A HISTORY OF SUSSEX are constantly seen by those who know their haunts and habits. In certain seasons too, such as the winters of 1895-6, the county is visited in winter by immense flocks of migratory wood-pigeons, which settle in some districts where acorns have been unusually abundant and do not leave till the following spring. The coast line of Sussex from Brighton to Eastbourne consists of cliffs rising to various heights and attaining their greatest elevation at Beachy Head (600 feet). Here the cUffs terminate, and Pevensey Level stretches to beyond Hastings. There are sandy cliffs about the latter place, and these gradually fall to the levels of Rye and Winchelsea. West of Brighton the coast is somewhat flat and continues so until the borders of Hants. In such a varied coast line of mud-flat, pebbly beach, sandy shore and chalk cliff the southern littoral of Sussex is naturally a favourite winter resort and resting place at all seasons of a large number of species of water birds. That the coast attractions have suff^ered during the past century from the birds point of view it is hardly necessary to point out ; for the growth of sea traffic and the extension of seaside resorts have brought with them crowds of visitors who, if not actual destroyers, are nevertheless constant disturbers of birds, and serve to drive them from their haunts. About the year 1881 things had reached their worst, for with the introduction of the Wild Birds Protection Act a new era arrived when the terns could nest in comparative peace and the flocks of waders, gulls and other sea birds were not subject to harassment all the year round. Now in certain sheltered bays that are well known to the few one may any May morning lie on the shore and watch with pleasure small flocks of several of the rarer waders in their beautiful summer dress, a treat denied the ornithologist in almost every other county in England except Norfolk. No very great change has taken place in the riparian character of the Sussex rivers except in the case of the A run, which flows through the Weald. Till 1820 all the open meadowlands now reclaimed and stretching from Pulborough to the South Downs were described by Knox as ' covered with dense woods, where the adventurous sportsman delighted to contend with the tangled brushwood, and wade, knee deep, through the marshy jungles that extended for miles on either side of the river, affording shelter and sustenance at all seasons to various tribes of water fowl which haunted its recesses.' From these wild swamps the bittern and the ruff have gone for ever, and only a small remnant of the original fen remains to-day in the wild marsh by the ruins of Amberley Castle. But while we have lost a few of the most interesting of the once resident species there are indications that in the near future protection will have had its full reward, and that we shall induce other species to take their place. Already in the neighbouring counties and in other parts of England and Scotland ornithologists are noting with pleasure the extension in the 274
