns will very soon meet. They
are at work tunnelling the sand hills for the coast line of railway and I saw
the navigators very busy in a cutting on the Rye Railway.
May
1st, 1850.
Children came garlanding and to
tea. Jane Mace and Phoebe Pelham had the
best garland.
June 7th, 1850.
A Rocker named Tom Hills
brought a Greater Shearwater. It was all over of a dull, brownish-black or
blackish-brown; when he took it from his basket oil poured from it. The wings were long and Tern-shaped, and it
appeared to be a bird of powerful flight. It had a hind claw (very sharp) but
no visible toe.
Swaysland tells me that the bird was a
two-year-old male in fine plumage, and that in more than twenty years he had
not received one before. Mr. Knox had never seen one before and Mr. Borrer only
one (in the British Museum).
July
29th, 1850.
Heard of a bird swimming and diving in Sutton New Pond, but could not find
it (quere Phalarope). It was about the size of a Thrush, white under the throat
with very long wings, and was seen on Saturday by the dung-turners and for two
days previously by a bullock boy.
June
26th, 1851.
Mrs.
Everett came as cook at £8 per annum wages, month’s wages or month’s warning.
July
7th, 1851.
Journey
to London - train full of French people going up to the
Great Exhibition.
September
14th, 1851.
Horse
bitten by an adder - whole body swollen, its sufferings must be
great, but after being under the farriers’ hands a month it was recovering.
October
4th, 1851.
Sussex Express., "Ornithology— on Saturday
last J. B. Ellman shot on the Landport Hill a Dartford Warbler. This very rare bird is mentioned in Knox's
ornithology. That gentleman having often unsuccessfully searched for a
specimen. It has a very peculiar note, by which it is known. Mr. Ellman was
about an hour and a half getting a shot at it."
July
2nd, 1861.
Cheale and Newington
brought up the young Falcons. The birds
were in fine condition, and very fat.
They were perfectly tame and very bold and
Poor fellows, after all their risk and trouble
and expense for meat, the cock bird was shot from the top of his house by
Gerring, the clocksmith, and the pair being thus spoiled they killed the other
to get rid of the expense of feeding it. The Eastbourne people had taken the
other brood, when Chapman went to make a second trial.
September 28th, 1861.
Mr. Lambe was riding down Newhaven Street with
young Mr. Noakes from the Poor Law Board, when he saw two curious birds in Miss Catt's shrubbery;
he threw up his stick and brought down one, the specimen which he sent me; this
was on Friday, 20th [Crossbill, supra.]
November 2nd, 1861.
Sussex Express. "Littlehampton. An Eagle shot. A very large and fine Eagle was seen in and
over the fields on this side of the town on the evening of Wednesday. As may be
supposed, a pretty sharp look-out was kept for bringing down such a prize. This
was accomplished towards evening by a person in the employ of Mr. Graves,
miller, of Rustington It measures from
wing to wing eight feet, and is, we believe, of the golden eagle variety."
July 11th, 1863.
Sussex Express. "Seaford—Fatal
accident on the New Railway. On Thursday afternoon, 2nd, a labourer named
Thomas Fox, was accidentally killed on the railway in course of construction
between this town and Newhaven. The deceased was driving a wagon laden with
chalk drawn by one horse, and by some means fell under the wheel just as the
wagon was about to discharge its contents down the embankment. He was
instantaneously crushed to death. On the
following day J. S. Turner, Esq., bailiff and coroner for the town and port,
held an inquest on the body at the Town Hall. Mr. B. J. Tuck, surgeon,
described the nature of the injuries sustained. The jury returned a verdict of
accidental death. Deceased was about
thirty years of age."
October 17th, 1863.
Sussex
Express. "Heathfield. An Osprey in Sussex. On Friday last, as Mr.
B. Daniels, keeper to Joseph Colling, Esq., was going his beat, he descried at
considerable height a very large bird flying rapidly from north to south. The
keeper was enabled to follow up the stranger sufficiently to mark the
approximate spot of his alighting, and soon caught sight of his desired object
on an old stump tree near some fish ponds, and brought him down. The body is of
the size of a large duck; the wings when fully distended measure 5 ft. 6 in.
from point to point, and a gentleman visiting at F. P. Miller, Esq.'s
(Heathfield Park) immediately pronounced the bird to be an Osprey Eagle. Mr. Colling has a nice collection of stuffed birds, and he will doubtless add
this to his museum."
January 19th, 1864.
Simmons and his son
brought up the jaws of a grampus which was washed ashore near Cuckmere. It was
a female, and contained a full-formed young one. It was twenty feet long.
[The name ‘grampus’ is used for ‘a slate-grey dolphin’ or sometimes for ‘a
killer whale’.]
July
12th, 1864.
The
Great Eastern Steamship passed across the Bay near shore, the wind being fresh
from east. She was on her way from Liverpool to the Thames to take on The
Atlantic Cable.
Note: Lists of birds will be added on another blog post.
Please see my other blogs which relate to research done at Seaford Museum.
Links: https://dryplate2colour.home.blog/
relating to Eastbourne photographer Ellis Kelsey.
Links: https://dryplate2colour.home.blog/
relating to Eastbourne photographer Ellis Kelsey.
A companion blog to 'Dry Plate to Colour' concentrates on the Early Colour Systems such as Autochrome and Paget Process which were introduced in 1907 and 1913 respectively. I show many images by Ellis Kelsey not previously seen. Please see link: https://earlycolourphotography.blogspot.com/
and http://greatwartales.home.blog/ https://greatwartales.home.blog/
about four soldiers who trained in Seaford and Eastbourne during WW1
and https://lamberecipes.blogspot.com/ being list of over 200 Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian recipes and Remedies by the Lambe family of East Blatchington.
Also a record of two trips made by road from London to Seaford in 1877 Link: https://crooksofseaford.blogspot.com/
and for research into a shipwreck at Seaford Head Link: https://seafordcliffswreck.blogspot.com/
Also to: https://blatchingtonbarracks.blogspot.com/ which includes the story of the 1795 riots and executions and also the story of the forming of the Rifle Brigade.
Seaford Museum is run entirely by volunteers and is funded by its members and day visitors. Please
take a look using the following link: http://www.seafordmuseum.co.uk/
Many thanks for reading this blog.
Ben Franks
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