The birds of Norfolk : with remarks on their habits, migration, and local distribution

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THE BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

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THE

BIRDS OF NORFOLK,

EEMARKS ON THEIR HABITS, MIGRATION,
AND LOCAL DISTRIBUTION:

HENEY STEVENSON, F.L.S.,

MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION.

IN fTWOl VOLUMES.

TOL I.

Etiam si sint alia graviora atque meliora, tamen
nos studia nostra naturse regiila metiamur."

Cic. de Officiis Lib. I., cap. 31.

LONDOX :

J0H2T VAN VOORST, 1, PATEENOSTEE EOW,

NOR\nCH :

MATCHETT AND STEVENSON.
1866.

Fage.

Line.

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60 ..

. 27.

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263 .

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363 .

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ERRATA AND CORRIGENDA.

For inclosed read euclosed.

For Hanworth read Hnnworth.

For chrysaetos read chrysaetus.

After spring read (1865).

In the two foot notes, transpose the * and f.

For Little Gallimot read Little Gallinule.

For what it doth resemble, read what does it resemble ?

For apparently read undoubtedly.

For Mr. Samuel Blvth, read iMr. Samuel Bligh; vide

also pp. 203, 275, and 302.
For quacking, read quaking.
After larger species, read which is.
For some other fowls, read and other wild fowl.
Dele comma after Besides.

materials have been chiefly collected, are as follow : —

" Extracts from the Household and Privy Purse Accounts
of the Lestranges, of Hunstanton, from 1519 to
1578." [Published by D. Gurney, Esq., in the
Transactions of the Royal Society of Antiquaries,
for 1833.]

That the " items " in this " private ledger " would
assume, in after years, a literary importance, was of course,
never contemplated by its compilers, but from many of its
quaint entries an insight is obtained, not only into the

PREFACE.

The extreme riclmess of the Ornitliology of the county
appears to have early attracted the notice of Norfolk
naturalists, and fortunately the records of their observa-
tions are to a great extent preserved to us, though scattered
amongst the "Transactions" of Learned Societies, and other
publications, not always accessible to the general reader.
To combine a resume of the facts thus handed down to
us, with the result of personal observations extending
over several years, was the idea that first originated the
present work ; and there is, perhaps, no better motive
for incurring the labours and doubtful honours of author-
ship than the desire to supply to others a want that has
been personally experienced.

Chronologically arranged, the sources from whence my
materials have been chiefly collected, are as follow : —

" Extracts from the Household and Privy Purse Accounts
of the Lestranges, of Hunstanton, from 1519 to
1578." [Published by D. Gurney, Esq., in the
Transactions of the Royal Society of Antiquaries,
for 1833.]

That the "items" in this "private ledger" would
assume, in after years, a literary importance, was of course,
never contemplated by its compilers, but from many of its
quaint entries an insight is obtained, not only into the

VI PREFACE.

habits and customs of the period, hut also as to the scarcity
or abundance of certain birds in this county, and their use
at that time for the table or sporting purposes.

" An Account of Birds found in Norfolli." By Sir
Thomas Browne, but not published till after his death
in 1682. [Wilkin's Edition of his works, vol. iv.]

This short but most valuable list of species, which dates
only a century later than the L'Estrange accounts, affords
the means of comparing, with singular accuracy, the
present state of the county with its ornithological condi-
tion about two hundred years ago. In some few instances,
also, we get glimpses of a still earlier period, in the
" hearsay" evidence of that most enquiring and universal
genius.

" British Ornithology." By John Hunt. [Norwich,

1815.]
Next in point of date, though after a long interval,
this work, compiled and illustrated by the late Mr. Hunt,
an engraver and bird preserver in Norwich, but unfortu-
nately never completed, contains many valuable notes on
Norfolk Birds, and in both the drawing, colouring, and
engraving of its numerous plates, exhibits a very con-
siderable amount of talent in the artist.

"A Catalogue of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, with

remarks." By the Rev. E,. Sheppard and the Rev.

W. Whitear. [Transactions of the Linnean Society,

1826.]
This admirable paper, the first part of which was read
before the Society in 1824, contains a complete list, to that
date, of the birds of both counties, and was evidently the
result of a gradually awakening interest in Natural History
subjects. Arranged in a scientific form, its ample details
supply many interesting particulars at a time when certain
species, now no longer resident, were gradually becoming
scarce.

PREFACE. VU

"A List of Birds," contributed by Mr. Hunt to Stacey's

History of Norfolk. [1829.]
This contribution to tbe general history of the county
contains notices of many rare specimens either in the
possession of the author or other local individuals, and
here, again, the gradual decrease in the numbers of certain
species is specially noticed.

"Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth." By
C. J. and James Paget. [1834.]
Confined exclusively to the fauna of Yarmouth and
its neighbourhood, the ornithological portion, of course,
forms a prominent feature in such a district, and though
the remarks on each species are extremely brief, yet the
carefully written introduction contains many curious facts
with reference to the amount of wild fowl and other shore
birds then visiting our coast.

" Observations on the Fauna of Norfolk." By the Rev.

R. Lubbock. [1845.]
This deservedly popular work, and the one with which
our local naturahsts are best acquainted, professes only to
treat of the rarer kinds amongst our land birds ; but of
such species as are foimd in the " Broad District," — of the
peculiar features of that portion of the coimty, and of the
formation and working of decoys, the author's descrip-
tions leave nothing to be desired. Both for its felicity of
style and abundant information, it must rank as one of
those happy efforts of the " out-door" naturalist, for which
"White's Selborne, as the first example, created a fresh
demand.

"An Account of the Birds found in Norfolk." By
Messrs. J. H. Gurney and W. R. Fisher. [Pub-
lished in the " Zoologist" for 1846.]
It is greatly to be regretted that this, the latest and
most perfect list of the " Birds of Norfolk," has never been

VIU TKEFACE.

re-published for general circulation. With the exception
of a few subscribers to the "Zoologist" at the time, scarcely
any of our local naturalists are aware of its existence.
Indeed, with the exception of Lubbock's "Fauna," the
same may be said of nearly all the rest, whilst both Mr.
Hunt's and the Messrs. Paget's works are out of print, and
extremely scarce. With this catalogue, comprising short
notes on each species, and including many rarities not
hitherto recorded, was also given a very valuable intro-
ductory paper, in which the natural attractions of the
county for the feathered tribe, the local changes that have
of late years affected our residents, and the chief causes of
the predominance of migratory visitants to our coast, are
all briefly discussed in a manner which estabKshed the
reputation of its authors as sound naturalists.

As may be imagined the interval of just twenty years,
since this last publication, has not passed without many
and great changes being effected in the physical condition
of the county ; and much that was then accurately
descriptive of its ornithological status, is now but a tale
of the past. Residents have become migrants, and
migrants resident, though the latter in fewer instances,
and from very different causes ; whilst no less than eighteen
species, all rare and accidental visitants, have been added
on good authority. Of such occurrences since 1846,
records have been made, from time to time, in the pages
of the " Zoologist,"* and from these details, together with
the communications of local naturalists and a careful
analysis of my own note-books for the last sixteen years,
I have been enabled to bring down to the present time
the history of the " Birds of Norfolk."

Having recently visited, during the summer months,

* The chief contributors, from this county, to that storehouse
of ornithological facts, being Mr. J. H. Gurney, Mr. W. R. Fisher,
Messrs. A. and E. Newton, the Eev. H. T. Frere, and the author of
the present work.

PREFACE. IX

nearly all the principal Broads, and the coast-line, with
but little intermission between Yarmouth and Lynn, I
can speak with some confidence as to the species that
still nest in those localities, as well as to the total absence
of others formerly common enough during the breeding
season. I have also taken much pains by an inspection
of both private and public collections to identify, whilst
it was yet possible to do so, the rarer birds recorded as
having been killed in this county during the past half
century ; but, although in many instances I have been
enabled to ascertain the existence and present location
of "historical" specimens, the absence of any memoranda
attached* has, in other cases, through lapse of time,
entirely defeated my object.

The biographical sketches of the more common species
have been written, rather with the hope of exciting an
interest in the study of birds amongst those but little
given to natural history pursuits, than with the idea of
adding anything to the knowledge of such readers as
are accustomed to observe for themselves, in their out-
door rambles. Presuming, also, that all who are interested
in the study of British ornithology, either possess their
" Yarrell," or the means of referring to such works in our
public libraries, I have not attempted any description of
form or plumage, except where rare and little known
species have come under my notice in a recent state ; thus
enabling me to note down the more evanescent tints, or to
take accurate measurements before preservation.

That the very modest plans with which I commenced
my task have gradually assumed proportions I could

* The importance of affixing written particulars as to date
and locality to all cases containing rare local specimens cannot be
too strongly impressed upon collectors of stuffed birds, the absence
of any such means of identification materially affecting their value,
in a scientific as well as pecuniary sense, if subsequently disposed of.
b

X PREFACE.

never have anticipated, is owing mainly to the encouraging
suggestions of those who take a like interest in the birds
of their native county ; and though I trust that in no
instance the sources from whence I have derived informa-
tion have passed unnoticed, there are still some friends to
whom my thanks are especially due.

To Mr. J. H. Gurney and Professor Newton I am
indebted not only for the interest they evinced from
the first in the objects I haA'^e had in view, but for the
invaluable assistance afforded me through their perfect
acquaintance with ornithological subjects, whether local
or general. To the latter, also, I owe the advantage of
a personal supervision of these pages, whilst passing
through the press, an act of genuine friendship which
will ever be held by me in very grateful remembrance.

Through the courtesy of the late Sir William Hooker
I have been enabled to include several very interesting
MS. notes, made by himself and other naturalists at
Yarmouth and its environs, between 1807 and 1840 ; and
to Mrs. E. P. Clarke, of Wymondham, I am similarly
indebted for extracts from the private memoranda of the
late Mr. Edward Lombe, when forming his magnificent
collection of British birds.

The Rev. E. W. Dowell, of Dunton, whose practical
knowledge, as a sportsman and naturalist, of the forms and
habits of our littoral species renders his information of
peculiar value, has also, in the most liberal manner,
placed his MS. notes entirely at my disposal, which,
I need scarcely remark, will add materially to the com-
pleteness of the latter portion of the work.*

* Mr. Gr. D. Berney has very kindly forwarded me particulars
of tlie protection afforded to the Barn-Owl, on his father's estate
at Morton, and in other parts of the county, but these having unfor-
tunately reached me too late for insertion in my notes on that
species, will appear in an appendix to the second volume, with the
latest incidents of any special interest.

PKEFACE. XI

To those correspondents, also, in different parts of tlie
county, wIlo have supplied me with the earliest intimation
of rare occurrences in their respective districts, I here
beg to express my best acknowledgments. But for their
kindly co-operation many important facts would, in all
probability, have escaped my notice, and in recording the
names of Capt. Longe and Mr. F. F. Frere, of Yarmouth ;
Mr. Rising, of Horsey ; Mr. Newcome, of Feltwell ; the
Rev. H. T. Frere, of Burston ; Mr. Dix, of West Harling ;
Mr. F. Norgate, of Sparham ; the Rev. T. Fulcher, of
Old Buckenham; and Mr. T. Southwell, of Fakenham, I
feel no little pride in having interested so many zealous
naturalists and collectors in the occupation of my leisure
hours.

Nor can I omit testifying at the same time to the
unvarying civility and assistance I have received from
our provincial taxidermists. To the late Mr. John Sayer,
his assistant Mr. Gunn, and Mr. Knights, of Norwich, I
owe many opportunities of examining in the flesh the rarer
specimens that have passed through their hands for some
years past, and in most cases of ascertaining, by dissection,
peculiarities of food, or internal construction. My thanks
are also due for various communications to Mr. Ellis, of
Swaffham, and Mr. Baker, of Cambridge, as well as to Mr.
Phear and Mr. Cole, but recently established in this city.

In conclusion, I may state that as a contribution only
to the wider field of British ornithology, I have adopted
both the nomenclature and systematic arrangement of
Yarrell's " British Birds," as being the most familiar and,
therefore, easiest of reference. In svich few cases, however,
as I have deemed it necessary to differ, even from such an
authority, for the sake of specific distinction, (vide Falm
candicans, SaUcaria strepera, &c.), the motive for so doing
has been fully explained in the text.

It would be needless to offer any comment upon the
productions of Mr. Wolf's gifted pencil, but having been

Xll PREFACE.

fortunate enougli to secure his services, I have additional
gratification in remarking the care and skill with which
his exquisite drawings have been re-produced by the
colourist Mr. William Smith, and Messrs. Hanhart and
Co., the lithographic printers.

The Frontispiece to the present volume was executed
by Messrs. Wolf and Jury, from a water-colour drawing
taken on the spot by Mr. Eeeve, Curator of the Norfolk
and Norwich Museum.

H. S.

Norwich,

December, 1866.

INTEODUCTION.

Norfolk, bounded on tlie north and east bj the Grerman
Ocean and the great estnarj of the Wash, is insulated,
as it were, in every other direction by rivers — the
Waveney and Little Ouse dividing it from Suffolk on
the south, and the Great Ouse, Welney, and Nene from
Cambridgeshire on the west. In form it is nearly oval,
being in length about sixty-five miles, from Yarmouth
on the east to the most westerly point at Walton on the
Ouse, and in width extends just forty miles, from Blakeney
on the north to the Waveney at Lopham on the south.
Its circumference, taking the coast line at high water
mark, may be reckoned at two hundred and twelve
miles; and, geographically speaking, it lies between
52 deg. 22 min. and 53 deg. 1 min. North Latitude,
and 9 min. and 1 deg. 42 min. East Longitude from
the meridian of Greenwich.

Thus favourably situated with reference to the
opposite coast of Holland, which presents so many
features in common ; as well as to the north-east coast
of our own island and the west coast of Norway, the
pre-eminence of Norfolk, as a rich ornithological
district, is sufficiently accounted for, independently of
the favourable conditions afforded by the diversity of
its soil and sudden transitions from one formation to
another. As a maritime county, also, with a projecting
coast-line — extending over eighty miles from Yarmouth
on the extreme eastern point to Lynn and Marsh-
land on the north-west, this inviting district forms

XIV INTKODUCTION.

not only a place of ^^call" for periodical migrants, but a
welcome haven to the storm-driven wanderer or chance
straggler from all quarters of the globe. Birds in their
wanderings are apt to follow coast lines,^ especially in
autumn, when seeking their winter quarters to the
southward — a bird, therefore, striking the east coast of
Scotland, or north-east of England, follows the land
southward and is ^' brought up " sharp by Norfolk,
which first presents an obstacle to its soutlierly progress.
Consequently its stay here is somewhat protracted, and
it becomes observed, and most commonly killed if rare or
particularly attractive in plumage. And thus it happens
that a classified listf of the birds of Norfolk shows an
excess of migrants over residents amounting to nearly
two-thirds, whilst the latter are even outnumbered by
rare and accidental visitants. However much then the
habits of certain birds may have been affected, of late
years, by local causes, the actual number of species in
the Norfolk list appears still on the increasej — the
study of ornithology as a popular science having led
to the identification of many formerly overlooked, and
rarities being far too keenly sought for to pass long
unnoticed.

* Birds, also, striking the coast of Norway, and following that to
the Naze, attempt to cross the North Sea in the same general direc-
tion, and consequently alight upon Norfolk. In this way Professor
Newton is inclined to explain the occasional appearance on our
coast of American Sandpipers and Ducks.

t A statistical table of species will be found appended to the
second volume, showing under the head of Residents the indi-
genous birds, and those which receive additions to their numbers
in autumn and winter; and under the head of Migrants, the
periodical, occasional, and accidental visitants.

X In 1846 Messrs. Gurney and Fisher gave the total number of
species as two hundred and seventy- seven, and yet omitting two
or three hitherto included on insufficient authority, they amount
to not less than two hundred and ninety-one at the present time.

INTKODUCTION. XV

In taking a general survey of the conntyj with refer-
ence simply to its attractions for the feathered tribe, the
whole area appears divisible into, at least, six different
sections, each possessing some featui-es of a distinctive
character, adapting it specially for the habitation of
certain species. At the same time there are a few
birds, and those chiefly belonging to the Insessorial
order, that have a general distribution, their numbers
varying only according to local conditions of food or
temperature. These faunal divisions, then, if one may
so term them, may be thus enumerated : —

1st. The "Broad" district in the vicinity of the
coast, on the extreme eastern boundary.

2nd. The " Cliff" district lying further to the north,
with its furze covered hills, heaths, " half year" lands,
and richly wooded valleys, contrasting strangely with
the bleak level of the eastern fens.

3rd. The "Meal" district with its warrens on
the coast, its flat shores, creeks, and saltmarshes ; yet in
close vicinity to some of the finest estates and most
picturesque spots in the county.

4th. The " Breck " district to the west and south-
west— formerly the haunt of the Great Bustard (Otis
tarda), and now the home of the Norfolk Plover
(JEdicneinus crepitans) — with its wide open fields of
hght land, mixed with some of the wildest and most
extensive tracts in the county of heath, fir-covert,
warren, and sheep-walk.

5th. The "Fen" district, being a portion of the
Great Bedford Level, which, commencing close to the
border-town of Brandon, extends over the south-
western part of the county to Lynn, and still retains,
in spite of drainage and cultivation, sufiicient traces of
its normal character to constitute a separate section.

6th. The " Inclosed " district in the eastern division
of the county, more particularly around Norwich and

XVI INTRODUCTION.

in the south-eastern corner, with its small fields,
clustering homesteads, rich meadows, and well timbered
hedge-rows.

THE BROAD DISTRICT.

To enter more fully, however, into the physical
peculiarities of these different sections, we shall com-
mence with the Broad District, both as possessing the
greatest amount of interest for the naturalist and sports-
man, and presenting, notwithstanding the results of
agricultural enterprise, certain local conditions peculiar
to the north-eastern portions of Norfolk and Suffolk. It
is only necessary, as Mr. Lubbock remarks, to draw an
imaginary triangle on the map from Lowestoft to
Norwich, and thence in a north-easterly direction to the
sea at Happisburgh, to include the whole of that " great
alluvial flat, once the bed of the Garienis ostium,'*
whose sluggish waters give rise to those shallow lakes
or lagoons, here locally termed Broads. It is, more-
over, worthy of notice that the wide extent of coast-line
which would thus form the base of the triangle,
presents (with the exception of a low range of cliffs
between Lowestoft and Yarmouth) the same level
features as the surrounding country. The flat sandy
shore, raised here and there by beds of '' shingle,"
is backed only by such natural barriers against the
influx of the tides, as are presented by the undulations
of the grassy " Denes " in the vicinity of Yarmouth,
or the "Marram" hills, extending northward as far as
Happisburgh, which consist of steep banks of blown
sand loosely bound together with the roots of marram'^
(Arundo arenaria) and other grasses. Further inland,
again, are marshes in every stage of reclamation, and an

* This local word is nearly identical with the Danish name of
the same plant, Marehalm — i.e., Mere-haulm or sea-straw.

INTRODUCTION. XVll

extensive warren at Winterton has peculiar attractions
for tlie larg-er Raptorial migrants.

With, no more decided boundary between the two
counties than the rivers Wavenej and Little Ouse, it is
impossible to speak of the Norfolk Broads without
reference also to those of the sister county, since the
mere accident of a bird's landing a few yards further
to the north or south may decide the claims of either
to some rare specimen. On the Suffolk side of the
Waveney, then, are Lake Lothing, Oulton, and Fritton
waters (the latter with a decoy still in working order), all
of which have contributed much to the avi-fauna of that
county ; and nearest to these, within our own boundary,
and immediately abutting on the town of Great Yarmoutli,
lies the far famed Breydon. This great tidal basin, the
common embouchure of the Yare, the Waveney, and the
Bare on their seaward course towards the mouth of the
Haven, presents, alternately, a wide sheet of shallow
water, three miles in length and a mile and a-half in width,
or extensive mud " flats" when the converging streams
are confined for a time to their narrow channels. At
flood tide, however, the navigable portions are indicated
by long lines of posts on either side, and thus wherries
and other light craft are enabled to avoid the shoals.
It is impossible to imagine a spot more attractive than
this both to the grallatorial and natatorial tribes, the
"flats," at low water, affording throughout the year
an inexhaustible supply of food in the shape of Crustacea,
Ilollusca, and various aquatic insects. The harder the
winter the g-reater are the flocks of Dunlins and other
Tringce, Gulls, and wild fowl collected here as to one
common banquet, when frozen out from more inland
waters; and incredible almost are the numbers killed
in some seasons by the gunners, whose flat-bottomed
boats float in the little creeks, or are pushed easily over
the "muds" when a "lumping" shot presents itself.

XVlll INTKODUOTION.

Pi^obablj more rare birds have been killed on Breydoii
tlian in any other part of the United Kingdom ; and
since, owing- to the experienced eyes and constant
watchfulness of our fowlers few rarities escape them,
in several instances, as shown by Yarrell and others,
species new to the British list have been procured
here for the first time.^ A low embankment surrounds
the whole area of these "^ flats," and protects the sur-
I'onnding marshes, now drained for grazing purposes,
from constant inundation ; but they are still at times
laid under water from the eiFects of extremely high
tides, or a rainy season, and are then as attractive as
ever to the ducks and waders. This large tract of
marshes, both salt and fresh water, stretches away for
miles to the north of Yarmouth running parallel with
and close to the sand-hills at Ormesby, Hemsby, and
Winterton, and the saline character of those nearest
to Breydon, as at Caister, Burgh, and Bradwell, is
indicated by the large number of shrimps and other
Crustacea to be found in the drains.

