BIRDS 258. Whimbrel. Numentus phaopus (Linn.) The whimbrel passes our coast in con- siderable numbers in May. A few also, mostly single birds, spend a short time on the Sussex coast on their way south in August and September. In north Iceland the whimbrel is so common in the nesting season that for two months, whether by day or night, the traveller is never out of hearing of their long-drawn bubbling cry. As he goes along the rough track a pair of whimbrels fly round about, each uttering their monotonous and ceaseless call. A pair of birds escort the intruder for a mile or less and then hand him over to the next pair, who in turn pass him on indefinitely. HydrocheHtlon nigra In April, 1899, 259. Black Tern. (Linn.) A rare visitor in autumn. I saw two of these terns flying over Warnham Pond near Horsham. Formerly the black tern bred in the Rye marshes and in the Pevensey levels. 260. White-winged Black Tern. Hydro- chelidon leucoptera (Schinz). Two examples of this rare tern are recorded as having been taken in Sussex. The first was killed at South Weighton near Newhaven in May, 1873 {Field), and the second is recorded in the same paper by Mr. Clark Kennedy, who states that one was killed so.me years previous to 1875 near Eastbourne. Recently I identified a specimen of this rare tern in the small collection of birds belonging to Mr. Eardley Hall at Henfield. It was changing into winter plumage and was killed many years ago at V/arnham Pond near Horsham. 261. Gull-billed Tern. Sterna anglica,M.on- tagu. The type specimen of this tern was killed in Sussex by the ornithologist Montagu, who however did not give the precise locality and date of his capture. The late Mr. Borrer and Mr. Knox each records the occurrence of this species, and there is another specimen in the Chichester Museum which was ob- tained at Selsey on March 31, 1852. 262. Sandwich Tern. Sterna cantiaca, J. F. Gmelin. Formerly the sandwich tern bred on the sandy beaches about Rye and Winchelsea, but now a few only appear in spring and summer and pass away northward and west- ward to breed. 263. Roseate Tern. Sterna dougalli, Mon- tagu. This is the most graceful as well as the rarest of the terns that used to breed in small colonies on one of the Scilly Isles and on the Fames, and it is more than likely that a pair or two still nest annually in the islands off the coast of Northumberland. A specimen lately in the collection of Mr. Rising is said to have been taken about the year 1848 near Eastbourne {Zoologist, 1885, p. 481). 264. Common Tern. Sterna fiuviatllis, Naumann. A common summer visitor to the Channel. Formerly the species bred in some numbers on the shingly beach from Rye to beyond Winchelsea, but now only a few pairs nest there in company with some lesser terns. 265. Arctic Tern. Sterna macriira, Nau- mann. A regular summer visitor, but not in such numbers as the last named species. Formerly the arctic tern nested in colonies at Pevensey (Knox). 266. Little Tern. Sterna minuta, Linn. A somewhat sparsely distributed summer visitor which arrives in May and breeds near Rye and one or two other places. In east Sussex the little tern outnumbers the common species (R. Butterfield). 267. Sabine's Gull. Xema sabinii (J. Sabine). The capture of an immature specimen of this rare gull at Tide Mill near Newhaven in December, 1853, '^^'^ recorded by the late Mr. W. Borrer in the Zoologist (p. 4408), and another was picked up at Hove in September, 1 87 1, and is now in the col- lection formed by the same ornithologist. Three other specimens are also known to have occurred. 268. Bonaparte's Gull. Lams Philadelphia, Ord. The late Mr. Cecil Smith, a well known Somersetshire naturalist, noticed an example of this rare gull in the collection of Mr. F. Persehouse of Torquay. The owner stated that he shot the bird, an immature, at St. Leonards-on-Sea early in November, 1870 {Zoologist, 1883, p. 120). 269. Little Gull. Larus minutus, Pallas. A rare autumn and winter visitor to the English Channel and the coast of Sussex. On the eastern side of England it is a far more frequent visitor. 295
