hedges, and give no certain indication of their presence till the first bright morning tempts them into song. House martins seem very scarce this season, and the marked diminution in their numbers of late years is more easily perceived than accounted for. The extreme dryness of the last few summers has rendered the building process more than usually difficult, and here, from the lack of other moisture, the birds avail themselves of the passage to and fro of the water-carts near the city to collect mud from the freshly sprinkled roads. The extreme heat also and the absence of rain have rendered the nests extremely brittle, and many a luckless brood has fallen with the débris of their little nurseries. It is probable, however, that the chief cause of their scarcity may be attributed to the diminution of insect food, through the extensive drainage which, on all sides, has altered, and is still altering, the whole face of the country. As yet (May 8th) the martins have not commenced their parental duties,-indeed have scarcely visited their old haunts, but in sportive flights and feasting have spent their days upon the various streams and the rich meadow lands adjacent. Both swallows and martins have, however, suffered much from the unusual severity of the weather, and a friend whose garden joins the river, but within the city bonndaries, informs me that on one occasion he observed numbers of them settled on the grass in an extremely weak state, others clinging to the bark of the trees, and in every action showing the effect which so inclement a season has upon these delicate creatures. Blackcap and garden warblers are rather more common than usual in this neighbourhood, and the willow wren, always abundant, is particularly plentiful. One which frequents a lofty willow near my garden sings incessantly the day through, and year after year the same tree attracts this species, and not improbably the same bird. I have heard and seen the nightjar once or twice, but have not yet noticed any swifts. Nightingales abound in all their usual haunts, and in spite of the cold biting winds have been heard constantly by night and day. Of rare occurrenees the following are most worthy of note:

Common Linnet.-On the 10th of April a curious variety was brought me alive by a bird-catcher, having much white about the head, a perfect saddle of pure white across the back, and the breast prettily mottled with white and red.

Hoopoe. But one of these ill-fated wanderers has been slaughtered here this spring, which was killed about the 19th of April. When will people learn to know that, however strange in plumage, this is not

a rara avis.

Terns. A very beautiful specimen of the arctic tern, the under parts deeply suffused with the usual smoke-gray tint, was killed on the 14th of April, and several black terns were shot on Breydon about the same time.

Velvet Scoter.-A female for sale in our fish-market on the 7th of April.

Puffin.-An immature bird, with a particularly small and ungrooved beak, was killed at Blakeney about the first week in April.

Eared Grebe.-An example of this rare species was killed at Breydon on the 10th of April (the same as recorded in the 'Field' of April 21st). The yellow plumelets on the sides of the head were tolerably pure, but the throat and chin were still much mottled with white, but the bird would have attained its full plumage, probably, in another week or two.

Great Crested Grebe.-No less than eight magnificent great crested grebes, just returned to the Broads from the sea-coast, were, I am sorry to say, brought to a birdstuffer in this city for ladies' plumes, and sold for a shilling each. When will the votaries of fashion listen to reason, and not exterminate a species for the mere whim of the moment? Kingfishers and even the beautiful little grass parrokeets have been in great demand this winter-for hats!

Brambling. These birds have been extremely scarce this last winter, though so remarkably plentiful the year before. The great abundance of beech-mast in 1864 was, I believe, a great attraction, which has been almost equally wanting in the past autumn. A male brambling in my aviary, which I have had over three years, has commenced (April 24th) its usual migratory call-note,-a shrill whistle or chirp, which is uttered every night at intervals from about 8 P.M. till near daylight, the bird becoming extremely wakeful, and with raised crest and fluttering wings indicating its excited condition. The least noise or a passing light near the cage sets him off at once, and on moonlight nights he calls incessantly; and this, as I have remarked during several seasons and with different individuals, goes on till the beginning of June, when it ceases altogether.

Rook. A curious variety, killed at Ranworth about the beginning of May, having the back, wings and tail silvery gray, and the head and under surface of the plumage dull grayish black. Young rooks not yet out of the nests (May 8th), except a few very early ones, which are able to take care of themselves.

Turtle Dove. On the 6th of May I found a flock of at least two

dozen frequenting a rye stubble not yet ploughed in. These, I imagine, were a migratory flight resting on their passage, as I never before met with so many together in the spring of the year, although several pairs remain to breed during the summer.

Spoonbill.-A fine old male, which had been seen about Breydon for nearly a fortnight, was shot on the 2nd of May, and had a rich band of buff across the breast, but the crest not much elongated. The throat contained three or four three-spined sticklebacks, quite perfect, and the stomach was filled with the remains of others, mixed with sand and silt from its last feeding-ground.

Whimbrel.-Were killed at Blakeney on the 1st of May, and is known there as the "May bird.”