Could we now, looking inland from the "Denes" at
Yarmouth, obtain a sufficiently elevated position — say
from the summit of the Nelson Column, if twice its
present height, we might take a literally "bird's eye"
view of this singularly level district; and tracing
back from its junction with Breydon the winding
course of the Bure, and its tributaries the Ant and the
Thurne, should perceive, with a g*ood glass, the exact
localities of the principal Broads in this neighbourhood.
First of all, looking in a north-westerly direction over
the town of Yarmouth, and within five or six miles,
Filby, RoUesby, and Ormesby, a perfect cluster of small

* Amongst these may be noticed the Broad-billed and Pectoral
Sandpipers (Trlnga platyrhynclia and T. •pectoralis), the Buffel-
headed Duck (Fuligula albeola), and the Hooded Merganzer
(Mergm cucidlatus.j

INTRODUCTION. XIX

lakes, would attract our notice, and appear, probably, in
the distance as one large slieet of water. From
Ormesbj, the Yarmouth Water Works receive their
supply, and the whole chain, comprising some seven
hundred acres, discharges through the "Muck-fleet"
into the Bure, below Acle Bridge. Beyond these, and
somewhat further to the north, we should see Martham
Broad on the Thurne, and connected also with the
" Hundred stream," on the further bank, Ludham
Broad, and the wide expanse of Heigham Sound,
communicating both with Hickling and Horsey Mere.
Hickling Broad, with the exception of Breydon, the
most extensive, is computed at upwards of three miles
in circumference, and covers about four hundred acres ;
Horsey Mere, within a mile of the sea, one hundred
and thirty acres.'^ Further still, in the distance and
to the west of Hickling, a bright glimmer amongst
the trees would mark the site of another group,
including the fine waters of Barton and Irstead, with
Stalham and Sutton Broads in close proximity, all
communicating at various points with the navigable
river Ant. And Dilham Broad, within three miles of
Happisburgh, with East Ruston Common (one of the
few "wet" commons now remaining in Norfolk), would
still come within the limits of our imaginary triangle.

Again, tracing back the course of the "reluctant
Bure" from its junction with Breydon water, we should
find, massed together as it were, between the mouth of
the Thurne and Wroxham Bridge, South Walsham Broad
and Eanworth, with its decoy, Salhouse, Wroxham, and

* The estimated extent of tlie larger Broads lias been taken
from "White's Gazetteer" and ISTall's "Handbook of Great Yarmouth
and Lowestoft." I have never been able to obtain a satisfactory
explanation why Horsey should be so commonly termed a Mere,
whilst all similar waters, in this neighbourhood, are as constantly
called Broads.

XX INTRODUCTION.

tlie two Hovetons, each presenting in some degree
distinctive features, though alike in their general aspect.
Here, twisting and turning in its dubious course, the
river itself resembles the main channel of some gigantic
Broad, its narrow borders being still farther contracted
by encroaching vegetation and the mud and shoals
which almost stop the navigation in some places.
Drainage has effected but little change in these wild
districts, preserved, as they are for the most part, for
sporting purposes, and the level marshes below Acle
Bridge, with their lofty steam mills and trim margins,
give place, as we proceed up-stream, to a more natural
and unrestrained fertility. Deep sedgy "ronds" or
dense masses of reeds and rushes, shut out, at times,
the adjacent marshes. On the one hand a wide expanse
of swampy ground, relieved here and there with belts of
alder and birch, or dwarf coverts, suggestive of Pheasants
andWoodcocks in autumn, blends Broad with Broad ; on
the other, some slight recess in the waving reed-screen is
covered in summer with a profusion of water-lilies ; or
an alder-carr, fringing the water's edge, casts a grateful
shade in strange contrast to the surrounding glare.
Everywhere the rich aquatic herbage teems with bird-
life. Reed and Sedge-Warblers (Salicaria strepera and
8. 'phragmitis) , with their constant companion, the
Black-headed Bunting (Emheriza schceniclusj , are heard
on all sides, and occasionally, though yearly becoming
more scarce, the beautiful little Bearded-Titmice (Gala-
mophilus hiarmicusj may be seen uttering their sweetly
musical notes as they flit amongst the reeds. Coots,
Rails, and Water-Hens, appear and disappear at every
bend. Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridihundus), from
their breeding grounds at Hovoton, mingle their inces-
sant cries with the warning notes of the Lapwing
(Vanellus cristatus) and Redshank (Totanus calidrisj,
and the Common Snipe (Scolopax gaUinago), which here

INTRODUCTION. XXI

breeds regularly and in considerable numbers, adds its
strange drumming noise, at intervals, to this " armony of
fowles." Wild Ducks (Anas hoschas) in large quantities,
and many a " coil " of Teal (A. crecca) are also reared
on these waters, and afford good " flapper " shooting in
July and August ; and of the rarer species that may
still be named as summer residents on the larger Broads,
are the Shoveller (A.clypeata), Garganey (A. querquedula) ,
and Great-crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) ; the Euff
(Machetes pugnaxj, now confined entirely to Hielcling,
and the Marsh-Harrier (Circus ceruginosusj , if by chance
escaping the doom of its race. The Spotted-Crake
(Grex porzana), as well as the common Water-E,ail
(Rallus aquaticus), nest in the almost impenetrable
swamps, which accounts for their eggs being so rarely
obtained; and the accidental discovery, at Potter-
Heigham, during the past summer, of the nests and
eggs of Baillon's Crake (Crex haillonii), never before
known to breed in Norfolk, shows that even greater
rarities may pass unobserved in such localities.

It would be needless to enumerate every little pool
which, surrounded by a wide tract of marsh, or reed-
ground, derives its local appellation from some adjacent
village. Of such there are many scattered here and
there, these waters varying in size, as Mr. Lubbock
remarks, from the " provincial pulk-hole to the wide
expanded lake," but those above mentioned comprise
all, in this neighbourhood at least, deserving of special
notice.

The Yare, in its less winding course between
Norwich and Yarmouth, with a stronger current and
a deeper channel, gives rise to but three of these
shallow backwaters — Surlingham, Rockland, and Has-
singham — -which complete our list. The first of these,
within five or six miles of Norwich, and comprising,
with the surrounding marshes, nearly a hundred acres.

XXll INTRODUCTION.

is situated in tlie valley between Brundall and Coldham-
Hall, and has two outlets to the river. Further
down, but also communicating with the main stream,
is Rockland, covering- about sixty acres ; and Has-
singham, a much smaller but exceedingly pretty
Broad hes on the opposite side between Buckenham
and Cantley. In this locality, however, in strange
contrast to the banks of the Bure, cultivation
and drainage assert their supremacy. The Great
Eastern Railway, between Norwich and Yarmouth,
traverses some of the finest Snipe grounds of former
days, and, where Ruffs and Reeves abounded at no
distant period, grazing stock find pasturage at almost
all seasons. A considerable outlay also of late years
for dredging and setting back the ferries and other
obstructions, has deepened and widened the bed of
the river, and though broad " ronds" between Buck-
enham and Reedham, covered with a profusion of
coarse vegetation, afford ample harbour for many marsh
breeding birds, there is still a certain trimness, as com-
pared with the Bure, which accounts at once for the
absence of several former denizens."^ Yet, if these are

* The Rev. Kirby Trimmer, in his " Flora of Norfolk," treating
of the geological formations of the county with reference to the
distribution of plants, thus speaks of the peat in the alluvial
district of East Norfolk : — " The peat of the Yare borders both
sides of the river with an average breadth of about a mile and
a-half from the Yare and Waveney canal to Surlingham ; above
which to Trowse, near Norwich, it contracts to half a-mile. The
widest part of the peat of the Bure is below the confluence of the
Ant and the Hundred Stream with that river, the breadth varying
from three miles at its northei^n and southern extremities, to about
a mile and a-half in the centre. Along the separate course of
these streams the breadth of the peat varies from half a-mile to a
mile on the banks of the Bure, from its junction with the Ant to
Wroxham; on the banks of the Ant from the junction before
mentioned to Stalham Broad ; and on the banks of the Hundred

INTKODUCTION. XXIll

■wanting on the reclaimed lands, their place is taken
during the nesting season by immense numbers of
ground-breeders amongst the Insessorial birds, such as
Larks, Pipits, Buntings, and Wagtails ; and the same
marshes in autumn and winter are frequented, in large
numbers, by Starlings, Jackdaws, and Rooks, attracted
in a great measure by the presence of the stock. A
few Lapwings still haunt the rougher spots, in spite
of constant persecvition, and in the marsh drains the
patient Heron (Arclea cinereaj, knee-deep, waits its

prey —

" Where Coots in rushy dingles hide.
And Moorcocks shun the day."

Though differing much in their general features,
the Broads are still characterised, more or less, by
the shallowness of their waters. Wroxham certainly
affords depth enough for an annual regatta, and a
similar water frolic is held occasionally at Hickling,
but the latter is nowhere more than five feet deep, and
the channel, but indifferently marked out with stakes,
is by no means easy of navigation. Many are accessible
only by means of flat-bottomed boats, and even these
get aground in some places on the peaty bottom,
which may be seen only a few inches below the water,
wherever duck-weed or other minute vegetation has
not coated the surface. Some, as at Ranworth, Barton,
Wroxham, and Horsey, present a wide expanse of
water, surrounded by reed-beds and rushy borders, with
occasional islets of a similar growth ; or shrubs and
plantations of birch and alder sloping gradually down
to the water's edge. Others with a variety of little

Stream to Hickling and Horsey Broads. The upper parts of the
Yare and Wensum above Normch, and of the Bure and Ant above
"Wroxham and Stalham, as well as their tributary streams, are, in
many places, fringed with peaty meadows, varying from one-eighth
to one-fourth of a mile in breadth."

XXIV INTEODUCTION.

channels traversing the reed-beds in all directions, or
with small reed-locked pools, opening into each other by
the narrowest '^gat-ways," offer unquestionably the
prettiest and most novel effects. How long, in this
utilitarian age, these last strongholds of so many marsh-
loving species may still be spared to us, it is hard to
speculate, when we consider the marvellous changes
effected during the last fifty years in our own and
adjoining counties. Whittlesea Mere, which once ex-
tended over sixteen hundred acres, with a circumference
of not less than nine miles, no longer exists. The
railroad and the plough have alike passed over its
reclaimed soil ; and the fen districts in the south-
western parts of Norfolk, have, of late years, under-
gone an exactly similar change. But, independently
of reclamation by artificial means, and the gradual
substitution of waving corn crops for the swampy
growth of reeds and rushes, there are other and
natural causes at work, which, unchecked by man, must
eventually close up a great many of these Broads.
Wherever on the more strictly preserved waters, the
reeds and rushes are left uncut to afford better harbour
for the fowl, the gradual decay and subsidence of such
vegetable matter, added to the rapid growth of the
bog-moss and tussucky grasses, quickly chokes up the
water-courses, and in an incredibly short space of time
affords a footing, firm enough at least for a dog to pass
over. At Suriingham, from this very cause, some few
channels, which were traversable by boats six or
seven years ago, are fast filling up, and there is no
doubt that many of the smaller pools, now presenting
scarcely more water than a large sized fish-pond, were
far more extensive in former times.* It is also supposed

* The Rev. John Gunn, in his " Geology of Norfolk," published
in the third edition of " White's Gazetteer," says — " The discovery
of several coins in digging turf in Cat held, near Ludham, the

INTRODUCTION. XXV

that this consolidating process is accelerated to a great
extent by the soil, washed down after floods, from the
roads and uplands ; but whether this be the case or
not, there seems little doubt that wherever a peaty sub-
stratum is permitted to carry on its reclamatory action,
the existence of such a Broad, as a shallow reservoir,
becomes a mere question of time. Hickling, of course,
with a gravelly foundation, is free from danger on
this account. As to the rest we must hope that the
marketable value of reeds and rushes will henceforth
increase, and the area of demand be extended far beyond
our own borders. Thus by a yearly harvesting of
such marsh produce, the slow processes of nature might
be effectually checked, and the majority of our Broads
preserved to us for many years to come, to afford
sport and pastime to the gunner and angler, and hours
of recreation to the scientific collector of birds, plants,
and insects. Yet, even now, though in many places
cultivation borders closely upon the actual swamps, a
stranger visiting these watery wastes, would — amidst
the luxuriance of the aquatic herbage, and the stillness,
broken only by nature's sounds — experience such a
feeling of perfect isolation as few would deem it possible
to realise, at the present day, anywhere in the old
country.

Before quitting the Broads, properly so called, it
may be as well to allude, here, to several natural pools
or " Meres," which are all situated within a compara-
tively small area near the southern boundaries of the
county. These inland waters, originating in landsprings,

latest of which was of the reign of Edward YI., proves that there
was water when the coins were sunk, and the peat has grown up
since, and become a sohd turf ground. It is formed by the annual
growth and decay of several marsh plants, as the Typha latifolia,
and angustifoUa, Seirpus lacustris, Cladium mariscus, &c., and
is estimated at the rapid growth of a foot in twenty years."
d

XXVI INTRODUCTION.

and increased bv the sm-face drainage into their -wide
basins, have also great attractions for aquatic species ;
and, existing for the most part on private property, are
subject to but Httle distiu-bance. In size and depth
they vai*y considei*ably. The largest at Scoulton, which
from time immemorial has been a breeding place of the
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridihiin<ii(s), covers with the
*• hearth" or flat island in the middle, over seventy acres,
and is a mile and thi^ee-quarters in cii'cumference ; but
in some places it is quite possible to wade across to the
island. BLingham Mere, within two miles of Scoulton,
covers over twenty acres ; Saham, near Watton, twelve
acres ; and Diss Mere, in the revj centre of that town,
five acres — the latter, thoiigh the smallest, having
an averag-e depth of seventeen and a-half feet. Besides
these, in the parishes of East and West Wretham, near
Thetford,"^ are several similar pools, varviug from about
twenty roods to fifty acres in extent, and on some of
these waters, which are strictly preserved. Teal, Shovel-
lers, and Grarganey, are known to breed, and even the

* A new and peculiar interest has been excited of late yeai's in
these Wretham Meres, fi'om the discovery thi-otigh di-aiuage, and
the emptying out of the mud, of the remains of " pile buildings"
resembling the ancient lacustrine habitations of Switzerland.
Professor Xewton, in a paper read before the Cambridge Philoso-
phical Society in 1862, gives a most interesting account of the
discovery made by AIi-. Bii-ch of Wretham, when draining " "West
Mere" in 1851, and the " Great Mere" in the same locaHty in 1856.
Both in West Mei'e, with about eight feet of mud, and in Great
Mere, with not less than twenty feet, in some places, hundreds of
bones were discovered, consisting almost entirely of the red-deer
(Cervus elephus) and the now extinct Bos longifrons, but amongst
these was a goat's skull, and the skull of a boar or pig. In this
district, also, was made the singular discovery, for the fii'st time
in the British Islands, of the remains of comparatively recent
specimens of the Em'opean Fresh-water Tortoise {Emys hdariaj.
Tide "Annals and Magazine of Natural History," 3rd sei'ies,
vol. X., p. '22i, pis. vi., vii.

INTEODUCTION. XXVH

Eed-headed Pochard (Fuligula ferinaj has been seen
during the summer months. On most of the large
estates, also, throughout the county, extensive lakes
and other ornamental waters, adorn the finely timbered
parks and pleasure grounds, a two-fold attraction for
the feathered race ; and besides the rivers already
mentioned, the Wensum, Tas, Thet, Wissey, Grlaven,
Nar, and Babingley, with a few smaller streams, and
one or two canals, constructed for navigable purposes,
permeate the county in all directions and fully maintain
the reputation of Norfolk as a well watered district.

THE CLIFF DISTRICT.

To continue our survey of the coast-line, the Cliff
District, with its surrounding country, presents a
strangely different scene. The wide expanse of sands
and shingly deposits are still there, but the sand-hills
give place to a long range of ^^mud" cliffs extending
some twenty mUes between Happisburgh and Wey-
bourne. These diluvial formations, for the most part
varying in thickness from twenty to a hundred feet,
attain their greatest altitude (about two hundred and
fifty feet), in the neighbourhood of Cromer, and thence,
rising or falling in like manner as they proceed west-
ward, are suddenly lost altogether beneath the deep bed
of flints on Weybourne beach. Composed chiefly of
consolidated mud and blue clay, with "pockets" of
gravel, sand, chalk, or marl, their various " contortions"
have a special interest for the geologist, apart from
the richness of their shelly fragments and the fossil
treasures of the mammaliferous crag. Landsprings,
from time to time undermining the soil, bring down
huge masses on to the beach to be consumed at leisure
by the encroaching waves, and the debris thus carried
away and deposited again far out to sea, helps to form
those sands and shoals which render our coast so

XXVUl INTRODUCTION.

extremely dangerous. The entire face of the cliffs
shows evidences of these combined forces. In some places
precipitous from top to bottom ; in others, with a loose
gravelly soil, they slope gradually to the beach ; and
frequent evidences of former land-slips exist in the deep
indents of the upper surface, and in the grass covered
boulders, of all shapes and sizes, that form a rugged
undercliff. In these wild tracts the roving flocks of
Linnets and Finches find a rich seed-bed, and Chats,
Wagtails, and Titlarks, a safe resting place when scared
from their haunts above. Beneath the brow of the cliff
the softer portions are perforated almost continuously
by Sand-Martins (Rirundo ripariaj, and the Kestril
(Falco tinnunculus) breeds occasionally in some con-
venient fissure, but beyond these, in the actual face
of the cliff, there are no feathered residents. Between
Mundesley and Sherringham are several lofty bluffs,
which, though wanting the grandeur of the chalk
precipices on our southern shores, are noble objects as
viewed from the beach, and here and there the outline
of the cliffs is broken by a deep ravine or " gangway *'
communicating with the neighbouring village. A clear
run of water, half hidden by the verdure it creates
around, trickles through the hollow to the sands below,
a tempting spot to the weary migrant, and one which,
at all seasons, like an oasis in the desert, is enlivened
by the notes or sprightly forms of our smaller feathered
residents. At the base of the cliffs also, extending
without interruption between Cromer and Sherringham,
are large beds of flints denuded from the chalk,
locally termed " rocks " ; and these, together with
other "travelled fragments" of true primitive rocks
form, to some extent, a barrier against the inroads
of the sea, which, at low water, exposes their
rugged surfaces, picturesquely covered with seaweeds
— green, red, and brown. In some parts the chalk

INTRODUCTION. XXIX

itself crops out above the sands, in others the sands
envelope the "rocks," and in the little pools just left
by the waves (nature's aquaria on the grandest scale), a
dainty feast awaits the littoral tribes in the shape of
various shell-fish, sand-worms, and insects, with an
abundant supply of Crustacea in shrimps, crabs, and
'^jumpers." Here Rooks and Gulls, in strange contrast,
assemble in flocks during autumn and winter ; wander-
ing Terns and Tringce of different kinds often pause in
their flight as they pass along the coast, and the
plaintive whistle of the Ringed-Plover (Charadrius
hiaticula) is heard at all seasons at the fall of the tide.

Above cliff, throughout the entire range, we find
such an alternation of hill and dale, heath, arable,
pasture, and woodland as suggests at once an abundant
representation of nearly every family amongst our
Insessorial and Rasorial birds. In some parts cultiva-
tion extends almost to the edge of the precipice ; in
others, and more especially in the vicinity of Cromer,
gentle undulations are covered with the richest turf,
and grassy knolls rise here and there from the plains
with their sloping sides, and intersecting valleys,
covered with a profusion of broom, furze, and brakes,
enlivened with the sprightly actions of Chats and
Titlarks. Strictly preserved and admirably adapted for
sporting purposes, there is here no lack of game.
Rabbits burrow in all directions in the loose sandy
soil, and their holes, when deserted, form the usual
nesting places of the few Wheatears that frequent
these hills in summer. The Grey-Partridge, (Perdix
cinerea), everywhere plentiful, affords splendid shooting
on these rough grounds ; and the French Partridge
(Perdix rufaj from causes elsewhere mentioned, has
also of late become exceedingly numerous. Beyond
Cromer again to the westward, a wide breadth of
pasturage, only occasionally encroached upon for

XXX INTRODUCTION.

purposes of cultivation, skirts tlie edge of the cliffs
to their furthest extent ; and, more particularly at
Runton the banks and pathways exhibit in summer
such a profusion of wild flowers as never fails to attract
the notice and admiration of visitors.'^ The luxuriance
of their growth is not less surprising than the variety
of colour, nor can we wonder at the flocks of Linnets,
Finches, Buntings, and Larks that seek the fragrant
shelter of these flowery pastures during the nesting
season, and feast in the autumn, with their young
broods, on the rich harvest of seeds. The great Corn-
Bunting (Emberiza oniliaria), amongst others, is very
abundant in this locality, and its nest, on the ground,
is not unfrequently hidden amongst the thick growth
of the modest " rest-harrow."

Still further inland a second range of hills, running
parallel with, and extending beyond, the cliffs, adds
greatly to the beauty of this romantic scenery, which,
in places, may bear comparison with many choice spots
on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. From these
grassy heights, covered, in many parts, with furze,
brakes, and heather, or thickly planted along their sides
and hollows, a perfect panorama of the district presents
itself; and, looking seawards, the valley beneath is
so thickly dotted with clustering villages that one fails
not to recall the quaint old couplet — •

" Giminghain, Trimingham, Knapton, and Trunch,
I^orthrepps, and Soutlirepps, are all of a buncli."

* "Walter White, in his charming work on " Eastern England
from the Thames to the Humber," specially mentions this floral
luxuriance, greater than he had observed in any other part of
the English coast, and suggests the probability that the presence
of chalk and marl in the cliffs may have something to do with it.
He also states, on the authority of Professor Babington, "that out
of one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven species of flowering
plants found in Britain, one thousand and sixty-seven are found in
ITorfolk."

INTKODUCTION XXXI

The chequered fields lie mapped out before us, mixed with
dark patches of wood and belts of fir-covert ; or strips
of heath, and village greens with little rivulets winding
their shallow course towards the " falls " by the sea,
afford the truest characteristics of an English landscape.
At Eiunton, also, the "half-year" lands, or unenclosed
portions of the parish, present a singular appearance
from the fields, being divided, according to ancient
custom, by a " mere balk " or boundary instead of
fences ; the " balks " consisting of small strips of land,
from one to two feet in width, which are never ploughed,
and being usually covered with a rough growth of
thistles and grasses, are frequented, in large numbers,
by seed eating birds. Looking, too, from so command-
ing a situation, over the wide expanse of the German
Ocean, one can fully realise the attractions of such
a coast to the migratory species. In close vicinity the
plantations at Bacton, Northrepps, Felbrigg, Cromer-
Hall, Beeston, and Sherringham, invite our summer
warblers to *'rest and be thankful," and the large
flights of Woodcocks that arrive during autumn and
winter, here drop into cover on their first arrival or,
passing on but a short distance, as the crow flies, reach
the still more extensive woods"^ at Gunton, Hanworth,
Barningham, Wolterton, Blickling, and Westwick.
Amongst the fine old timbers on these large estates,
the arboreal birds are plentifully distributed, with the
exception only of the prescribed Eaptors. Of this class,
however, many autumnal migrants are either trapped
or shot on the hills near the coast, and at times, in

* As Mr. Trimmer remarks, in his " Flora of ISTorfolk," " There
are but few traces of natural woods remaining. Of the numerous
other woods, more strictly speaking plantations, those at Eaynham,
Houghton-juxta-Harpley, Mileham, Blickling, Wolterton, Gunton,
Thursford, Swanton Novers, and Foxley, may be specified as some
of the oldest and most extensive."

XXXU INTRODUCTION.

hard weather, even young Sea-Eagles are seen on the
high grounds at Beeston and Sherringham. Upon the
the common-lands, also, which form a portion of the
Beeston Hills, the Norfolk Plover (CEdicnemus crepitans) ,
still bred until very recently.

Between Lower Sherringham and the western
extremity of the cliffs, at Weybourne "Hope," the
shore assumes a very different aspect. Immense beds
of shingle gradually usurp the place of the sands, till
at Weybourne and Salthouse large rounded pebbles,"^
massed together to a considerable depth and covering
the whole surface of the beach, rise in long terraces
from the water's edge, and form a natural breakwater.
At Weybourne, taking advantage of the extreme depth
of water close in-shore, the International Telegraph
Company have connected their wires with a cable, laid
direct from the beach to the opposite coast of Holland,
and vessels of considerable size can here run close
in with safety. Beyond the beach is a wide tract of
marshes, still subject to partial inundations during
high tides, and a small "lagoon" or backwater thickly
covered, in part, with a coarse vegetation. At this spot
there are no shore-breeding birds, but at Salthouse,
where the pebbles again become smaller, the Lesser
Tern (Sterna minuta) and the Ringed-Plover are found
nesting on the shingle, though from the wanton destruc-
tion of these birds, and a constant system of egging,
their numbers are gradually but surely decreasing.

* Mr. Pengelly, in his geological lectures delivered in ISTorwich
in 1862, thus alluded to the extraordinary deposit of flints on
"Weybourne beach, all rounded and polished by the action of the
waves : — " Every flint proclaims trumpet-tongued the work which
it has taken innumerable ages to perform, in the destruction of
vast beds of chalk, from which these flints have been liberated.
How many ages, too, must it have taken to polish these flints so
beautifully."

INTRODUCTION. XXXlll

Parallel with tlie shore, and extending over a con-
siderable area, are the far-famed Salthouse marshes,
which, prior to their drainage and embankment, in
1851, were the resort of hundreds of wild fowl in
hard weather, and the breeding grounds of the Avocet
(Becurvirostra avocetta) within the last forty or fifty
years, when they became exterminated by the same
thoughtless persecution as is now fast depriving us of
both Terns and " Stone-runners." A shallow tidal lake,
known as Salthouse "Broad," three-quarters of a mile
wide, and situate between the high lands and the sea,
was also, prior to the general reclamation, a noted spot
for fowl and waders, and a favourite resort of the Stork
(Ciconia alba) and the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) ,
amongst the rarer grallatorial migrants; in fact, next
to Breydon, there is no point of the coast where
more rare birds have been procured than on Salthouse
beach and marshes. In the winter of 1862, owing to
extraordinary high tides, a large portion of the embank-
ments was swept away, and the waters once more
spreading over their old level, and even extending to
the wide basin of the " Broad," were soon covered with
immense flocks of Gulls and other sea-fowl; nor has
the damage then caused to the banks been altogether
repaired up to the present time. A very favourite
resort too, at this point, for Ducks and many other
aquatic species, is a long narrow back-water, running
parallel with the beach, between the raised banks on
one side and the shingle on the other. Here the local
gunners shoot most of the fowl they obtain in winter,
by lying up for them behind the banks ; and Grey
Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus), Little Auks (Mergulus
alle), and other rarities, are procured in like manner.
In sharp weather, also, it is by no means uncommon
to find the Lesser Grebe (Podiceps minor), when frozen

XXXIV INTEODTTCTION.

out from more inland waters, desporting itself on this
salt lake with the true marine Divers.

More inland, the view is bounded by hills, stretching
away to the west lilce a small mountain chffin, and wide
heaths and furzy commons, abounding in game, are
remnants of a yet vrilder district before inclosure and
cultivation effected many changes. The " stubbing up"
of such fine old woods, as till very recently existed -at
Holt and Edgefield, has all helped to change the
features of this portion of the county; but the pretty
vale of the Glaven is richly wooded, and within easy
flight from the coast, at either Weybourne or Salt-
house, are the Letheringsett plantations, with the
Kelling, Hanworth, Stody, and Hempstead preserves.
Further inland, again, are the noble park and woods
of Melton Constable, comprising altogether some
eight hundred acres, which, with those adjoining at
Swanton Novers, are the most noted for Woodcocks
of any in the county. At Hempstead, a chain of
small ponds, and a now unused decoy, lying in the
very midst of the coverts, are the constant resort in
winter of Teal, Wigeon, Pochards, and other fowl,
whilst the reed-beds and swampy borders are well
stocked with Coots, Rails, and Water-Hens. On the
great heaths and "brecks,'* also, about Weybourne,
Hempstead, and KelHng, the Lapwing, and Norfolk-
Plover bred formerly in large quantities, but are
now almost exterminated through egging and other
causes, and where large baskets full of Lapwing's
eggs were taken some twenty years ago, scarcely a
nest can be found at the present tune. The great
increase, however, in fir-plantations both here and in
other districts, and the absence of any resident Eaptores
to thin their ranks, has led to an enormous increase in
the number of W^ood-Pigeons (Columba palumhusj ; and
the Turtle-Dove (Columba turturj, not many years ago

INTRODUCTION. XXXV

considered a rare summer visitant^ is now like the
Missel-Thrush (Turdus viscivorus), extremely common.

THE MEAL DISTRICT.

Ill this District may be included the entire range
of sand-hills between Salthouse and Hunstanton, broken
only by the various creeks and small harbours which
abound on the northern portions of the Norfolk
coast. The " meals,"'^ properly so called, like the
"marram" hills in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth,
are bound together and consolidated by the roots and
fibres of such grasses as grow vigorously on the shore
in spite of winds and waves. In some places broken
up into irregular hillocks, ranged in double rows, the
occasional inroads of the sea, during spring tides, are
marked by the flat oozy plains between. In other
parts they present a bold clifl-like front, rising per-
pendicularly from the beach to the height of several
feet, with here and there a deej) bay, hollowed out by
the waves and strewn, far above the ordinary high water
mark, with the debris of shells and seaweeds.

For the most part preserved for sporting purposes,
the *^ meals" abound in Rabbits, which attract the
notice, at once, of the larger Raptorial migrants ; and
Stock Doves (Columba oenas), in large numbers, breed
in the deserted burrows, whilst a sprinkling of Wheat-
ears nest every year in the same locality. On these
barren wastes, also, so well adapted to their natural
habits, a large proportion of the Sand-grouse (8yrrha'ptes
paradoxus) that visited this county in such remarkable

* This term, used in Norfolk to designate a wild tract of sandy-
hillocks lying between the shore and the cultivated lands, is
derived from the Anglo Saxon, mael; German, mahl, a boundary;
Dutch, mceilje, a pier-head; also Icelandic mol, sti'and- sands,
strand-stones. Ir., maol, a headland, hillock, heap. [See Nail's
" Handbook of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft."]

XXXVl INTEODUCTION.

numbers in 1863 located themselves througliout the
summer, and specimens were obtained along the whole
line of coast from Blakeney to Holme, where the last
of the flight still lingered as late as November.
Of other shore-breeding species that still nest on
the sand-hills or shingle, even in this comparatively
wild district, the list is now sadly limited. The Ringed-
Plover, of course the most common, is scattered at
intervals over the entire range, and a colony or two
of the Lesser Tern frequent their old haunts on the
beach, or the noisy "crake" of the Common Tern
(Sterna hirundo) reveals their home somewhat further
from the sea, amidst the coarse herbage of an oozy
salt-marsh. Oyster-catchers (Hcematopus ostralegusj and
Sheldrakes (Tadorna vulpanser) once plentiful enough,
are to be found breeding only m small and decreasing
numbers in the most retired spots about Blakeney and
Thornham, and soon, like the Lesser and Common
Terns, must be classed with the Black Tern (Sterna
Ussipes) and Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa melanura),
the Bittern (Botaurus stellaris), the Avocet, and other
marsh-breeders, which have only ceased to be residents
within a very recent period. Stretching away for miles
at the back of the sand-hills, a wide tract of marshes,
both salt and fresh water, as at Morston, Stiff key,
and Warham, fronts the villages along the coast
beyond Holme point; and though at Burnham,
Holkham, and Cley, great changes have been effected
by extensive reclamation, the whole country is yet
strangely wild and attractive to the sporting naturalist.
Swamps, pools, and little creeks are the chief features
of the marshy levels, and the small ports and tidal
channels at Blakeney, Cley, Wells, Burnham, and
Brancaster, afford rich feedmg grounds for the shore
birds on their sandy flats. At these spots, and more
especially along the Blakeney channel, and that portion

INTKODUCTION. XXXVll

of tiie harbour called "Stiff key freshes" (where the
river " Stew" falls into the sea) many rarities in the
shape of wild fowl and other littoral species, have been
procured from time to time by the punt-gunners.

Hunstanton, alone, throughout this wide extent of
sea-board, affords an exception to the unvarying char-
acter of the Norfolk " meals ;" and here, fortunately,
owing to the encroachments of the sea at St. Edmund's
point, a solid barrier is presented to the waves by a
short but extremely interesting range of chalk cliffs,''^
flanked on either side by the brown water-worn
formation of the carstone or lower greensand. In the
deep fissures of these chalk precipices large numbers
of Starlings rear their young as well as Swifts (Cypselus
apus) and Jackdaws in smaller numbers ; and a few
Starlings, and many Sand-martins, excavate their nest-
holes in the upper portions of the carstone cliff,
where, as usual, the Sparrow occasionally usurps
possession. The Peregrine, however, (Falco peregrinus)
no longer sweeps over the edge to its " eyrie " in the
same wide clefts of the chalk, where the nest of the
" Gentil Falcon " had been found from " time imme-
morial," as recorded by Hunt, and whence, in former
days, '' eyesses " were doubtless taken to replenish
the " mews " at the Hall. With the Peregrines are
gone also the Common Guillemots (TJria troile), of
which a few pairs still lingered in their sea-girt
home till within the last thirty or forty summers,

* For the geologist the rocks at Hunstanton have a special
interest owing to the fine stratum of red chalk, which, resting on
the carstone, underlies the white chalk, and commencing in a thin
red line at the extremity nearest the Railway Station, soon attains
a thickness of about four feet, and extends nearly a mile to the
further end of the cliff. This stratum is said to be peculiar to the
counties of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire, and its colour
is attributed by most geologists to peroxide of iron.

XXXVIU INTRODUCTION.

and with Stock-doves, Gulls, and Sea-pies, served
as a convenient "quarry" for their noble neighbours.
It is much to be feared, too, that as a ^'fashionable
watering place," this locality, till lately but Httle
altered in its main features since the fowler and
falconer replenished the larder of the L'Estranges'
with the same species that are now most abundant
on the coast,"^ will be despoiled altogether of its former
attractions.

The peculiarly flat shores of the Wash, and the
distance to which the tide recedes at low water,
exposes an immense tract of sands teeming with marine
life in the shape of worms and shell-fish, and covered
with little runs and pools of water. Beyond these,
extensive mussel-scalps, runnmg far out into the
sea, afford a constant supply of food at all seasons
to both wading and swimming birds; and rough
marshes beyond the sand-hills, with small springs of
fresh water, are tempting resting places for the migra-
tory fowl, and are still the haunt of a few pairs of
Eedshanks and Lapwings during the breeding season.
No sooner are the mussel-scalps exposedf in long

* The birds mentioned most frequently in tlie "Househ.old and
privy purse accounts" are Curlews, Spowes (Whimbrels), Plov's,
Eedeshancks, Knotts, Stynts, Sedotterels, Malards, and Telys.

f On examining the largest of thsse living breakwaters, which
extends in a circular form about half a mile, the whole mass will
be found composed entirely of myriads upon myriads of small mussels
from half an inch to an inch and a half in length, all firmly fixed in
the sand with their broadest ends uppermost, and bound and matted
together with their fibrous threads or " byssus." To tear up one is
to remove a score, and so much are they thus supported by each
other that even treading upon them seems of little consequence.
Buried in the soft sands they merely give way with a springy
sensation beneath the pressure of the feet, and even horses and
carts traverse them from end to end, and carry off tons of these
prolific molluscs, as manure for the land. Boundless, however,

INTKODUCTION. XXXIX

black lines, by the falling tide, like some huge Whale
rising from the " vasty deep," than Gulls, before unseen
for hours, with all the punctuality of instinct appear
at once, and dot the surface with their glistening
plumage. Sanderlings (Galidris arenaria), Whimbrels
(Numenius phceo^pusj, Turnstones (Strepsilas interpres).
Dunlins (Tringa variabilis) , and Grey Plover (Squatarola
cinerea), each in separate flocks, seek the same goal,
their numbers varying only with the mildness or severity
of the season, and cautious Curlews (Numenius arquata)
in extended line, come slowly flapping to the general
feast. Oyster-catchers by hundreds throng the water's
edge, and further out in the direction of the " Oyster
sea" — where many kinds of fish abound, and where
occasionally a Seal (Phoca vitulina) may be seen sunning
itself on the raised sand-banks, or rearing its dark head
for an instant from the deeper waters — long lines of
Scoters (CEdemia nigra), swimming and diving", are
feeding their way down towards the outer margin of
the scalp. On one portion of the beach a stratum of
blue clay, soft and slippery to the tread, appears on
the surface, whilst in the dark peaty substance which,

as appear the powers of reproduction of these little shell-
fish, an enemy is found in the " five finger" or star-fish, far more
destructive than either birds or men. These curious creatures
may be found by dozens in the pools left by the tide upon the
larger scalps, and strange as it may seem are carted away also by
the tumbril load at a time, for the same purpose as the mussels
themselves, which in time, no doubt, they would utterly destroy.
The means by which this sea-pirate effects an entrance into the
shells of both mussels and oysters has been thus described by Mr.
F. Buckland : — " He grasps the unfortunate oyster tightly with his
five fingers, and then from the centre of his star protrudes some
four or five jelly like bags filled with a clear fluid ; with patience
and perseverance, and upon the thin end of the wedge principle,
he manages to squeeze these bags between the shells of the oyster,
and then clears out the shell till it is as empty as a soap bubble."

xl INTRODUCTION.

there also, marks tlie site of a submerged forest,''^ large
trunks of trees are plainly visible, and these, now the
home of the boring Pholas and the wary Crustacean, are
searched as busily for food by the Sea-pie, the Dunlin,
and the Ringed-Plover, as in their normal state by the
Titmice, the tiny Gold-Crest (Regulus cristatus), or the
Creeper (Gerthia familiaris) . Again, about two miles
from Hunstanton, near to Holme Point, a deep channel,
traversing the beach, alternately fills and empties a
wide basin between the sand-hills, which, at low water,
presents at one end a tract of level sands, at the other
a swampy marsh, intersected with a number of little
streams, and covered with a profusion of coarse grass,
samphire, and other marine plants. Here in summer
the fishing Terns resort, and the smaller waders find
a daily renewed banquet, whether scattered, almost
invisible to the eye amongst the rank herbage, or
tripping over the flats with their quick nervous actions,
stopping abruptly now and again to secure their prey.

* This submerged Forest, being post-glacial, must not be
confounded with the "Forest bed," rich in Elephantine and Cervine
remains, which is met with on other portions of our coast ; since
in the formation above referred to, as Mr. Gunn shows in his
" Geology of Norfolk," not only the Mammalia of the " Forest bed"
have disappeared, but also of the post-glacial Hoxne and valley
formations. " One very decided change in the fauna," he states,
"is observable, namely, the disappearance of the Eleplias priini-
genius, Bhinocerus tichorinus, the JIip}}opotamus major, and the
Beindeer; and the appearance of the remains of man and his
works, and of animals still living on the surface of the earth,
as the Horse, Ox, Red-Deer, Wild-Boar, Wolf, Badger, and others.
# * * " At the Holme and Thornham scalphs, near Hunstanton,
no human bones have been discovered, but a polished Celt, of the
stone period, was found in the Holme scalph by the Rev. George
Mundford, Rector of East Winch, and is now in the Norwich
Museum." * * * "The trees are the ordinary trees of the
neighbourhood, the stools are in situ, of great size, and the wood
turned black, but so sound as to be used for carpenters' work."

INTRODUCTION. xK

In strange contrast, though to these dreary wastes,
the inland country presents all the softer features of a
sylvan district. A pretty valley, with a clear running
stream, leads to the finely timbered park and pleasure
grounds of Hunstanton Hall, so rich in old associations
interesting alike to the antiquary and the naturalist.
Still further from the sea a deep ravine, winding between
the lofty sides of undulating chalk cliffs, enriched with
foliage in every hollow, and covered with verdure to the
very summit, transports us in imagination to more
southern shores; so difficult is it to realize the abrupt
transition from the '* meals " and marshes to the bold
grassy slopes of Eingstead ^^ Downs." Nor are such
attractions of hill and dale, woods, pastures, and flowing
streams confined only to this small portion of the
" meal" district. The vale of the Stiffkey has been long
and deservedly noted, and Ai-thur Young, nearly a
century ago, extolled its beauties, before the bleak hill-
sides by the coast were clothed with belts of fir and
hardy shrubs, rendering picturesque those once barren
slopes and in many places forming a screen to lands and
houses from the fury of our north-easterly gales. From
Stiffkey again, tB.rough Warham, Holkham, the Burn-
hams, and Brancaster, the distant views of the sea
between richly wooded heights, the low grounds,
chequered with the many hues of the cultivated soil,
and occasional strips of heath and plantations, form,
with the difPerent villages, a charming landscape.
Indeed, it may be fairly said that the scenery which
presents itself from the coast road, along the entire
northern and north-western parts of the county, is such
as no stranger entering Norfolk by its south-western
boundary can form any conception of.