Bartailed Godwit.-Appeared on Breydon on the 7th. The 12th of May is known amongst Yarmouth gunners as "godwit day," as they are then commonly seen on the "muds," especially with a S.W. wind and drizzling rain.

Norwich, May 8, 1866.

H. STEVENSON.

Ornithological Notes from West Sussex.
By W. JEFFERY, jun., Esq.

(Continued from S. S. 168).

MARCH, 1866.

Gray Wagtail.-March 14. Saw a gray wagtail, in which the change in plumage had just commenced, a few black feathers showing on the throat about the base of the bill. This species usually leave us about the end of the month.

Common Bunting.-Have seen nothing of the common bunting throughout the winter until the middle of March; about this time a few appeared, and by the end of the month they were, true to their name, common. They may now be seen almost all the day on the topmost twig of a hedge, on a clod of earth, or some other eminence, uttering their "tic-tic-tic-tic." &c., &c. This song, if it can be so called, not being heard in winter, is perhaps a frequent cause of a bird so inconspicuous in colour being overlooked. Their only note in winter is a single "tit" or "tit-tit," uttered generally while the bird is on the wing. Still the only conclusion that one can arrive at is that they emigrate from here as the winter comes on, either to some locality.

where a suitable food is more abundant, or to a warmer climate. That they do not all leave this country in the winter is pretty certain, since they are not unfrequently found on the coast during severe frost; but are not these birds from more northern parts? The common bunting is very rarely met with in the Weald of Sussex.

---

Grebes About the middle of March I was shown two heads of the great crested and two of the Sclavonian grebe, recently killed birds. The skins, of course, cut up for ornaments.

Wood pigeons remain in flock as late as the end of March. Redwings and siskins seen up to the 17th. Chiff-chaff first seen on the 30th; wheatear on the 31st.

APRIL, 1866.

Arrival of Immigrants.-In the following list of immigrants I have given the earliest dates of arrivals that I have been able to ascertain with certainty

17th. Sedge Warbler, Common Whitethroat and House Martin. 18th. Wood Warbler.

19th. Whinchat.

28th. Redbacked Shrike, Swift and Common Sandpiper.

It is much easier to register, with tolerable accuracy, the dates of arrivals than those of the departures, the arrivals in spring more especially. The greater part of the spring immigrants are in full song when they come over, and their voices having been silent to us for several months are sure to attract the especial attention of the ornithologist the first time they are heard after that lapse of time. After all, however, it is, as Mr. Blake-Knox remarks (S. S. 220), "another may have seen. (or heard) it before": and of this I have taken advantage, giving dates earlier than my own, whenever I have felt that I could rely on the information received from others. The cuckoo's first appearance is earlier this year than I have ever noticed it before, and I rather hesitated on giving a date so early as the 9th, but the person who told me of it was positive, and I have since read in the 'Field' that it was

SECOND SERIES-VOL. I.

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heard in Essex on the same day, and near Southampton one day earlier.

Meadow Pipit and Linnet.-Meadow pipits numerous about the first week in April, and small parties of the common linnet seen for some weeks past; frequently observed passing in a northerly direction.

Moorhen.-A brood of young moorhens was hatched on the 1st of April. The nest was in a pit at the back of a cottage, where a pair of moorhens nested last year. The present tenants of the pit, both old and young, come regularly to feed with some fowls just by, and the old birds do not hesitate to "pitch into" the fowls if they interfere with them in any way. On the 23rd this pair of birds had completed another nest and deposited a second lot of eggs.

Shorteared Owl.-April 11th. Saw, at Chichester, a shorteared owl, in the flesh, which had been killed in the neighbourhood a few days before.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.-April 11th. A pair, male and female, were killed in Oakwood, near here, about the above date. The crown of the head, in the female, was white, with just a tinge of red about it, forehead brownish.

Garganey.-April 11th. A pair of these handsome little ducks killed. near Selsey: they are now in my collection. A male in the Chichester Museum was killed in the same month, April, some years ago. It is a scarce bird in Sussex.

Gulls.- April 11th. Saw thirteen large gulls, flying N.E., in the evening could not see enough of them to distinguish the species, but the plumage appeared to be gray.

Ring Ouzel.-April 12th to 20th. A few of these birds have been obtained during the migration. As a rule, they are not nearly so numerous, nor so frequently met with here, at this time of the year as in the autumn.

Black Tern.-April 14th. About this time the black tern appeared on the coast, and about some ponds several miles inland, even in close proximity to the city of Chichester. Whenever I have previously met with this species in the spring, it has been in the month of May. The stomach of a female, killed at Birdham, contained fourteen or fifteen full-sized shrimps.

Redthroated Diver.-On the 16th of April I saw, in the flesh, a redthroated diver in full summer plumage. It was killed a day or two before in Emsworth Harbour, on the western border of