As in the Broad district we have seen cultivation so
closely bordering upon the swamps, that the birds of
the farm, the grove, and the homestead, are "" within
/

xlii INTRODUCTION.

call ** as it were of tlie denizens of tlie marsli^ so also
in the once wild portions of our coast line, reclamation,
planting, and high cnlture have changed alike the
features and the fauna of such districts. We need no
better illustration of this than is presented by HolMiam,
where taste, judgment, perseverance, and capital, have
changed the once " open barren estate " into the most
ornamental, best farmed and, probably, the most remu-
nerative in the county. As the eye now wanders over
that magnificent park, with its rich meadows, lawns,
plantations, and shrubberies — ^its noble avenues and
extensive lake, with green islets and winding, wooded,
shores — the whole affording sufficient scope for a seven-
mile drive within its ample boundaries, it seems almost
impossible to realise its condition, when in 1734 the
first Earl of Leicester commenced building upon and
planting the dreary waste .^ How many species then
strangers to the soil, have smce been added to the
list of its feathered denizens ? Summer warblers in
abundance now enliven the groves, and the Song-
thrush and Blackbird, finding a sheltered haunt, join

* " It was about tlie years 1725 and 1726 that the Earl of
Leicester, determining to fix his family seat at Holkham, after
making several purchases of intermixed lands and estates, began
to enclose the parish of Holkham. In 1728 he bnilt a new farm-
house, &c., upon the distant fields on the west side of the parish,
at a place called Longlands. In 1735, he built another new farm
upon the old heath, on the east side of the parish, at a place called
Brenthill, and enclosed and cultivated the heath-land; thence-
forward, he gradually proceeded with enclosing and improving the
whole parish, dividing to himself, round about where he intended to
build his seat, and enclosing with pales, a park containing about
eight himdi'ed and forty acres of land, and therein made many
plantations of wood, laid out lawns, gardens, water, &c., with many
useful and ornamental buildings, and nearly completed his manor-
house, begun in 1734, before he died." [See Stacy's " History of
Norfolk."]

INTRODUCTION. xliii

"with the Eobiii and Hedge-sparrow, the Chaffinch,
Greenfinch, and other sylvan forms, to give life and
animation to this strangely altered scene. The fir-belts
resound with the soft notes of the Turtle-Dove, and
throughout the coverts the beautiful Wood-pigeon now
outnumbers the hereditary Stock-Doves of the coast.
Game is reared in abundance, where, in former times,
the wild rabbit nibbled a bare subsistence, and the once
bleak home of the Lapwing and the Norfolk Plover affords
some of the the finest Partridge shootino- in the whole
county. Indeed, as regards the more common species
comprised in the great Insessorial group, there are
probably none that might not now be procured in that
neighbourhood, where, less than a century ago, when rye
was the only cereal grown, the common House Sparrow
was comparatively scarce. That which the first Earl
of Leicester, however, had so well begun was destined
to arrive at the highest pitch of perfection through the
genius and energy of his great successor, till the name
of Coke as a master of the science, and of Holkham as
the school of agriculture, became as "familiar in our
ears as household words."

Besides the enclosure and cultivation of heaths and
other waste grounds, much valuable land has been
reclaimed from the sea at Holkham,* and adjoining
portions of the coast, both under the present and former
proprietors of the estate, and many hundi*eds of acres
secured from inundation are now richly productive ;
thus narrowing again the haunts of the wild- fowl and
waders, and extending the area of all granivorous

* About the year 1659, John Coke, Esq., the then proprietor, and
fourth son of the famous Sir Edward Coke, enclosed from the sea
three hundred and fifty acres of salt marshes, and four hundred
acres more were embanked by his successor, the first Earl of
Leicester. — [See Stacy's " History of Norfolk."]

xliv INTRODUCTION.

species. A curious circumstance also may be here noted,
arising out of the altered condition of the marshes, and
the closmg of Decoys once profitable enough in these
parts. Of late years, since both the Holkham and
Langham Decoys have ceased to be worked, flocks of
Wigeon (Anas j>enelopeJ have resorted to the lake, in
the park, during the day time, a few only appearing
at first, but their numbers increasing during each
successive winter.

With the subject of reclamation, however, we must
return once more to Hunstanton, and following the
deeply indented shores of the Wash, continue our
inspection of the coast line, from Heacham, Snettisham,
and Wolferton, to Lynn harbour. One main feature is
apparent throughout, the extreme shallowness of the
water ; so much so that, as Walter White happily
remarks, '^ if you chance to be studying the view when
the tides are at the lowest, you might fancy the land
was gaining on the sea." Immense tracts of level
sands, stretching far into the distance, are left bare for
hoiu-s; but never actually dry the soft slippery surface
is a very paradise for the Gulls, and dark objects scarcely
distinguishable by the naked eye will be found, through
a glass, to be busy cockle gatherers with their carts and
horses, who at ebb tide follow the retreating waves for
nearly a mile and a-half. Only slight barriers, whether
natural or artificial, are here needed, and banks of shingle,
bordering the sands, are backed, as at Snettisham, by a
wide breadth of grassy " Denes,*' sloping gradually away
from the sea and sparkling with blown sand and minute
pebbles. A dreary district this, and one from which
the eye turns inland wdth a sense of relief to the rich
marshes, hedgerows and long grassy lanes that bespeak
a more habitable country.

Quitting, then, altogether the sands and "Denes,'*
the more inland country between Hunstanton and Lynn,

INTRODUCTION. xlv

still maintains those pretty features we have observed
throughout. A lofty range of grassy downs stretches
away from Suettisham to Dersingham and Wolferton,
covered with heather and gorse in parts, or thickly
planted with belts of fir, and though this district
abounds in sandy heaths and warrens, an ample mixture
of arable, pasture, and woodland, renders these other-
wise bleak portions a not unpleasing feature in the
landscape. Several small parks, surrounded with plan-
tations, adjoin the principal villages, and the preserves
at Sandringham, now the sporting residence of the
Prince of Wales, are of considerable extent. At
Suettisham the great Ken-hill wood is celebrated for
Woodcocks, and in this neighbourhood only, in Norfolk,
is the Blackcock (Tetrao tetrixj found as a naturalized
species. From Suettisham and Sandringham the range
of this Grouse extends southward as far as Bawsey and
Leziate, near Lynn, and, consequently, with a dry sandy
soil on the one hand, and rough moist grounds on
the other, comprises a wild tract of country peculiarly
favourable to its existence. The Lapwing, also, is stUl
very plentiful here during the breeding season, and more
particularly about Castle Rising.

At Lynn, as may be seen by a glance at the map, a
perfect maze of sands and shoals, extending from the
mouth of the harbour to the open " deeps," are
traversed in all directions by the main channels, or the
outlets of minor streams. Such feeding grounds are,
of course, at all times attractive to the oceanic Ducks
and other marine-fowl, but in severe weather, or when
heavy gales, outside, have driven them in for shelter,
enormous flocks of fowl and waders are collected together,
and large numbers are killed by the gunners. The
little Storm-Petrels (Thalassidroma pelagica) during
autumnal gales, have been seen in the harbour "flying
thick as Sand-martins," to use the words of an eye-
witness; and amongst other rarities obtained on this

xlvi INTRODUCTION.

point of the coast is a specimen of the Great- Shearwater
(Puffinus major) , in the Lynn Museum, the only one known
to have occurred in Norfolk. A novel mode of netting
most kinds of shore birds, suggested by the shallow
waters and flat shores of the Wash, has been occa-
sionally adopted here of late years with much success.
Long nets stretched on poles, about six feet high, are
placed in double lines upon the sands towards dusk, one
hue below high water mark and the other beyond the
reach of the tide. A dark still night is most favourable
for this sport as the nets are not only invisible, but are in
no danger of being blown down. In this manner some
eighty or ninety birds have been taken at one time,
having struck the nets in their nocturnal flight, and
become hopelessly entangled. Even Skylarks and Dunlins
(Tringa variabilis) are not unfrequently captured, in
spite of the meshes of the nets being large, and when
gathered in the morning, a large proportion of the birds
are secured alive, includmg Godwits, Knots, Plovers,
Woodcocks, Oyster-catchers, Sheldrakes, and other fowl,
with many Gulls.

No wonder, on this portion of the coast, where the
sea appears almost to meet reclamation half-way by
a sort of voluntary abdication, that great engineering
skill and vast capital should have been devoted to this
object. Much has already been accomplished, although
the magnificent scheme for which the Estuary Company
was originally formed, namely — to make a straight
channel from Lynn to the sea, and reclaim not less than
one hundred and fifty thousand acres from the Wash
has been restricted within far narrower limits ; probably
not more than fifty thousand acres being now contem-
plated.^ Even of this quantity scarcely a tithe has been

* For the above facts respecting the proposed and actual
achievements of the Estuary Company I am indebted to Mr.
George Webster, of Lynn.

INTRODUCTION. xlvii

accomplislied at present, though much capital has been
fruitlessly sunk in attempting- too much at one time ; so
that of late the contractors have confined themselves to
smaller operations. What has really been accomplished,
however, is the completion of a fine straight channel
for a length of two miles or thereabouts, through lands
in West Lynn and North Lynn, from Lynn harbour to
the sea, in lieu of the old tortuous course of the Ouze.
This latter has been blocked out by a cross-bank at the
North end of Lynn harbour, and has " silted up" to
such an extent, since that bank was made (about twelve
years ago), that last year the company ventured, and
successfully, upon the construction of another cross-
bank, about half a mile below. By this enclosure about
two hundred and twenty acres of good land were
reclaimed, and a considerable portion of this is now in
tilth. Other enclosures have been made along the east
shore of the Wash, by throwing out shelter banks;
and it is found that when, by these banks, the flow of
water is excluded, the process of accretion goes on
rapidly outside the banks so formed. Thus what proved
impossible of accomplishment on a large scale is being
done little by little ; for only a year or two ago nearly six
hundred acres, in the neighbourhood of Babingley and
Wolferton were added to the estates of the Prince of
Wales and the Hon. Mrs. Howard, and very recently the
Estuary Company's enclosure, number three, was com-
pleted, consisting of two hundred and seventy acres of land
which had warped up outside the Babingley shelter-bank,
and other similar enclosures are in progress or contem-
plated. It may be also mentioned that the cut before
alluded to, called the Marsh Cut, terminates at a bend of
the old channel, and that from this point " guide-banks"
are being slowly constructed, to take the channel two
miles further out to sea, through a sand called Vinegar-
Middle. Much of the loss originally incurred was

xlviii INTKODUCTION.

occasioned by attempting to force on this lower cut,
the material used in making the " guide-banks " being
washed away almost as fast as it was deposited. It is
now sought to 'persuade the channel to take the desired
course by gradually throwing out jetties from the banks
in the neighbourhood, and this process appears likely
to be successful in the end. The total amount of land,
then, actually reclaimed amounts to just one thousand
and seventy acres.

THE BRECK DISTRICT.^

The exact limits of this most important division are
more easily traced on the map than rendered clear to
the comprehension of the reader by a mere topograph-
ical description ; its outline, however, may be briefly
given as follows : — On the west it is bounded by the
*' Fen " district (to be next considered), as far as King's
Lynn, and thence by the shores of the Wash as far
as Heacham ; whilst, towards the east its limits are
very nearly identical with that marked division on
the Ordnance map of the county, which, by a closer
'' filling up " on the surface, sufficiently distinguishes
the enclosed and thickly populated portions on the one
hand, from the large holdings and wide open tracts on
the other. Nevertheless, for our present purpose, it will
be necessary to make a slight detour, near the southern
boundaries of the county, in order to include certain
^' breck " lands and heaths in that neighbourhood,
extending somewhat further to the east. Commencing,
therefore, in the vicinity of West Harling, an imaginary
line might be drawn in a north-westerly direction

* For the following descriptions of the " Brecks" and "Fens" I
am indebted to the pen of a friend and naturalist, who, from a
residence for some years on the borders of both districts, is inti-
mately acquainted with their peculiar features.

INTEODITCTION. xHx

towards Swaffliam, and thence northwards again, with
but slight deviation as far as North Creake ; passing
to the west of the Rainhani estate, but including the
princely Houghton with its park and plantations, and
its noble beeches of a far older date. From North
Creake, turning sharp towards the west and skh-ting the
''meal" district about Burnham and Brancaster the
line would run direct to the coast, once more, below
Hunstanton.

The soil of this district, even at the present time
comparatively unenclosed, is composed in great part of
very light land, of a depth varying from a few inches to
several feet, lying upon hard chalk, but in places, and
these sometimes of no inconsiderable extent, it is suffi-
ciently interspersed with clay to produce very fair
wheat, barley of the best quality, and valuable root-
crops. Until within the last half-century, however,
wheat was scarcely ever grown, and rye was the staple
grain. The greater part of this district consists of what
are locally called " brecks " — that is, ground which at
some time or other has been "broken-up" by the plough —
and hence the name here assigned to it. Many of these
'' brecks," never very fertile to begin with, through bad
farming and consequent exhaustion of the soil, have
been long abandoned as arable land, and are now used
as sheep-walk ; but others form, in many cases,
commons or heaths, on which the hasty observer would
never recognize the trace of a plough. Not that there
are not, however, some extensive tracts, which have,
probably, never been under cultivation. With tbe
improvement of husbandry, about the beginning of
the present century, came into vogue the practice of
making plantations,"^ for the whole country, with a few

* On Wretham heath are, or were a few years ago, some very
fine old Scotch fir-trees (Finns sylvestris), stated, though on doubtful
authority, 'iwt to have been planted by the hand of man.

9

1 INTRODUCTION.

exceptions, chiefly in tlie immediate neighbourhood of
villages, was singularly destitute of trees. Hardly a
hedge existed, the '' brecks" were merely separa,ted by
^^ balks," left at first as mere track-ways, but eventually
raised by the drifting sand, when the adjoining land
was in fallow, a couple of feet or more in height.

A country so open as this, and so unlike the rest of
the county, could not fail to differ from that in its bird-
populatiOn. Some of its peculiarities in this respect still
exist, others are remembered by men now living, more
are to be gathered by tradition, a few, perhaps, have
to be inferred. Thus we shall probably not be wrong
in recognizing in this district '' the champian and fieldy
part" of Norfolk, spoken of by Sir Thomas Brown as
the resort in the severe winters of his day of the
Crane (Grus cinereaj. The Sea-Eagle (Haliceetus
alhicilla) still almost annually visits the large Rab-
bit-warrens near Thetford, and when it was more
abundant in the northern parts of this island, may be
safely presumed to have been a more frequent visitor
to the rest of the district. Falcons, too, must always
have resorted plentifully to prey on the Partridges,
which are probably here more numerous than in any
other part of the kingdom. Kites (Milvus ictinus)
may have not uncommonly swept over this wide
expanse in quest of their prey — whether the Rabbits
which swarm on all sides, or the ofial cast away by the
warreners in the operation of " hulking " them — ^but
the birds remembered still, by old men in the district, as
"Kites" seem to have generally been what are now
called Harriers. Of passerine birds — the Sky-Lark has
probably been always the most numerous, though in
summer the sprightly Wheatear must have rivalled it
in numbers. The Warblers, the Titmice — in a word,
all the woodland-birds must have been nearly, if not
altogether, wanting till the hand of man clothed this

INTRODUCTION. 11

open country witli plantations. The Stock-Dove was,
probably, the only species of its order met with. But
the ornitholo^cal glory of the district was the Bustard
(Otis tarda) . Its history will be found so fully detailed
in tbe body of this work that it is needless now to enter
into particulars. It will suffice to say that the bird
became extinct about the year 1838, when the two last
examples were known to have been killed in the county.
It is the prevalent belief that the latest survivors of this
noble species were unmercifully destroyed to satisfy the
desires of sportsmen, collectors, or epicures. There is
no reason for such a belief. Its extirpation was
doubtless caused by man, but indirectly, and not, as the
extirpation of Eagles is still being compassed in Scot-
land, directly. Its chief destroyer was most assuredly
the agriculturist. He found his crops wanted shelter,
and planted long belts of trees to keep the wind from
carrying his soil to the next parish, and removing his
own or his neighbour's landmark.^ This intersecting of
the open country was intolerable to the Bustard, which
could not bear to be within reach of anything that
might conceal an enemy. Its favourite haunts were,
therefore, year by year restricted. But more than this,
the substitution of wheat for rye, as the system of tillage
improved, aimed a still more fatal blow at its existence.
The hen Bustard almost always laid her eggs in the
winter-corn. When this came to be wheat, it was still
more an object to save as much seed as possible, so the
drill was invented. It was also worth while to keep the
land well clear of weeds, and the horse-hoe, therefore.

* The effect of higli winds, after dry weatlier in this district, is
not easily described. The whole air is filled with sand, till it
resembles a London fog. Nearly every particle of fertilizing
matter is blown away from the land, as is shown for years after-
wards by its barrenness.

lii INTRODUCTION.

followed. This decided tlie Bustard's fate. Not a nest
was there in the wheat-fields, but was either accidentally
trodden down, or if seen in time, for the eggs indeed
to be secured from the horses' feet, it was only that
they might be taken by the man or boy employed, and
given to his master's wife, by whom they were set
under a hen, or more commonly kept as "curiosities.'*
The Bustard is now very inadequately represented by
its poor cousin the Norfolk Plover or Stone-Curlew —
locally called '^ CuUoo" — which is as yet abundant in
certain localities, but yearly diminishing in numbers.
Humble as is this distant relative of the lordly bird
we have lost, it is still the species most characteristic
of the district, and its loud and musical "clamour,"
rendered classic by the pen of Gilbert White, can never
be heard by one who has hved where it has been a
familiar sound without re-calling a thousand pleasing
recollections, and by its melody charming the stranger
whether he be an ornithologist or not.

The scarcity of streams or rivers throughout the
district renders it unsuitable for the countless numbers
of water-birds which throng fi'om arctic lands to the
coast of the county, whereon first

" Breaks the long wave that at the pole began."

A few ponds, mostly artificial, and some insignificant
streams supply very insufiicient attraction to the waders
and swimming birds, yet the Golden Plover (Charadnus
pluvialis) and Dotterel (C. mormellusj annuallj^ frequent
the wide fields and warrens, whilst the Ringed-Plover
(G. hiaticula) in early spring, comes up from the sea
shore, and miles away from the coast selects for its
domestic hearth the most barren spots ; such as that
must have been on which Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu
saw "two Rabbits quarrelling for one blade of gi'ass."
Here the wanderer will see in plenty, at any time of the

INTRODUCTION. liii

year, tlie pebble-paved nests of this pretty little bird —
for the materials of which they are composed are so
lasting that their traces are visible for months. Nor
does the Lapwing fail to enliven the scene, though its
numbers have decreased of late years most remarkably.
Wild Geese — for the most part, probably, the Pink-
footed species (Anser hrachyrhynchusj — were formerly
abundant in winter time, but the spread of plantations
which first restricted the limits of the Bustard seems to
have acted in like manner towards them, and their
number is now probably not one-fiftieth of that which
used to resort to the district of the " brecks."

From this threnody over a vanished or vanishing
fauna, it is pleasant to turn to the new one which has
now suceeeded it, and which still retains some traces of
the bygone order of things. Nightingales (Philomela
luscinia), Blackcaps (Curruca atricapillaj, and Willow
Wrens (Sylvia trochilus) — the last in number, hardly,
perhaps, exceeded in any other part of England, throng
the plantations which have driven away the Bustard and
the Wild Goose, singing and making merry in their
abandoned haunts. The restless Titmice wander among
the branches, industriously searching for their living.
The glad voice of the Chaffinch, and the less melodious
twitter of the Redpoll, resound through the larch
'' slips," and the attentive observer by the side of the
sombre Scotch firs recognizes the musical warble of the
Wood-Lark (Alauda arhorea), mingling with the more
attractive song of his more aspiring cousin the Sky-
Lark. The Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) laughs
cheerfully among the trees of older growth, and a pair
of Ravens (Corvus cor ax) from the adjoining county —
the sole survivors, perhaps, of their race for many miles
around — extend their beat to the southern hmits of the
district, and seem by their hoarse croak to threaten
those who have changed the entire aspect of nature so

liv INTRODUCTION.

effectually and so unconsciously, except in tlie case of
one species — tlie E.ed-legged Partridge (Perdix rufaj —
whicli lias been purposely introduced, and the doubtful
merits of which, are a warning to those who expect to
reap advantage from Acclimatization Societies.

THE FEN DISTRICT.

In almost every respect differing from the district
last mentioned is that which still remains to be described
on the western side of the county. The Fens of Norfolk
formerly possessed, in an extreme degree, all the features
of that extensive tract of country, which under the name
of the " Great Bedford Level," has for years, almost for
centuries, been the battle-ground of civil engineers —
Englishmen and foreigners — and the same district still
presents a good many of its chief peculiarities. Its
northern part, the "Marshland" as it is commonly
called, was " won from the raging deep" in days almost
pre-historic — at least an inspection of its firm sea-banks
and "droves" tells the enquirer more respecting it
than he can gain by the study of annals or records.
Whether the Roman or the Norman laid the foundation
of these bulwarks against the ocean matters little now-
a-days to the naturalist. Laid they were at a time of
which history takes next to no notice, and they still
stand.

The eastern boundary of the ^Ten District" com-
mences immediately below the town of Brandon in the
low ground through which the Little Ouze winds its
way, and rounding the uplands of Hock wold turns
northwards towards Methwold, then running up the
course of the Wissey, nearly as far as Stoke Ferry, it
bends to the westward in the direction of Denver,
whence it pursues a comparatively straight course to
King's Lynn, being, however, slightly diverted to the

INTKODUCTION. Iv

eastward up the valley of the Nar. The other boundaries
of the district coincide with those of the county.

Except a few low knolls locally and expressively
termed " islands," the whole of this district is one vast
level plain, through, or skirting, which the great rivers
that drain a considerable portion of England from the
confines of Essex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire,
Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire,
make their way sluggishly to the sea. The soil is
unequivocally " black," and mostly composed of a great
depth of peat, below which hes a marl, having its
surface in many places coated with gravel of the " drifb"
period. Hardly a hedge is seen, but the surface is
intersected every few hundred yards by deep ditches,
cut at right angles to each other, and communicating
with wider ditches, which are locally called "lodes," and,
running into the still larger water-courses, assist the
more thorough drainage of the land. Belts and small
plantations of trees, known as '^ holts," and consisting
chiefly of black poplar, ash, and alder, with an occasional
windmill, or the chimney of a steam-engine — for both
'wind and steam power are used to get rid of the water —
are the principal objects which break the line of the
horizon.

It may be doubted if at the present time any part of
this district can be truly said to preserve its natural
aspect. The spectator must draw upon his imagination
to picture to his eye the whole of this level plain as it
appeared even a hundred years ago, when in place of
the luxuriant crops of oats, mangel-wurtzel, mustard,
and Swedish turnips, it was one uniform bed of sedge,
varied only by a few low sallow bushes. It is beyond
his imagination to conceive an older state of things,
when a forest of goodly oaks flourished amid thickets
of hazel, though the trunks of the former and the nuts
of the latter are still found admirably preserved in the

Ivi INTEODUCTION.

peat, side by side witli the bones of the Beaver and tlie
Wolfj the Wild Boar and the Urus. If he enquire of
the inhabitants he will find their traditions extend only
a short way back — and he will be in doubt whether the
Goslings which his octogenarian informant may say
were tended in the fens by his grandfather, when a boy,
were the reclaimed offspring of really wild parents or
merely the tame race. The Gossard's occupation has
been gone for many a year — that of the professed fowler
still lingers, but it has entirely changed in character,
and a few more years will probably number the Snipe-
shooter among the things that were. There are, or at
least until very recently were, people who recollected
that a comfortable living might be made by netting
Ruffs and Reeves (Machetes pugnax) in summer, and in
winter by snaring Snipes, when the true fen-man — who
was seriously believed in other counties to be born with
a " speckled belly" and a web between his toes — did not
think his Sunday's dinner complete unless he had a
roast Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) on his board.

But it will be more profitable to dwell on the changes
which have taken place within the last thirty or fort/
years. No longer ago than that the three species of
Harriers (locally called "Buzzards" — and the grey males
of the two smaller ones, " Millers") with the Short-eared
Owl (Otus hrachyotusj swarmed in some parts of the
district — but as the water was carried off by the powerful
engines employed, and the sedge-fens converted into
corn-fields — their haunts were one by one destroyed,
and they themselves banished. The Marsh-Harrier
(Circus ceruginosus) was the first to go, and then the
Hen-Harrier (G. cyaneus), but even now the Montagu's-
Harrier (G. montagui) and the Short-eared Owl still
linger about such few of their ancient abodes as have
not passed under the plough, and occasionally may yet
be heard of as breeding there. The Grasshopper-

INTRODUCTION. Ivii

Warbler (Salicaria locustellaj also, in such few spots,
still maintains a precarious footing — perhaps it is even
more abundant than one is apt to believe, for its shy
and skulking habits avoid observation. Ruffs and
Reeves and Godwits (Limosa melanura) have vanished
as inhabitants of the district, but the Redshank (Totayius
calidris) was induced to return to its old haunts by the
extraordinary flood of November, 1852, which burst the
river bank near Southery, and laid many thousand acres
under water for more than six months, making a paradise
for wild fowl of all kinds, and furnishing ornithologists
of this generation with a vision of times past and gone.
This same flood acted in like manner upon the Black
Tern (Sterna fissipes) and the Black-headed Gull (Larus
ridibundusj , both of which, in 1853, stayed to breed in
places which had been so long abandoned by them, that
their names even were unknown in the land. The Snipe
(8colopax gallinago) , the Water-Rail (Ballus aquaticus) ,
and the Spotted Crake (Grex porzana) still, but in very
small numbers, frequent the Fens for the purpose of
breeding, and with them concludes the list of those
birds which still abide in the district of which they
must have been at one time most characteristic ; for
the Heron (Ardea cinerea), which formerly had a large
and thriving establishment on the borders of Feltwell
and Hockwold Fens, where the nests were placed either
among the sedge on the ground, or built in low sallow-
bushes, some sixty years since emigrated to a wood
of lofty fir-trees at Didlington, whence the members
of the diminished society spread themselves over the
adjoining country to seek with difficulty the living their
forefathers had found so much more abundantly.

On the other hand, in the room of those species whose

place knows them no more, very many new denizens of

the district have made their appearance. Spots which

had only heard the hurried twitterings of the Sedge-bird

h

Iviii INTRODUCTION.

(Saliacaria phragmitis) the reeling note of tlie Grass-
hopjDer- Warbler, and the harsher melody of the Reed-
Sparrow (Emheriza sclicenitlus) now re-echo to the songs
of the Blackcap, the Willow- Wren, the Sky-Lark, and,
indeed, of nearly all the commoner birds of this country.
Of predatory species, the Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
and the Carrion-Crow (Corvus corone) exist in probably
larger numbers than may be found in any other part
of the county — while the Partridge and the Quail
(Coturnix vulgaris) have descended from the uplands,
not merely to glean where the farmer has reaped, but
to wage war with his worst enemies, the wire-worm and
the slug. The Lapwing still occurs in considerable
thoug'h reduced numbers, in summer breeding over
almost the whole district, and in winter flocking from
one part of it to another, performing, as it were,
countless small migrations that are influenced by almost
every change in the weather. In spring the Dotterel
(Charadrius morinellusj, in small " trips," tarries for some
ten days for rest and refreshment on the fallows during
its northward journey, and, in winter, the Golden-
plover (Charadrius pluvialis) often haunts the ploughed
fields. But the great inducements for nearly all the
aquatic tribes have disappeared, and, with little left
to attract them, the modern condition of the "Fen'*
district is to the ornithologist fond of ancient memories
almost the " abomination of desolation."

THE ENCLOSED DISTRICT.

Properly speaking, the "Enclosed" district comprises
the whole of the eastern division of the county, but
the present description refers only to such portions as
have not already been included in other districts
bordering the coast-line to the north and east. On
the western side it immediately adjoins the ^'brecks,"
and is bounded on the south by the river Waveney.

INTRODUCTION. lix

Taking Norwich and its Hamlets, then, as a con-
venient starting point, we have, within a comparatively
small area, a locality rich in its attractions for almost
all classes of birds, and one in which, not only the
more common species are plentifully distributed, but
many of the rarest have occurred at times. Norwich
has been well termed " a city in an orchard," and, in-
spite of the additional space required for a largely
increased population, may still claim that title, owing
to the number of its gardens and the general dis-
tribution of foHage, which gives so rural an aspect
to the older portions of the town. The venerable
walls, enclosing the gardens themselves, afford in their
many chinks and crannies abundant harbour for insects
and their larvse ; and, in destroying these hidden
pests, the busy Titmice, the Redbreast, Hedge- Sparrow,
Chaffinch, and many summer visitants, do invaluable
service. The wall fruit, also, attracts the Blackbirds
and Thrushes, which, nevertheless, atone for their
depredations by a wholesale destruction of worms,
slugs, and snails, and the Spotted-Flycatcher (Mus-
cicapa grisola) and the beautiful Redstart (Phoenicura
ruticilla) return year after year, with the apple and
pear blossoms, to the same nest on the vine-stem,
or in the ivy-covered wall. With these, also, return
to their accustomed haunts the Swallow and the House-
Martin, which are seen in the streets throughout their
brief sojoui-n, and nest in the chimney shafts and
under the eaves of the houses, even in the busiest
thoroughfares. A few small colonies of Rooks have
been established, for years, within the bounds of the
city, and whatever may be the spiritual wants of
the laity, the ecclesiastical Jackdaw can scarcely put
in a claim to "additional church accommodation."
The useful Starlings find abundant nest-holes in ancient
gables or the crmnbliug walls of monastic and other

Ix INTRODUCTION.

buildings of a bygone age, and with two or tbree broods
in the season to each pair, their collective progeny form
no small proportion of those huge flocks which, in
autumn, frequent the marshes and the reed-beds on
the Broads.

In Mr. Hunt's time even the Lesser Spotted-Wood-
pecker (Picus minor) occasionally visited his garden in
Rose Lane, having flitted over the river from the
neighbouring woods at Thorpe ; and in more than one
instance, since the commencement of the present
century, a pair of Peregrines have been known to
fix their abode in the Cathedral spire. Not many
years back, also, a Hobby {Falco subhuteoj was shot
from a church tower in the very heart of the city.
The rare Dipper (Ginclus melanog aster) has been killed
on the river near the Lower Close-ferry, and Black-
Terns (Sterna fissipes), on their vernal migration, have
been shot near the same spot, from the Foundry-bridge,
whilst the list of accidental visitants includes many
migratory species, either attracted on their passage,
by the lamps of the city, or storm-driven from their
ordinary course. A Pochard (Fuligula ferina) has been
known to dash at night through the window of a house,
attracted by the glimmer of a candle, and wild fowl not
unfrequently alighted to rest on the reservoir of the
water- works, when situated, a few years ago, in Chapel-
Pield. Little Auks (Mergnlus alle) have in several
instances been picked up dead or dying in our streets, as
well as Little Grebes (Podiceps minor), during their
nocturnal movements, and on one occasion, also, a
Storm-Petrel was taken alive in Eose-Lane.

In the immediate vicinity of the city, the modern
system of planting ornamental trees, more particularly
of the fir- tribe, and the introduction of many foreign
shrubs amongst our indigenous plants, has caused even
the smaller gardens and shrubberies to offer a congenial

INTKODUCTION. 1x1

shelter to birds, which were formerly but seldom seen
in such localities. The Nightingale, some few years
back, confined almost entirely to the vicinity of Thorpe,
is noA\i heard during the summer on nearly every road
leading out of the city ; and the Blackcap, the Willow-
Wren, and the Garden- Warbler, join their melody to
the rich notes of the Thrush and Blackbird, and with
their young broods in autumn, hide amidst the thick
foliage of the laurustinus and other bushy shrubs, till
the time for migration arrives.

The same remarks as to planting apply as well,
though in a far greater degree, to the Hamlets, and the
country immediately surrounding them, and few spots
in the county afford more picturesque scenery than the
rich valleys of the Yare and the Wen sum. To the north
and east of the city are the wooded heights of Thorpe
and Whitlingham and the far-famed Mousehold-heath,
so often mentioned in historical records. In early times,
as we learn from Blomefield,"^ a large portion of this
wild district consisted of sheep-walks, and the heath
itself abounded with timber and brushwood, but all this
had disappeared long prior to its enclosure in 1810,
although even in the time of our county historian (who
died in 1751), it was some four or five miles in length
and breadth. It would be amusing to speculate on the
rarer species that in former times may have frequented
this " breezy common," but the Lapwing and Norfolk-
Plover were always plentiful, nor has either sj)ecies
ceased altogether to breed in that neighbourhood up
to the present time. Of the latter a pair or two
have bred regularly for the last twenty years, near
the same plantation, on the high grounds at Thorpe,
and being strictly preserved will, it is to be hoped,

* " An Essay towards a topographical history of the county
of Norfolk." By Francis Blomefield, Rector of Fersfield.

Ixii INTRODUCTION.

continue to do so. The Dotterel fCharadrius morinellus)
has been seen on the borders of the heath, resting for
a while on its migratory course, and the '^ whirr" of the
Nightjar is heard in the summer evenings wh*n the
"dors" fly thick over the prickly furze. Here, also,
the Titlark and the graceful Wagtail chase their insect
prey over the smooth turf, and the Stonechat, Whinchat,
and Wheatear, amongst the rough patches of gorse and
fern, enliven the waste with their sprightly actions.

East, west, and south, the rich grazing marshes
bordering the winding course of the Wensum and Yare,
are not less abundant in aquatic species ; and though
too firm now to afford the sport which the Snipe-
shooter enjoyed some forty years ago ; yet still when
driven to the open springs through the severity of the
frost, or flooded out from the "broad" district, a few
couples, and particularly " Jacks " (Scolopax gallmulaj
may be found by the sedgy margins of the drains and
smaller streamlets. In the many little carrs, reed-beds,
and dwarf-islets, which form so pretty a feature of these
tortuous rivers, whether at Lakenham, Keswick, Bow-
thorpe, or Hellesdon, the prattling notes of the Sedge
and Reed- Warblers are heard in summer, and the
Water-Hen and Dabchick nestle and hide in the tangled
undergrowth. A few Wild-Ducks (Anas hoschasj are
bred annually in the most retired spots, and in winter
are joined by others, with an occasional ^^coil" of Teal,
but it is only in the sharpest weather that the rarer
species appear so far inland. At such times, however,
both the Wliooper (Cycjnus ferns) and Bewick's Swan
(Cygnus hewicki) have been shot, even of late years, on
the Yare at Bowthorpe, about three miles to the west
of Norwich ; on the same portion of the stream, which
some thirty or forty years ago acquired the name of
^' Swan-river," from the frequent occurrence of these
birds during the then severe winters.

INTRODUCTION. Ixiii

Costessey, with its beautiful park and woods, bounded
by heathery hills on the one side and the rough marshy
borders of the Wensum on the other, now boasts, with
the exception of the one before mentioned at Didling-ton,
of the only Heronry remaining in Norfolk. This small
remnant of a once thriving colony — whose various
wanderings since their expulsion fi-om Acle wood (cut
down about the year 1810), will be fully detailed else-
where— have but recently migrated from Earlham, in
the same neighbourhood, to their present quarters.
Here, it is to be hoped, if not, as hitherto, molested
by the Rooks, and under the protection of the noble
proprietor of the estate, this much persecuted race may
yet "increase and multiply." It is impossible not to
mourn the fate of the gallant Falcon, which, once petted
by Kings and Princes is now classed in the list of feathered
" vermin " ; but still a something of its former glory
attaches to the Heron, and the sight of the great bird
returning with laboured flight from some distant stream,
never fails to recall the time-honoured associations which
inseparably connect the " Hawk and the Harnsey."
How different the 'prestige of both these birds, when, in
August, 1578, Queen Elizabeth, leaving Norwich *^by
St. Bennet's-gates went towards Cossey-Park to hunt,"
and when, in 1866, the heir apparent to the throne
paid a Eoyal visit to the same estate. At the former
date, although we find no record as to hawking parties,
there is little doubt that Herons graced the board,
being in those days esteemed a "dainty dish to set
before the Queen;" whilst even the hospitahty of the
noble entertainer would have been called in question
by the introduction of such a dish, on the last occasion.

Amongst the larger estates in this division of the
county, not already referred to in the "cliff" or other
districts, are Merton, with its venerable oaks, and
Eainhamj Elmham, and Kimberley, with their extensive

Ixiv INTRODUCTION.

parks and plantations and fine sheets of ornamental
water. It would be needless, however, to attempt to
enumerate, here, the smaller parks and pleasant country-
seats, which, scattered in all directions, form so agree-
able a feature in this portion of the county ; not only
its richly wooded character, but its highly cultivated
condition, may be gathered from the fact that at least
nine or ten Rookeries exist witliin five miles of Norwich,
and but few estates of any extent are without some
colonies, large or small, of these social birds.

Although, on the better soils, the old natural
woods have yielded by slow degrees to the encroach-
ments of the plough, yet, with the improvements in
agriculture, was also introduced, as shown by Kent in
his survey of Norfolk farming,"^ a general system of
planting. Great numbers of firs, Scotch, larch, and
spruce, either planted in belts and " slips," or intermixed
with forest trees, were reared for the ornamentation of
parks and pleasure grounds, and, as may be seen
at Stratton-Strawless and many other places, barren
commons and sandy wastes were thus made to assume
a much more cheerful aspect. The Horstead chalk-pits
present a remarkable example of the picturesque effects,
which may be thus produced. The sloping sides of the
older cuttings have been thickly planted with firs of
various kinds, rising, as it were, in terraces from the
banks of the stream, which winds its way between the
now verdant heights ; and, from the peculiar character
of the scene, this spot has acquired the very appropriate
name of " Little Switzerland."

Besides the more modern game preserves, however,
for which the county is now so celebrated, there are
some remnants of far older woods, whose history

* "General View of the Agriculture of the County of Norfolk,"
by Nathaniel Kent. Published in 1813.

INTRODUCTION. IxV

would carry us back to a somewhat early period.
Woods, in whose dense coverts the Wild-cat (Felix
catus) and the Martin* (Martes foina) once ranged
in safety, or, still more recently, the Eaven and Carrion
Crow, with the Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) and Kite
(Milvus ictinus), amongst the larger Raptores, nested
undisturbed, and Hawks and Owls in plenty performed
their part in the great scheme of nature, as vermin-
killers, not vermin. Of such may be noted more
especially the great Foxley wood, described by Kent,
in 1813, as covering over three hundred acres, and
Hockering, Ashwelthorpe, Hethel, Brooke, f and others,
even now of considerable extent and for the most part
well stocked with game, both feather and " felt." With
the great woods, also, as relicts of former times, we
have, even in this closely cultivated district, several
wide heaths and rough commons, lying chiefly to the
north and west of Norwich, and which, in some
localities, though not continuous, extend for several
miles in an almost direct line.

On the stiffer soils, again, to the south and south-
west, we find a "green" country, with rich meadows

* This species was still trapped, occasioually, in Brooke wood,
until near the close of the last centmy,

f These older woods may be grouped together, as it were, in
different locaUties, lying as they now do in close proximity to each
other, whUst in former times, no doubt, they were still more closely
connected. Thus, in one group, we have the woods at Eainham
Elmham, Horningtoft, Foxley, MUeham, and Godwick ; in another,
those at Saham, Merton, Necton, and Bradenham. Hethel, Ket-
teringham, and Ashwelthorpe would form a third; and a still
larger group includes Brooke, Hedenham, Ditchingham, Kirby-
Cane, Shottesham, and Hempnall. In like manner, also, might
have been classed the woods at Edgefield, Plumstead, Holt,
Hempstead, Stody, and Hunworth, together with Melton and
Swanton, before the chief portion were either "stubbed up"
altogether or re-planted.
i

Ixvi INTRODUCTION.

and abundant riralets ; and the fields being divided into
an infinity of small enclosures by lofty fences, thickly
studded with trees, give a character of its own to this
portion of the county. At Hapten, Plordon, Forncett,
&c., although drainage has everywhere diminished the
haunts of the Snipe, yet the black soil of the drains has
at all seasons an attraction for the Green-Sandpiper,
(Totanus ochropus). This species is also frequent about
the chain of small fens which are situated on the river
Thet, near Hargham, Buckenham, and Attleborough ;
where Snipe are still plentiful, and from whence, amongst
other rarities, Baillon's Crake (Crex haillonij, has been
obtained in some two or three instances. The Great
Northern-Diver (Colymbus glacialis) has been likewise
killed on the lake at Quiddenham, in the same neigh-
bourhood, many miles from the sea, being about equi-
distant from the coast either at Lynn or Yarmouth.

" All England," wrote Dr. Fuller, " may be carved
out of Norfolk, for here are fens and heaths, light and
deep, sandy and clay lands, and pastm-es, arable and
woodlands." Nor is this description altogether inap-
plicable at the present time, though the proportion of
arable to heath, fen, and woodland, has been reversed
through the necessities of an increased population.
Even now the ^^ enclosed" district, as here shown, is
strangely diversified in its features, and in spite of all
the changes effected during the last half century
throughout the county, the main points of difference
between East and West Norfolk are as marked as ever.
The very term "enclosed" suggests at once the antipodes
of such wild open tracts as have been already described
under the name of "brecks." Small farms and small
fields take the place of large holdings and wide open
lands, and the foliage on all sides, in the thickly
timbered hedgerows, plantations, gardens, and orchards,
gives every where a tone of warmth and homeliness to

INTRODUCTION. Ixvii

the landscape ; whilst clustering' around the many
farmsteads, we find in abundance all those species
which affect more particularly the habitations of man
and are dependant to a great extent on his labours for
support.

It is not, however, merely of late years that this por-
tion of th^ county has acquired its distinctive features.
On this point Mr. C. S. Read"^ informs us that, *^its
naturally fertile soils have been productive for centuries,"
and at a very early period, the great oak woods, of
which so few traces remain to us, clothed a landscape,
in which arable landf already struggled for mastery,
against sandy-heaths and warrens on the one hand, and
marshy grounds and bogs on the other. As far back as
1549, during the short reign of King Edward YI., we
find the attempts made to enclose certain commons and
waste lands about Attleborough, Wymondham, and
Hethersett, resulting in the great rebellion under
KettJ, when, not content with throwing down the
more recent enclosures, the rebels demolished hedges
and ditches, and laid waste parks and other private

* See an " Essay on the Agriculture of Norfolk," in White's
Gazetteer (3rd ed.), by C. S. Read, M.P.

t In the Hamlets of Lakenham and Eaton, by " a survey made
in the beginning of Edward I., the jurors valued each acre of land
at 15d. a year, and that then there were 150 acres arable in
demean, 44 acres of meadow, &c." * * * "In 1379, their
water-mill was re-built, and the Sheeps-walk, wood, and warren
are mentioned." [See Blomefield, folio ed., vol. ii., p. 857.]

J " The occasion of this rebellion (writes Blomefield) was because
divers lords and gentlemen, who were possessed of Abbey lands
and other large commons and waste grounds, had caused many of
those commons and wastes to be enclosed, whereby the poor and
indigent people were much offended, being thereby abridged of the
liberty that they formerly had to common cattle, &c., on the said
grounds to their own advantage." [Hist, of Norwich, vol. i., p. 222.]

Ixviii TNTEODTTCTION.

grounds, throiigliout their march from Hethersett to
Eaton wood, and thence to the great camp on Mouse-
hold-heath. Thorpe wood was demohshed, at the same
time, in order to prevent any surprise from that quarter,
and the timber used for huts, tents, and fuel.* No
wonder, after so serious a check as was experienced by
this formidable rising, and the long and «isanguinary
struggle that ensued between the King's troops and
the rebels, if, for a long period the enclosure system
progressed but slowly. Even as late as the reign of
Charles II., as Mr. Trimmer states in his *^ Flora of
Norfolk," " a heath, extending, with little interruption,
from Dunston, south of Norwich, northward, to Heving-
ham, and from thence, westward, to Lynn, was computed
to be a hundred miles in circumference," and from this
we may infer the general condition of the county in
1671, when that *^ witty monarch" made a Royal pro-
gress from Yarmouth to Norwich, and passing thence
to Oxnead, Blickling, and Rainham, formed the quaint
idea " that it was fit only to be cut into roads for the
rest of the kingdom."

Of its ornithology in those days, we fortunately
possess the most valuable records in the writings of that
learned Dr. Browne, who, for his great and varied
accomplishments, was knighted by the King during his
short stay in Norwich ; and from his notes we arrive at
the rather startling conclusion that, with the exception
only of the Spoonbill fPlatalea leucorodia) and the
Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carhoj, the same species
found nesting here in 1671 were still residents up
to the commencement of the present century. Yet
such, undoubtedly, was the fact, since, as Mr.
Lubbock remarks, it was not ^* until the extravagant

* See note from Norw. Koll in Blomefield's History of Norwich,
vol. 1., p. 226.

INTKODUCTION. Ixix

prices, caused by continued war, excited a general
eao'erness to enclose all available land, that the
improvement and extension of agriculture struck the
first blow at the feathered inhabitants of the waste."
*^Less than one hundred years ago (as stated by Mr.
Read), Norfolk did not produce enough wheat to feed
its scanty -population," and the whole district of the
broads, but imperfectly drained, and subject at times to
wide spread inundations, presented many of its normal
features. Decoys in every favourable locality were a
considerable source of profit, and "rye and rabbits"
were the chief products of the western division.
Assuming, moreover, that the statement in White's
Gazetteer that, "two hundred thousand acres of com-
mons and sandy heaths have been enclosed during the
last ninety years" is only approximately correct, there
can be no question as to the time when the former
denizens of the moor and the fen first experienced the
effects of a gradual but certain encroachment upon their
respective haunts. By the commencement of the reign
of George III., though East Norfolk, with the excep-
tion only of the great heaths and breck-lands towards
the north, had been, generally speaking, enclosed
throughout, yet in the western portions of the county
but little change had as yet been effected. Soon,
however, through the triumphs of scientific husbandry,
the comparatively poor soils of the west were about to
rival the kindlier lands of the east in productive qualities ;
and Holkham was to set an example to the county
at large. In other words, to quote once more from
our highest agricultural authority, " Mr. Coke was
successfully establishing those great improvements, and
introducing those liberal and salutary alterations in
farm practice, which soon placed Norfolk foremost in
the van of agricultural progress."

It was then, only, that the turnip, introduced early

IxX INTKOBUCTION.

in the previous century by a member of tlie Townsliend
family, was becoming universally cultivated, and when
drilled in ridges instead of sown " broadcast," taught
even the Grey-Partridge the use of its legs, and enabled
the recently imported "Eed-legs" to baffle their
pursuers, both human and canine. The " four-course "
system of cropping, also, with closely mown stubbles
and thinned hedgerows, changed materially the opera-
tions of the sportsman, and as has been already remarked,
with reference to the breeding of the Bustard, the very
implements invented and the new methods adopted
for the better cultivation of the soil, had, to a certain
extent, a prejudicial effect upon the ground-breeding
birds, both small and great. As Mr. Lubbock, however,
so truly observes "there is a compensating principle
continually at work in nature," and though drainage
and cultivation have been the main cause of the ban-
ishment of so many former residents, we have expe-
rienced, in others, a corresponding increase. As the
Snipe and the Redshank recede before the inroads of
the plough, the Partridge every where extends its area,
and the Black-headed Bunting and the Bearded Titmouse
are replaced by other Buntings and Finches, with more
granivorous appetites. Our summer warblers, and indeed
almost all arboreal species, have increased in proportion
to the accommodation afforded them, and game pre-
serving, however fatal to the Raptores as a body, and their
Corvine cousins the Raven, the Magpie, and the Carrion
Crow, has on the other hand acted as a protection to many
other birds, besides Partridges and Pheasants. Wood-
Pigeons, Blackbirds, and Thrushes, freed from their
natural enemies, have become more and more plentiful ;
and those which wisely seek the shelter of the woods
during the breeding season, now rear their young in
blissful security, no birds' nesting boys having a chance
of robbing them in the well watched coverts. The

INTRODUCTION. Ixxi

Turtle-Dove, the Missel-Tlirusli, and the Long-eared
Owl, all more or less scarce within a comparatively short
period, are now, through the attractions of our woods
and fir-coverts, become plentifully distributed through-
out the county, and from the same cause the little
Golden-crested Wren, with the Coal and Marsh-Titmice
have greatly increased in numbers of late years. The
Woodcock remains with us to breed more frequently,
and the Hawfinch (Coccothraustes vulgaris), from some
cause not so easily explainable, may be classed as a
resident, though till lately considered only as a scarce
winter visitant.

Amongst minor influences, however, prejudicial in
a general sense, or affecting certain species or groups
in particular, may be instanced the cheapness of fire-
arms, and the consequent increase of gunners, together
with a ready access by railroad to all parts of the
county. To these must be added, also, a wholesale
and indiscriminate system of egging, and through
the modern taste for collecting, the high prices offered
for rarities in both birds and eggs. But these, after
all, are but secondary causes, since egging, shooting,
and collecting combined had failed to exterminate
certain marsh-breeders, which yet vanished altogether
with the altered features of their favourite haunts, and
year by year the same operations are slowly but surely
extending their influences. Indeed, were it possible, to
restore the whole face of the county to its former con-
dition, we should win back, even now, many feathered
emigrants, and that this is no idle speculation has
been already shown by the fact that, after the great
flood in the winter of 1852-3, no less than three
species remained to breed in the Fens about Feltwell
and Hockwold, previously unknown in those parts for
many years. The success, too, which has attended the

Ixxii INTHODUCTIOI^.

praiseworthy exertions of tlie Rev. T. J. Blofeld, at
Hoveton, to found, as it were, a colony of Black- headed
Gulls on his estate, and the protection at the same
time afforded to the Grebes, Garganey, and other wild
fowl, proves, in comparison with similar and quite as
favoui'able localities, how much may still be effected,
within a limited area, by a conservative rather than an
exterminating system.

In bringing our survey, then, to a close, we may
arrive at one conclusion, at least, of a satisfactory
nature. Whilst the larger mammalia, once inhabiting
this county have passed away for ever under the influ-
ences of civilization, the feathered race, owing to their
volant powers, have suffered only in degree. We have
here no wingless birds to become extinct through their
very helplessness, and even the Great Bustard still claims
a place in the Norfolk list as an occasional migrant.
Thus, though former residents may become accidental
visitants only, they are not lost to us altogether ; and so
long as the ocean shall continue to wash its boldly
projecting shores, and the periodical movements of the
feathered race be actuated by the marvellous instinct
of migration, so long, in spite of all internal changes,
will Norfolk maintain its ornithological reputation.

THE BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

HALIiEETUS ALBICILLA (Linuteus).
WHITE-TAILED EAGLE.

Nearly every autumn or winter affords specimens of this
eagle in immature plmnage, and it appears also at times
late in spring, but in no instance liave I known tlie adult
bird to occur in tbis county."^ The predominance of the
young amongst all migratory Raptorial species that visit
our coast in autumn, including peregrineSj ospreys,
merlins, buzzards, &c., is attributable, no doubt, in a
great degree, to the fact of the old birds in this class
driving their young away from their own nestmg places
as soon as they are able to provide for themselves, to
seek in other districts a home and a ]ielj)mate, and
in their turn to practise the customs of their ancestors.
That this marked characteristic of the Eaptorial tribe

* In the autumn of 186-i, a skin of H. cdhicilla was brought to
one of our Norwich bii-d-stuffers, with a statement that the bird
had been shot on Breydon during the previous winter. This
bird exhibited the ivliite tail and other indications of adult
plumage, and from this and other appearances, more than doubting
its history, I at once instituted enquiries at Tarmouth. From a
resident ornithologist there, upon whose information I can im-
jalicitly rely, I ascertained that no sea eagle had been either seen
or shot on Breydon in the winter of 1863, and that the bu'd in
question was brought by a fisherman about Christmas-time from
Norway as a shin, and had been offered to various collectors in
Yarmouth for £1.

2 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

was recognised long ago, by sportsmen and naturalists,
is shown by the following quaint passage in Turbervile's
" Booke of Ealconrie," printed in 1575, where, speak-
ing of the "Eagle royale" or golden eagle [Aquila
chrysaetos), instructing its young how to "Kyll their
praye and feede them selves ;" the author adds — " But
no soner hath she made them perfit, and throughly
scooled them therin, but presently she chaseth them out
of that coaste, and doth abandon them the x^lace where
they were eyred, and will in no wise brooke them to
abide neare hir, to the ende that the countrey where she
discloseth and maketh her eyrie, bee not unfurnished of
convenient pray, which by the number and excessive
store of eagles might otherwise be spoiled and made
bare. For the avoyding of which, this provident and
carefuU soule doth presently force her broode to depart
into some other part and region."

The male specimen of this sea eagle in the Norwich
museum (No. 5 in the British series), although marked
adult, was taken whilst young off Wuitei'ton some years
since, and attained its present plumage in confinement.
The following curious particulars respecting its capture
and subsequent history are thus recorded by Messrs.
Gurney and Fisher, in their "Birds of Norfolk:"^ —
" Some boys having thrown out a line and hook into the
sea, baited with a herring, for the purpose of catching
a gull, the bait was spied and pounced upon by the
eagle, and the hook becoming fixed in the inside of his
foot, he was found by the boys, upon their return to
examine their line, floating on the surface of the water.
They immediately went off in a boat, and completed
their capture without much diflB.culty. This bird was

* " An account of the Birds found in !Norfolk, including
Notices of some of the rarer Species which have occurred in the
adjoining Counties." By J. H. Gurney, Esq., and W. R. Fisher,
Esq., published in the " Zoologist" for 1846.

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 3

subsequently kept in confinement for some years, but
accidentally escaping-, was shot a few days afterwards by
a gamekeeper in the neighbourhood." No less than
three of these fine bii'ds, two females and one male,
were shot in different parts of the county during the
winter of 1855-6 ; and in the following winter of 1856-7,
between the months of ISTovember and January, three
more were obtained on the coast. Two of the latter were
killed at Winterton, near Yarmouth, a very favourite
locality, and nearly at the same spot ; the last specimen
being shot wliilst hovering over a rabbit warren, and
on examination of the contents of its stomach, (besides
a stoat) was found to have been feeding on the remains of
a large whale, which had just previously been stranded
on the Winterton beach. In January, 1859, one or two
of these eagles were observed at Horning and other
parts of the county, and in the severe winter of 1860-1,
a fine -pair frequented the lake at Holkham for some
weeks, where, in spite of the ravages they committed
amongst the wild fowl, the noble owner of the estate
would not allow them to be disturbed. A fine young
male was killed at Hickling on the 23rd of March,
1861 ; and about the same date in the following year, a
female was shot at Westwick. This was, no doubt, the
same bird that had been seen only a few days previously
at Northrepps, near Cromer, where Mr. Gurney's keeper
observed it sitting on a tree, perfectly indifierent to the
mobbings of a flock of jackdaws. In the spring of
1863, an immature bird was shot near Fritton decoy,
in the adjoining county ; and in ITovember of the same
year, another was observed, for a few days, in the
neighbourhood of Wymondham, in Norfolk.

Mr. Lubbock^ states that on one occasion, in very

* " Observations on the Fauna of Norfolk, and more particularly
on the District of the Broads." By the Eev. E. Lubbock (1845)
B 2

4 BIKDS OF NOEFOLK.

severe weatlier, lie saw a fine sea eagle as near this
city as Postwick Grove, '^beating leisurely up the river,
apparently searching for coots or Avild fowl in the wakes
which remained unfrozen." The late Mr. Girdlestone,
of Yarmouth, also informed Mr. Lubbock that in the
sharp winter of 1837 "he had three of these eagles in
sight at once" on Horsey warren.

I have omitted the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
from the present list, since, although more than once
recorded to have been taken in Norfolk,"^" it is extremely
doubtful whether that noble bird has ever appeared in
this county. From one or two of the best authorities in
this neighbourhood, I find that no authentic instance of
its occurrence has ever come to their notice, and the
so-called golden eagles I have myself examined, have
invariably proved, on more careful inspection, to be
young birds of the cinereous or white-tailed eagle in
their various stages of immature plumage. Sir Thomas
Brownef also, writing some two hundred years ago,
speaks of the not unusual appearance of " the Halioe'etus
or Fen Eagles," but adds "the great and noble kind
of eagle, called Aquila gesneri (chrysaetos), I have not

* Under tlic head of the Golden Eagle, Mr. Lubbock says in
his local " Fauna," " Our museum possesses a specimen of this
rarer kind" from which one might infer that we had a ISforfolk
killed specimen in the Norwich museum. This, however, is not
the case, either amongst the British or general Raptorial series.

f " An account of birds found in Norfolk," see Sir Thomas
Browne's works, edited by Simon Wilkin, F.L.S., vol. iv., p. 313.
[MS. Sloan, 1830, fol. 5, 22 and 31].— Also, " Animals found in
Norfolk," copy from Sir T. Browne's MS. in the British museum,
published in the " Monthly Magazine" for 1805, pp. 106 and 410.

These lists were undoubtedly written after 1636, in which year
Sir Thomas took up his residence in Norwich. He was born in
London in 1605, was knighted by Charles II. in 1671, died in
this city in 1682, and was buried in St. Peter's Mancroft.

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. OSPEEY. 5

seen in tliis country." It is probable that, besides being
a much scarcer species than the white-tailed eagle, the
flatness of our own county, compared with the usual
haunts of the golden eagle, may account for its non-
appearance on our Eastern coast, since, neither in
Europe, North Africa, Asia, or North America, is it
found to wander far from the mountainous districts.
Yarrell, in the first volume of his "British Birds,"
has most clearly pointed out the marked difference at
any age in the feet of these two eagles, and it is only
necessary to remember that the sea eagle has '^' the
whole leng-th of each toe covered with broad scales," and
the golden eagle only " three broad scales at the end of
each toe," with the legs feathered to the division of the
toes, to determine at once the species to which any local
specimen properly belongs.

PANDION HALI^ETUS (Linn^Bus).
OSPEEY.

The Osprey or Fishing Hawk, as this bird is some-
times called, still visits us as a regular migrant in small
numbers ; but though formerly, as stated by Messrs.
Gurney and Fisher, most plentiful during the autumn
months, it has of late years entirely altered its habits in
this respect, and appears almost invariably in April and
May, and occasionally even as late as the middle of June.
It is more than probable that their total extermina-
tion on the Scottish lochs may in some degree account
for this change ; certainly whatever the cause, out of 30
specimens that have come under my notice since 1847,
only* ten were procured in the autumn months, and for
the last five years at least, with but two exceptions, the
ospreys have appeared in spring. Of these birds the

O BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

greatest number were in immature plumage, and were
met witli on tlie coast or close hj, in tlie vicinity of the
larger broads, whose wide tracts of open water are well
suited to tlieii' habits. Stragglers are, however, occa-
sionally found inland, in places far less likely for their
appearance, as at Scoulton, near Hingham ; at Stanfield
Park, near W^Tiiondham ; and in October, 1859, foiu' or
five were observed in the neighbourhood of Thetford. If
undisturbed, they seem to confine their fishing to one
spot as long as their finny prey remains plentiful, par-
ticularly in such favourite localities as Hickling and
Horsey broads. In April, 1851, three ospreys were
killed at Hickling in one week by the same man, who
shot them whilst perched on the posts wliich there mark
the course of the river through the broad, and in each
case the birds appeared to have been resting after a
rich repast, their stomachs being hteraUy crammed with
roach. I have particularly mentioned this fact, having
since met with the following interesting note in the
''Ibis," by Mr. Osbert Salvin,* which proves that the
habit of resting after a meal so generally adopted by
the Eaptorial tribe, is thus commonly, and often fatally,
indulged in by these piscatorial gluttons : — " In the
lagoon of El Baheira, a number of posts are fi:s:ed to
direct the boats that ply between Tunis and La Goletta.
These are the favourite perches of several ospreys,
which, during the winter months, fish in the lagoon,
and retire to these posts to feed on and digest their
prey."

* Mr. 0. Salvin's " Five Months' Birds' -nesting in the Eastern
Atlas." — " Ibis," vol. i., p. 183.

GREETSTLAND FALCON. 7

FALCO CANDICANS (GmeHn).

GEEENLAND FALCOX.

The late Mr. Hunt, of Norwicli, in his " British Orni-
thology,""^ has jfigured, or perhaps more correctly speak-
ing, caricatured a bird of this species which was killed
many years back on Bungay common, and being only
slightly wounded in the pmion, lived for some time in
confinement. This bird, says Mr. Hunt, from its
extreme tameness, '^eating readily from the hand of
the servant who attended him," was generally supposed
to have escaped from some falconer. From Mr. T. M.
Spalding, of Westleton, I learn that this same specimen
was given by King, the man who shot it, to the late
John Cooper, Esq., of Bungay, and at his death it was
purchased at the sale at North Cove Hall, for the j^resent
Lord Huntingfield, in whose collection it is still pre-
served. Mr. Spalding, who had many opportunities of
examining this falcon both at Bungay and Cove, says, —
^'It was preserved by W. C. Edwards, and was a
beautifnl male, the spots of black very minute, and the
upper portion of the beak much elongated, the only
symptom I could see of its ever being in captivity," and
tliis pecuharity is particularly marked in Mr. Hunt's
drawing. — The statement of Messrs. Sheppard and
Whitear,t that this bird formed part of Mr. Spalding's

* " British Ornithology, containing portraits of all the British
birds, including those of Foreign origin which have become
domesticated; drawn, engraved, and coloured after nature." By J.
Hunt. — 3 vols., 8vo. ; Norwich, 1815 ; printed by Bacon and Co.

t " A Catalogue of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, withEemarks.
By the Eer. Eevett Sheppard, A.M., F.L.S., and the Eev. William
"VVhitear, A.M., F.L.S.," pubhshed in the 15th vol. of the Linnean
Society's Transactions, mdcccxxvi.

8 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

collection is not correct, since, as before stated, it was
purchased for Lord Huntingfield, Mr. Spalding bidding
up to £5. Since that time, however, this noble falcon
has been fully installed amongst the Norfolk rarities,
from the occurrence of an undoubtedly wild specimen
at Beeston, near Cromer, in February, 1848. This
beautiful example, a fine adult male, is in the pos-
session of Mr. J. Gurney Hoare, of Hampstead. In the
"Zoologist," p. 3028, will also be found a notice by
Mr. T. Fowell Buxton, of a falcon, supposed, from its
"snowy whiteness," to be of this species, which was
seen by himself and other gentlemen wliilst shootmg
at Trimingham, on the same part of the coast, in
November, 1851. In the adjoining county of Suifolk,
large white falcons have been observed on more than
one occasion, though not of late years ; and a man
named Martin, formerly keeper to John Lee Farr, Esq.,
of North Cove Hall, assured Mr. Spalding^ that he
once shot a " large white hawk" at Cove, which he had
watched for some nights, always making for a par-
ticular wood to roost, and which, from his description,
as being pure white with a few black spots, was most
probably a Greenland falcon. Unfortunately, the bird
was given to a farmer and was not preserved. The
distinctions established of late years by Mr. Hancock
and other eminent ornithologists, between the tlu-ee
forms of great northern falcons, viz., the Greenland
falcon (F. candicans, Gmel.), the Iceland falcon (F.
islandicus, Gmel.), and the true gp-falcon, of Norway
{F. gyrfalco, Linn.), render it particularly desirable
that all British-killed specimens of these noble birds
should be fully identified. As the white or Greenland

* Mr. T. M. Spalding, of Westleton, and formerly of Ditchiug-
ham, in Norfolk, contributed the excellent list of Suffolk birds to
Suckling's history of that county.

PEREGRINE FALCON. 9

form, therefore, has alone ajDpeared in this county, I
have in this instance departed from the nomenclature
of Yarrell, whose specific term gyrfalco belongs neither
to the bird here referred to, nor to the specimen figured
in his " British Birds."

Some very clear and interesting remarks upon the
distinctive characteristics, at any age, of these three
forms, be they races or species, will be found in
the "Ibis" for 1862,'^ the accuracy of which can be best
verified by an inspection of the magnificent series of the
three forms, in the Raptorial collection of the Norwich
museum. It will suflB.ce here, however, to state in
general terms, that the Norwegian bird, as a rule, does
not become so light in plumage as the Icelander, whilst
the Greenland form, with the exception of the dark
spots on the back and wings, becomes pure white by
age, which the true Icelander never does.

FALCO PEREGRINUS, Gmelin.
PEREGEINE FALCON.

The Peregrine visits us annually in spring and autumn
on its migratory course, and though in small numbers,
is met with from time to time in every month between
September and May. By far the larger portion of these
are in immature plumage ; and adult males, as is gene-
rally the case amongst Raptorial migrants, are much
more scarce than females. I am not aware of any recent
instance of the peregrme breeding with us ; but Mr.
Hunt, writing in 1815 (Brit. Ornithology, vol. ii., p. 9),
says, " A nest of the gentil falcon has from time imme-
morial been found on Hunstanton clifis." They have also

* " Review of Drs. Blasius'a and Baldamus's Continuation of
Naumann's ' Vogel Deutschlands.' " — " Ibis," vol. iv., p.p. 43 to 53.
C

10 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

been known at different times to frequent the spire of
Norwich Cathedral, and accordmg to the above-mentioned
author (vol. i. p. 63), a Mr. Kittle, of this city, j)ar-
ticularly noticed a bird of this species, which " arrived
at the Cathedral by the middle of September, and left it
about the first week in March, and continued to do so
for eight successive years ; he also remarked that it was
generally to be seen near the top of the spire, and
invariably on that side which by sailors is called the
leeward, from whence it used to fly at pigeons and
other birds who were so unfortunate as to approach its
station. From the number of feathers found in the
tower of the Cathedral, he supposed that after it had
taken its prey it used to retire to that part to eat it
free from molestation." More recently a female, who
with her mate frequented the same spot, was shot whilst
chasing a pigeon on one of the bridges. Mr. Lubbock
also states, that ^^ during the time the late Mr. Downes
practised falconry near Yarmouth a pair of these birds
used to breed in the stee]3le of Corton church. The
nestlings were taken and trained to the chase, the clerk
having a regular retaining fee for their preservation."
The occurrence of three adult specimens, two males and
one female, near Thetford, in the spring of 1848, is
noticed in the "Zoologist," p. 2134; in the following
spring, a very fine pair, in perfect plumage, were killed
near the same place, and one or more old birds are still
seen there every year, usually in the month of March,
the adjacent warren having peculiar attractions. A fine
adult female, now in my possession, was killed at Rock-
land in March, 1858 ; and two others, in equally good
plumage, were taken in April, 1859, at Fransham and
Woodbastwick. The autumn of 1859 was remarkable
for the unusual number of these birds that appeared
on our coast ; but out of eight or ten which came under
my notice at that time, none had attained more than

PEREGRINE FALCON. 11

tlieir first year's plumage. Amongst these was a fine
young female, picked up on October 12tli, on the Yar-
mouth line, near Reedham, having one wing broken at
the shoulder-joint, and a deep cut at the base of the
upper mandible, from coming in contact with the tele-
graph wires. The poor bird, when found, was still alive,
but did not long survive its injuries ; whether these were
received from its coming in contact with the wires on
its nocturnal migration, as occurs so frequently with
snipe and woodcocks during the autumn, or from its
too impetuous chase of some intended victim during
the day, it is difiicult to determine — most probably
the former, as an instance is recorded by Messrs,
Gurney and Fisher of a young peregrine being killed
in the autumn of 1843, by "dashing dm-ing the
night against one of the light-houses on our eastern
coast." In the early part of 1862 they were again ex-
tremely numerous, seven or eight specimens being killed
between January and March, in the neighbourhood of
Swaffham. Amongst these were a pair of old birds,
in magnificent plumage ; and a fijie old female was
shot at Gunton, near Cromer, on the 12th February,
and an adult male at Weybourne, on the 3rd of April.
In the following autumn two old males and one female
were killed in different parts of the county. In January,
1863, an old female was shot at Horsey, in the act of
carrying off a waterhen, the hawk weighing lib. 15 oz.,
and its quarry 13 oz. A singular instance of deformity
in the beak of this falcon, arising probably from some
accident, occurred in an old female killed at Woodrising,
in April, 1859, by Major Weyland's gamekeeper. In
this bird the upper mandible, instead of projecting over
the lower with a sharp hooked point, rested upon the
under mandible, both being equal in length and much
thickened and blunted at the tips. The cutting edges
of the beak, however, did not meet at the sides, but had
c2

12 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

a hole quite througli, looking very mucli as if a stray sliot
had caused all the mischief and thus given to the whole
head a much more Corvine than Eaptorial character.

FALCOWRY IN" NORFOLK.

Of the " decline and fall" of falconry in this coimty,
there is but little to add to the interesting and elaborate
paper on the subject in Lubbock's " Fauna of Norfolk."
The introduction of fire-arms, with the increased faci-
lities thus afforded for the killing of game, was no doubt
the primary cause of its gradual decay, and the rage for
^'preserving" of late years has given the last blow to this
once Regal sport ; whilst the laws which now protect the
partridge and pheasant, represent, in our own times,
the pains and penalties which formerly attached to
the theft or destruction of either hawk or falcon.* Yet,

* The late Col. Hamilton, in his " Eeminiscences of a Sports-
man," writing on the history of falconry, remarks — " In the
34th of Edw. III. it was made felony to steal a hawk ; to take its
eggs even out of a person's own ground, was punishable with
imprisonment for a year and a day, besides a fine at the King's
pleasure. In Queen Elizabeth's reign the imprisonment was re-
duced to three months, but the offender must find security for seven
years, or be in prison till he did." — Any person finding a falcon, or
any species of hawk, was likewise compelled by law to carry it to
the Sheriff of the County, who was bound publicly to announce
the fact that its owner might claim it, and if not claimed within
four months it became the property of the finder if a qualified
person; if not he received a reward and the Sheriff kept the hawk.
The church even at times extended its formidable ^gis over these
favoured birds, as in the above year of the reign of Edward the III.
•' The Bishop of Ely excommunicated certain persons for stealing
a hawk that was sitting upon her perch in the cloisters of Ber-
m.ondsey, in Southwark; but this piece of sacrilege was com-
mitted during Divine service, and the hawk was the property of
the Bishop." — The costliness also of this ancient pastime may be
gathered from the fact, that " In the reign of James the 1st, Sir
Thos. Monson gave £1,000 (about £2,000 of our present money)
for a cast of hawks."

FALCONET IN NORFOLK. 13

though once deemed of so great value as to form no small
item in a heavy ransom^ or the tenure bj which estates
were held of the crown, or important privileges were
secured to individuals, the noble falcon and his doomed
race are now included in the list of vermin, and the price
set upon their heads depends solely on their rarity in
the collectors' hands. Well might some patriarch of
the tribe exclaim —

" Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis."
The late Lord Berners (Col. Wilson) kept heron hawks'^
at his seat at Didling-ton for many years. These were
afterwards supported by subscription, but were given up
in 1836, and since that time falconry has ceased to be
practised in tliis county, except as a private amuse-
ment by one or two individuals. Mr. Newcome, of
FeltweU Hall, near Brandon, who probably knows more
of the science of falconry than any man in England,
contuiued to keep hawks for some years after the sub-
scription club at the Loo had ceased to exist. In 1843,
Mr. Newcome possessed two remarkable heron hawks,
De Euyter and Sultan, which were brought from Holland
by the falconer Pel, and having been flown one season
at Loo, took in their third year, at Hockwold and
Loo, 54 herons, and in the following season of 1844,
in the same localities, 67 herons. De Euyter was
unfortunately lost in that year, on Lakenheath warren,
when flown at a rook ; but in the autumn of 1845,
Sultan caught 25 rooks and three herons. Tliis splen-

* Messrs. Salvin and Brodrick, in their liiglily interesting work
on " Falconry in the British Isles," remark, that these falcons were
" Passage hawks" from Holland, and the stock was kept up by
obtaining fresh birds from that country. On one occasion, soon
after the breaking out of the war with France, the falconers, who
were bringing a supply of falcons to Didlington, were taken pri-
soners, and sent to the Hague, and subsequently to Paris." They
also state that " The hawk-catchers in Holland have, on several
occasions, taken hawks that have escaped from Norfolk."

14 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

did bird, in full hawking gear, with hood, bells, and
jesses complete, is still preserved in a glass case at
Hockwold Hall, in honour of his high achievements. Mr.
Newcome had also at one time several trained merlins,
which exhibited remarkable sport in hawking skylarks,
and two female sparrowhawks, which were flown at
blackbirds with great success ; of late years, however,
he has done but httle in his favourite pastime^ but a
small club, with Eobt. Barr as falconer, has been recently
formed, of which Capt. Salvin, Mr. Newcome, Mr.
Knox, Mr. C. Buncombe, and one or two more, are mem-
bers, and the hawks, numbering about a dozen, are now
at Feltwell, preparatory to their being flown in the
sirring on Salisbury plain. John Pel above alluded
to, one of the few professional falconers still existing
in England, is descended from a Dutch family long
noted for their skill in that particular science, and,
as stated by " Peregrine," (to whose account of " Pel's
hawking career," published in the "Field" of 1860,
I am indebted for many of the following particulars,)
was born at Lowestoft in 1815, his father being a
native of Yalkenswaard, in Holland,''^ and master
falconer to the Didling-ton subscription club. About
1830 both father and son resided at Lowestoft, where
they kept hawks for the Dulce of Leeds and the Earl
of Aberdeen, and subsequently both of them entered
the service of the Duke of St. Alban's at-Highgate. In
1842 the younger Pel had the management of Mr. New-
come's hawks at Hockwold, and in the summer of 1845

* Mr. Lubbock refers to a letter from Sir Anthony Pell, 1621,
as given by Pennant in the appendix to his birds, forbidding
" Any one importing hawks to move them from ship-board or the
custom-house, untU the said Pell, master falconer, should have
made his selection for the King's use," and adds — " It is singular
that the last family practising the art of hawking in England,
natives of Yalkenswaard, should be Pell or Pells."

FALCONRY IN NORFOLK. 15

proceeded to Iceland for the Duke of Leeds, to procure
the larger falcons, and succeeded in taking and bringing
over fifteen bhds (falcons and tiercels), of which eight
were presented by the Duke to the Loo club, and the
remaining seven were retained by liis Grace under the
management of Pel. Of late years he has resided
chiefly in Norfolk, only occasionally going abroad on
professional visits, and is still falconer to the Duke of
St. Albans (Hereditary Grand Falconer of England),
and keeps liis hawks at Lakenheath. No locality in
England is perhaps better suited for hawking than
the wide open country in the neighbourhood of Bran-
don, where, selecting a somewhat rising ground, the
flight of both falcon and quarry may be watched as
far as the eye can reach. Through the kindness of my
friend Mr. Newcome, I have more than once enjoyed
the now rare opportunity of witnessing a flight at
rooks or pigeons, admiring the graceful circlings and
fierce stoops of the peregrines, and the skill and mastery
of the professional trainer. Wm. Barr, junr., a Scotch
falconer, visited Norwich in 1851, and gave a pubHc
exhibition of liis art on Hellesdon brakes and other
places close to the city. The crowds, however, attracted
by the novelty of the exhibition, interfered materially
with the sport itself, as the pigeons thrown up took
refuge in the carriages or amongst the crowd, whilst
overhead the falcon, " waiting on," was frightened and
confused by the noisy throng, and even if a successful
stoop was made, it needed all the agility and strength
of the falconer to keep back the populace whilst trans-
ferring the falcon from the quarry to his wrist. —
At the present time, the only hawking establishment
existing in this part of the country is that of the
Maharajah Duleep Singh, a most enthusiastic sports-
m.an, who recently purchased the Elveden estate, for
many years the property of the late Mr. Newton.

16 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

In tlie L'Estrange "Household Book" are many
curious entries with reference to the purchase, keep,
training, and other expenses of the various hawks used
at that time (1519 to 1578), at Hunstanton Hall, in-
cluding peregrines, goshawks, hobbies, and sparrow-
hawks, for whose care and training a falconer was kept,
who probably occupied the same position on the estate as
a head gamekeeper at the present time. In the eleventh
and following years of the reign of King Henry the
Vlllth we find—

£ s. d.
Itm pd to John Maston for mewyug and kepyng of
ye goshawks from Ohrostyde (the feast of the
exaltation of the Holy Cross) unto ye xvth daye of

Novembre — x —

Itm pd at Lynne whan ye went on hawkyng to "Wool-

ferton wood for fyer and dryncke — — viij

Itm pd yr ye sam tym for horsmete — — xiij

Itm delyvyd to hym the sam daye for a by 11 alowyd

to Edward for hauks mett — vij xj

Itm in reward same day to Saunder the fawken
for the tyme that he was wt me, or he entred

into wage — — xvj

For yor goshawk. Itm delyved to yow the xxij day
of August by the hands of David to bye yor

goshawk — xl — ■

Itm delyved you the xxij day of January, when yow

went a hawking wt my uncle Roger Woodhous ... — vij vi

The following entries also indicate the kinds of game
at which the different species of hawks were flown : —

Itm a fesant kyllyd wt ye goshawke.

Itm vj rabetts of store and ij ptriches kylled wt ye sperhawke.

Itm xiiij larks kyllyd wt the hobbye.

Itm xij larks kyllyd with the hobbye.

Itm ij ptrychys kyllyd wythe the hauks.

Itm ij fesands and ij ptrychys kyllyd wt the hauks.

Particular mention is made of the crossbow through-
out the earlier portion of these records, ajid the birds

FALCONRY IN NORFOLK. 17

killed with that weapon, as, cranes, mallards, wild
geese, bitterns, herons, swans, and bustards, and in
one instance " viij mallards, a bustard, and j hemsewe"
are entered as killed at the same time. Soon, however,
these entries become less frequent, although notes on
the hawks and spaniels continue, till in 1533, in the
24th year of the reign of King Henry the Vlllth, the
crossbow at last gives place to the gun, and thence-
forward are chronicled only the victims of the new
weapon, destined to work as great a change in our
national sports as in the more terrible arena of the
battle-field. Large birds, or those most easy of approach,
would appear by the following extracts to have been
specially sought by the yet unskilled gunner, whose
unwieldy piece, with its slow and often uncertain dis-
charge, must have made even " sitting" shots a difficulty,
whilst as yet the higher art of "shooting flying" had
scarcely dawned as a possibility on the mind of the
sportsman.

Itm a watter hen kylled wt the gonne.

Itm a cranne kylled wt the gonne.

Itm ij mallards kylled wt the gonne.

Itm a wydgyn kylled wt the gonne.

Itm pd the xxviij day of February to Southhous for yor sadell xiiij'-
and for gn powder and other things that he bought for you at
London, xxj^- x*^-

Itm delyvcd the same daye to Barms of London to bey gun-
powder wthall, xx^-*

* " Extracts from the Household and Privy Purse Accounts of
the Lestranges of Hunstanton, from a.d. 1619 to a.d. 1578 ;" Com-
municated to the Eoyal Society of Antiquaries by Daniel Gurney,
Esq., F.S.A., in a letter to Su- Henry EUis, K.H., F.E.S., Secretary.
March 14th, 1833.

18 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

FALCO SUBBUTEO, LinnsBus.

HOBBY.

A very regular summer visitant, tliough in small
numbers, arriving in June, and is met with both
in adult and immature plumage. Mr. Lubbock speaks
of its breeding at Hargham in the nest of a crow,
and Mr. Spalding has taken its eggs, both at Thorpe
Abbots, near Harleston, and at Kingswood, near
Broome, invariably from crows' nests, the eggs of
the crows being purposely removed to insure the
occupation of the nest by the hobbies later in the
season. A raven's nest, in High Grove, Geldestone,
(Suffolk,) was also yearly tenanted by hobbies after the
young ravens had flown. Of late years of course such
instances have become more and more scarce, but a pair
were known to breed at Bixley, near Norwich, in 1844 ;
and the following facts respecting a similar occurrence
in 1853, show the courageous and persevering adhe-
rence of this species to any favourite locality. A pair
of these birds were observed to frequent a wood at
Hockering, and, doomed by the very name of hawk, the
male soon fell a victim to the keeper's gun. A' second
and a third time the female returned with a fresh mate,
but only to share the fate of its predecessors ; still she
managed, herself, to escape all dangers, and, undaunted
by her repeated losses, returned with a fourth consort
to the same spot. This time the persecution was stayed,
and the gallant little bird was allowed to rear her
young ones undisturbed, which were seen later in the
season flying about the wood. Of the three males
which were brought successively to a bird preserver
in this city, the first was in immature, the others
in adult plumage; and it is the more remarkable

HOBBY. RED-FOOTED FALCON. 19

that the female in this instance should so soon and
so often have obtained fresh partners of her own
species, since the hobby, as above stated, is by
no means numerous throughout the county. In the
"Zoologist," p. 248, a hobby is recorded to have
occurred at Yarmouth as early as the month of
February, and a female was shot near this city, on the
20th of March, 1858, and one at Nortlirepps, on the 25th
of March, 1863 ; but these are amongst the very few
instances in which I have known this species to deviate
from the extreme regularity with which it annually
visits us in June, and even one at least of these birds
had received such injuries as had most probably com-
pelled it to remain here throughout the winter. The
young male (No. lO.b) in the museum collection was shot
whilst perched on St. John's Maddermarket church, in
the very heart of this city.

FALCO RUFIPES, Beseke.

EED-FOOTED FALCON.

I can find no earlier record of the occurrence of this
rare species in Norfolk than the year 1830, when the
following note, by the late Mr. Yarrell, appears in
Loudon's ** Magazine of Natural History" (vol. iv., p.
116) : — ^' Thi-ee examples of this small falcon were
observed together at Horning, Norfolk, in the month
of May, 1830, and fortunately all three were obtained.
On examination they proved to be an adult male and
female, and a young male in immature plumage. A
fourth specimen has also been shot in Holkham park."
Of the three first I am now able to give somewhat fuller
particulars than have yet been published, the gentleman
who shot them, Mr. Heath, of Ludliam Hall, having
kindly answered all my enquiries. They had been
D 2

20 BIEDS OP NOEFOLK.

noticed for some days before they were killed frequent-
ing the arable lands adjoining the marshes, where they
perched on the small bushes stuck up in the fields to
prevent partridge netting, or settled on the ground
apparently searching the soil for worms or insects. The
old male and female were presented by Mr. Heath to
Mr. Gurney, who still has them at Catton; and the
young male to the late Mr. Edward Lombe, of Melton,
whose fine collection is now at Wymondliam, in the
possession of his daughter, Mrs. E. P. Clarke.'^ In
1832, as stated by the Messrs. Paget,t another example
was obtained on a marsh near Breydon, which came into
the possession of Mr. D. Preston, of Yarmouth; but
these gentlemen were decidedly in error in stating that
Mr. Heath's specimens were procured ^^in the same
year." No others appear to have been recognised from
that date until August, 1843, when an adult male, pre-
sented to our museum by Mr. J. H. Gurney (No. 11),
was procured near Norwich, and had the remains of
various beetles in its stomach. This is, I beheve, the
last that has occurred in this county, but an immature
specimen, in my own collection, was shot near the
Somerleyton station, on the Lowestoft line (Suffolk), as
recently as the 12th of July, 1862. The orange-legged
hobby, as this species is sometimes called, may be dis-
tinguished at any age from that last described by its
white talons.

* I have also a fiirtlier corroboration of Mr. Heath's state-
ment in the following note, made by Mr. Lombe, in his copy of
"Bewick's Birds," most kindly extracted for me, with many
others, by Mrs. Clarke : — " They were mostly seen in the middle
of a fallow field, and the female was shot flying from the thorns.
The male (immature) now in my collection was shot from an oak in
the same field. The male (mature) shot on a heap of thorns. The
stomach contained insects."

f *' A sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth and its
neighbourhood." By C. J. and James Paget, 1834.

MERLIN. ^KESTREL. 21

FALCO ^SALON, Gmelin.

MEELIN.

The Merlin still continues to visit us in autumn,
though in small numbers, appearing chiefly in the month
of October, but specimens are occasionally met with
throughout the winter, and sometimes, though rarely, in
March. Adult birds of both sexes have been always con-
sidered rare, more especially the elegant little males with
their ^^ pinions of glossy blue." The following are the
only examples in full plumage that have come under
my notice of late years : — an adult female, in my own
collection, shot in a garden on the Earlham-road, near
this city, in October, 1852; an old male in very beautiful
plumage killed at Winterton, in October, 1856 ; and
another at Melton, near Norwich, in October, 1859.
Several of these little hawks were observed in different
parts of the county during the intense frosts in the
winter of 1860-1, but apparently the only specimen
obtained was a fine male, killed at Shottesham, on
the 16th of January. In the following winter, however,
of 1861-2, when the weather was almost equally severe,
an adult pair were killed in January, at Merton, and a
female, also adult, about the same time, at Martham.

FALCO TINNUNCULFS, Linnaeus.
KESTEEL.

The Kestrel, in spite of all its persecutors, is still, I am
happy to say, a common resident amongst us, though by
no means so numerous as in the south of England, where
three or four may be frequently seen at a time circling

22 BIKDS OF NORFOLK.

over the open downs. Migratory specimens from tlie
north also appear on our coast in considerable numbers
towards the end of autumuj when many are trapped and
shot on the hills by the sea-side, particularly about
Northrepps and Beeston, near Cromer. It is probable,
I think, that some of our native birds proceed further
south during severe weather; and I believe, as a rule,
like our common song thrush, they quit altogether
the more exposed parts of the county in the depth of
winter. In more sheltered localities, however, they are
observed at all seasons. A pair which regularly frequent
the ruined steeple of Keswick Church, near Norwich,
have been seen by my friend, Mr. Edwards, skimraing
over the fields in search of prey whilst the snow was
lying deep; and the thrashing out of a stack in
autumn or winter is sure to bring them at once to
the spot to seize, at a respectful distance, on the mice
thus expelled from their snug quarters. That some
kestrels carry off young partridges, as well as other
small birds, during the nesting season, is too well
authenticated as a fact for even their warmest advocates
to gainsay; yet, still the amount of good which the
species generally effects throughout the year by destroy-
ing large quantities of mice, moles, insects, and worms,
should entitle it rather to protection at the hands of the
farmer than annihilation for occasional raids upon the
keepers' preserves, whilst every true lover of nature
would plead for so striking an object in our rural
scenery as the hovering kestrel, poised on quivering
wings, or swooping down upon its prey. The museiun
collection is rich in local specimens, showing the differ-
ences in plumage of age and sex, and some are occa-
sionally netted by our bird-catchers from their habit of
pouncing down upon the " call" birds.

GOSHAWK. 23

ASTUR PALUMBARIUS (Unn^ns).
GOSHAWK.

The Goshawk appears occasionally both in spring
and autumn, but at uncertain intervals, and has of late
years become even more scarce than formerly. The
adult male (No. 14) in our museum was killed at Colton
in 1841 ; and the young female (No. 14.b) at Hing-
ham in the following year ; but so rarely are the old
birds met with in this district that the above is probably
the only example in mature plumage known with cer-
tainty to have been killed in Norfolk. An old male, how-
ever, in my possession, formerly in the collection of the
late Eev. C. Penrice, of Plumstead, was, I believe, taken
either in this or the adjoining county, although no record
remains as to the exact locality."^ Of more recent
occurrence may be noticed a young bird killed at Stratton
Strawless in November, 1850, and an immature female,
shot in November, 1851, near Norwich, whilst preying on
a hare ; a male, also immature, in very beautiful plumage,
taken at Catfield in April, 1854 ; a female in its first
year's plumage, killed at Hempstead about the 23rd of
November, 1858 ; and a young bird trapped at Eiddles-
worth, in the autumn of 1863. Another female, much
resembling this last specimen, was shot by Mr. John
Gould, the celebrated ornithologist, in February, 1859,
whilst staying with Sir Morton Peto, at Somerleyton,
in Suffolk.

* Mr. T. M. Spalding possesses a very beaiTtifal male Goshawk,
shot by himself in a wood, at Benacre, Suffolk, January 12th, 1841.
This bird has the tail brown with cross bars, and the whole of the
under parts transversely barred on a white ground. In the
Dennis collection, at Bury St. Edmund's, there is also a young
bird, said to have been killed at Aldborough.

24 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

ACCIPITER NISUS (Llnn^ns).
SPAEEOWHAWK.

That so rapacious a bird as tlie little Sparrowhawk
sliould not be a very abundant resident in a county where
game is so strictly preserved as in Norfolk, can scarcely be
a matter of surprise, but on the contrary it is rather re-
markable that so many are still resident with us through-
out the year, though, from the large number at times
brought to our bird stuffers during the autumn and winter
months, I feel sure that these birds, as well as kestrels,
migrate to our coast from more northern localities.
Under this impression, I carefully noted down the age
and sex of every bird of this species that came under my
notice between November, 1862, and the following
April; and of some twenty-four specimens, at least
eighteen were blue barred females, four immature, and
two old males, with the red bars of their mature
plumage. So large a number of adult females appear-
ing consecutively throughout the winter season is, I
think, pretty good evidence of their foreign origin,
whilst the paucity of young birds in the above list is
easily accounted for by the fact, that when killed they
are generally thrown away, being hardly thought
handsome enough for preservation. The beautiful
little male in its adult state, with rich reddish bars
on the breast and flanks, is rare in Norfolk, and
very old females, with the same chesnut tints, are even
more scarce, not one of the specimens above referred to
showing any indication of this third change. Anecdotes
are not wanting in this district of the boldness of the
sparrowhawk in pursuing its prey through the windows
of dwelling-houses, or snatching up young partridges or

SPAEEOWHAWK. 25

chickens, in the very face of a spectator, and their fierce-
ness in defence of their nests and young is well known.
Mr. T. M. Spalding, who has had many opportunities
of observing the habits of most of our British Baptores
in a wild state, assures me that on one occasion, when
climbing to the nest of a pair of these birds, the female
kept dashing past him again and again, almost brush-
ing his face with her vdngs, and on the arrival of the
male, attracted by her cries, she became so violent that,
as he laid his hand on a branch near the nest, she
swooped over it, leaving the marks of her talons in deep
scratches. The hobby in like cases is very fierce, but
differs in its actions, pitching up and down in its
anxious flight instead of swooping horizontally over the
intruder's head.

A curious instance of the sparrowhawk. pairing with
the hobby occurred at Witchingham in 1851, as re-
corded by Mr. L. H. Irby in the "Zoologist," p. 3276.
In this case five eggs were laid in a ring-dove's nest,
placed in a fir tree, of which one was taken by a game-
keeper, who unfortunately shot both the old birds as
soon as the other eggs were hatched, thus leaving the
young to starve, and losing the opportunity of observing
the result as to plumage of this cross breeding. The
egg first procured from the nest is described as having
"more red about it than is usual in those of the
sparrowhawk, but less than in those of the hobby."
Mr. Irby also refers to a similar fact in another part of
the county, where the birds were shot before any eggs
were laid. The great difference in size between the
male and female in most of the Raptorial tribe is in
none, perhaps, so conspicuous as in this species. A
pair which were weighed by Mr. J. H. G-urney, exhibited
the following extraordinary difference : — Male, 5 oz. ;
female, 10^ oz., being more than double the weight of
her partner. A young male sparrowhawk, perfectly

26 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

white, excepting a few dark featliers on the back, was
killed at Eiddlesworth in 1851 ; and, together with
another specimen of the same variety obtained a few
weeks later, is preserved in the collection of Mr. Thorn-
hill, of that place. The first of these is described in the
" Zoologist," p. 3276, by Mr. Edward Newton, as having
the beak white, but the irides and legs as usual. This
species is occasionally netted by our bird-catchers in
the same manner as the kestrels before alluded to.

MILVUS ICTINUS, Savigny.

KITE.

The Kite, once the terror of our farm-yards, is so no
more ; the ^^ war of exterm.ination" against the race hav-
ing fairly banished it from the county of Norfolk, and,
only as an accidental visitant on its migratory course,
can it be included in the present list. In former years
this bird occasionally remained with us to breed, and
Mr. Lubbock, referring to the fact of its doing so in
Huntingdonshire,^ observes — ^^It used half a century

* These birds have, I believe, ceased to breed in Huntingdon-
shire for some years, where Monk's wood was formerly a favourite
haunt. Mr. Alfred Newton, in his " Ootheca Wolleyana," page 112,
records three eggs in the late Mr. WoUey's collection, as taken in
that county — two in 1843 and one in 1844, with the following
extract from Mr. Wolley's notes appended to the latter : — " Kites
are becoming very rare near Alconbury hill. I am not sure that I
saw one this year during my five days' stay at Sawtry." From
Lincolnshire, as I learn from the same work, eggs of this bird
were received in 1853, 64, 66, and 67, but none more recently ; and
to the last record the following note is added by Mr. Newton : —
" Mr. Adrian informed my brother that the kites in Lincolnshu'e
were becoming scarcer every year. This he attributed partly to
the destruction of the birds, and partly to that of their favourite
haunts, by the felling and stubbing of the woods, in two of which
one hundred acres had been cut down since the begimiing of the
year, and this in the best locality."

KITE. COMMON BUZZARD. 27

back to be rather common in Norfolk/' being used in
the days of hawking as a prey to the nobler falcons,
and Messrs. Brodrick and Salvia (Falconry in the British
Isles,) speak of Thetford warren as a favourite locality
for " Kite hawking," which was pursued by the Earl of
Orford and Colonel Thornton in 1773, and by Mr.
Colquhoun, of Wretham, about 1775. Probacy the
last specimen obtained in this county was a female,
trapped at Croxton, near Thetford, in November, 1852.
The sternum of this bird is in the collection of Mr. Alfred
Newton, of Magdalene College, Cambridge, although
I have been unable satisfactorily to trace the skin;
but either this or one killed on the Suffolk side of
Thetford warren in 1857 is, I believe, (unticketed,) in the
Dennis collection, which was recently purchased for
the Bury museum. A splendid old male in Mr. T. M.
Spalding's"^ collection at Westleton, was shot at Caistor,
near Yarmouth, about five and twenty years back, but
this species is described by the Messrs. Paget, in 1834,
as "very rare" in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth;
indeed it appears to have' been always more plentiful
on the other side of the county. Sir Thomas Browne
accounts for their being scarce in the neighbourhood of
Norwich in his time " because of the plenty of Ravens."

BUTEO VULGARIS, Bechstein.

COMMON BUZZARD.

The Common Buzzard visits us annually in small num-
bers both in spring and autumn, but rarely in mature
plumage. It has probably ceased for some years to breed

* Mr. Spalding informs me that the Eev. J. Farr, of Gilling-
ham, ISTorfolk, has two Kites killed at Benacre, in the adjoining
county, one of them within the last ten years. This bird was
trapped by one claw, and the readiness with which they are attracted
by any bait is probably the chief cause of their extermination.
E 2

28 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

in tlds county, althongli, when the term common was
really applicable to this species, it was frequently known
to do so, and the large woods at Hethel and Ashwelthorpe
are specially mentioned by Lubbock as amongst its former
haunts. A single bird has, however, been observed for the
last 14 or 15 years to return regularly to Cossey Park,
near NT)rwich, where I learn from Mr. Fountaine, of
Easton, it has been allowed to remain unmolested. A
very singular variety, a young male, was trapped at
Holkham in 1855, exhibiting a great deal of wliite about
the head, with whitey -brown feathers dotted all over the
body, the party colour extending even to the talons ; and
a somewhat similar example occurred in the autumn of
1861. The only adult specimens that have come under
my own notice, during the last twelve years, are a
remarkably dark-coloured female in the Dennis col-
lection^ at Bury, killed near Thetford in 1852 ; one
shot at Filby on the 13th of February, 1861 ; and one at
Northrepps in 1862 (No. 18. a) in the Norwich museum.

* The Eev. J. B. P. Dennis, whose sudden and premature death in
January, 1861, at the age of 45, was a great loss to science in more
than one field of research, was not only a most zealous and accom-
plished naturaHst, but an amateur taxidermist of very considerable
excellence, and though residing chiefly at Bury St. Edmund's,
paid constant visits to Yarmouth at certain seasons, for the pur-
pose of collecting some of the rarer British birds which occur on
Breydon. At the same time, whilst a good many of his specimens
were thus the product of his own gun, he also left directions in
his absence with old John Thomas, the noted Yarmouth gunner,
to purchase anything out of the common way obtained ia that
neighbourhood. By this means many good birds, which from the
local interest attaching to them, one could have wished had foimd
a place in the Norwich museum, passed into the adjoining county,
and in their admirable attitudes, and perfect condition of plumage,
(the Baptores more especially), testify to the patience and skill of
this scientific collector. Most of the cases are very carefully
ticketted with the age, sex, and locality of each specimen; but
as before alluded to in reference to the kite, such notes are
here and there wanting, and as too often happens under similar

COMMON BUZZARD. — EOUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 29

Messrs. Gumey and Fislier state that a bird of tliis
species, killed near Cromer, " was so closelj pursued by
two joung sparrowhawks, that the latter were both
killed by a discharge from the second barrel of the
same gun with which the buzzard had just been shot."

AECHIBUTEO LAGOPUS (Linnaeus).

EOUGH-LEGGED BUZZAED.

The Eough-legged Buzzard, distinguished by having
the tarsi feathered down to the toes, appears here in

■jircumstances, the "master spirit" having passed away, complete
identification is no longer possible. Although locally his memory
will be chiefly associated with the "Dennis Collection of Birds,"
he was even better known to the scientific world by his micro-
scopical researches into the structure of bone. On this subject
the Bury Fost remarks, in a brief m.emoir published in 1861 :
" His investigations into the internal structure of bone may indeed
be considered to have opened a new door to natural science. A
few of its results are given in his two papers contributed in
1857 to the Journal of Microscopical Science, and briefly noticed
at the time in our columns, the value of which has been re-
cognised by Professors Henslow and Owen, and other savans.
* * * He says in one of his papers, ' each bone is a study in
itself, and involves a knowledge of the muscles that move it, as
well as of the use it is designed for; and in the bird of flight
the shape of the wing, the extent of surface covered by the quill
feathers, whether it is pointed or round, whether the secondary
quills are strong or weak, are all matters of deep consideration
and comparison with the internal construction of the bone, which the
microscope reveals to the eye.' * * * A single point will show
the importance of Mr. Dennis's discovery and the sagacity of the dis-
coverer. A number of bones having been secured by one of our
University museums, the curator sent the more perfect bones
to Professor Owen, and a few minute fragments to Mr. Dennis,
stating that nothing was known about them. The Professor and
Mr. Dennis arrived at the same conclusion, ascribing the bones to
the same fossil reptile."

30 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

autumn and throughout the whiter ; but the specunens
obtamed are nearly all in unmature plumage. Indeed,
so rare is the occurrence of this bird in its mature dress,
that I know of but four specimens killed in this district
which can be properly called adult, and these have
occurred in each instance so immediately on the borders
of the two counties, that they may be claimed equally
for Norfolk or Suffolk. The first in the collection of Mr.
Newcome, of Feltwell, was trapped at Santon-Down-
ham m July, 1848 ("Zoologist," p. 2382) ; the second
in the possession of Mr. Thomas Dix, of West Harling,
was taken on Thetford warren in November, 1857 ; and
another from the same locality is in the hands of Mr.
Doubleday, of Epping, as I have lately ascertained
through my friend Mr. Dix ; whilst the fourth is in Mr.
Gurney's collection at Catton, together with a less
matured bird, obtained at the same tirae, some few years
back. In the cross-barred markings of the thighs and
flanks, the bars on the lower part of the tail and the
bluish tinge in the feathers of the back and wings (but
this more especially in the first and second), these birds
closely resemble the adult specimens from Lapland, in
the Norwich museum, collected by the late Mr. Wolley,
to whom British naturalists are indebted for the means
of pomting out the true difference in plumage betwixt
the young and the old in this species. These buzzards
vary considerably in numbers m different seasons, being in
some years very scarce, and in others visiting us in great
quantities, as was particularly the case in the winter of
1839 and 1840, when, according to Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher, " During the three months of November, Decem-
ber, and January, no less than forty-seven specimens
were ascertained to have been taken within eight miles
of the town of Thetford, besides many others which
were procured elsewhere." Since that date but few had
been observed from year to year untO. the autumn of

BOUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 31

1858, when they were again mimerons ; and between
October and January of the following year, about twenty
specimens were obtained, principally in the neighbour-
hood of Thetford and Yarmouth. A fine male from
Hickling in January, 1859, had a mouse and the remains
of a rabbit in its stomach. Still more recently, in the
autumn and winter of 1862-3, several fine specimens
were killed in different parts of the county, one of
which contained the recently swallowed remains of a
skylark, with its long claws, legs, and beak quite perfect,
presenting a decidedly uncomfortable and indigestible
appearance. — The following cm*ious anecdote is extracted
from a MS. volume, relating to the fauna of Yarmouth
and its environs, now in the possession of Sir W. J.
Hooker, K.H., who most kindly allowed me a perusal
of it, and from which I am enabled to supply- many
interesting notes relating to this district :* — " On Friday,
December 6th, 1816, the Holkham shooting party re-
paired to Warham, and were followed during the greater
part of the day by a bird of prey, which constantly
attended their motions, and was repeatedly fired at
while hovering over their heads, without betraying the
smallest symptoms of apprehension and alarm, even
though the shot was heard to rattle on its feathers. In
the afternoon it descended on a tree, where it allowed
Mr. Coke, attended by a boy holding a dead pheasant
dangling in his hand, to approach sufficiently near to
get a shot at it, which brought it to the ground. It
proved to be a most beautiful female specimen of that
rare bird the F. lagopus, or rough-legged buzzard,
measuring very nearly five feet across the wings, and
two feet one inch in length. The male bird had attended

* " Memoranda touching the Natural History of Yarmouth and
its environs, from 1807 to 1840, by Sir W. J. Hooker, K.H., Thos.
Penrice, Esq., Mr. Lilly Wigg, Eev. John BuiTell, Rev. E. B.
Francis, and Dawson Turner, Esq."

32 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

tlie chase at Wigliton, just in the same manner, two
days before, and had boldly carried off from a heap of
game two partridges. It was next day caught in a trap
by the keeper, and both of them were presented by Mr.
Coke to the Eev. G. Glover, as a most valuable accession
to his collection of * British Birds.' "

PERNIS APIVORUS (Liunseus).

HONEY BUZZAED.

The Honey Buzzard, now either more frequent or
more observed in its visits than formerly, has been met
with in almost every month between May and November,
but is mostly an autumnal migrant, at which time the
specimens obtained exhibit all the variety of changes
that take place in its inmiature stages of plumage. The
adult bird is extremely scarce, so much so that I am
aware of but two or three instances of its occurrence in
this county, and probably the first ever recognised as
such, was a female killed at Holkham in July, 1854, now
in the possession of the Earl of Leicester. It has been
fully ascertained of late years that the grey head in this
species denotes the adult state, all other peculiarities of
plumage, from the deep brown of the earliest stage,
being either gradual advances to maturity or more
often accidental varieties. Usually occurring in small
numbers, the year 1841^ was remarkable for the large
number of these birds obtained in various parts of the
county, exhibiting a most singular diversity of plumage,

* See a paper by W. R. Fislier, Esq., in the "Zoologist"
for 1843, p. 375 — " On the changes in the plumage of the Honey
Buzzard," with illustrations of specimens killed in Norfolk at that
time, some of which are in the Norwich museum. Mr. Fisher,
however, was not then aware of the distinctive characteristics of
the matvire plumage.

HONEY BUZZARD. 33

but still not including a single adult. About tlie same
time with, the Holkham specimen an immature female
was taken at Saxmundham, in Suffolk. The stomachs
of both, these birds were found well filled with young
wasps, and in the latter a few pieces of moss, which had
no doubt been accidentally swallowed during the destruc-
tion of the wasps' nest.

In September, 1854, a young male Having tbe bead
yellowish wbite, with a few dark patches, and more or
less resembling both the varieties in the museum col-
lection (British series), was captured at Holkham, and
in this case the bird was observed by a keeper to rise
from a bank near a wasps' nest, and was trapped soon
afterwards on the same spot. With reference to the
food of the honey buzzard it may be worthy of remark,
that in the stomach and crop of one killed near Lowestoft
in the spring of 1854 ("Zoologist," p. 5249), were
found the remains of blackbirds' eggs ; also in the
throat of a specimen shot at Lynford, near Thetford, in
1851, several small fragments of the eggs of the song
thrush. The following are the more recent instances of
the appearance of this species on our eastern coast : —

1856. A female killed at Burhngham, in Norfolk,
towards the end of June, exhibiting some grey about
the head; and two young males, one taken alive at
Gunton, and another at Pakefield, near Lowestoft,
Suffolk, a rather favourite locality.

1857. Two male birds, in full adult plumage, shot
on the 25th of August, at Northrepps, near Cromer,
now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney. A third
specimen was also seen at the same time, but was not
obtained. On the 28th of the same month, an immature
female was killed at Salhouse; and on the 7th of
September another, also immature, at Woodbastwick,
and a young male, about the same time, on the
Somerleyton estate, near Lowestoft, Suffolk. The

F

34 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

following interesting particulars respecting the North-
repps specimens were communicated by Mr. Gurney,
at the time, to the " Zoologist," p. 5789 : — " About
9 o'clock this morning, I was riding along a broad green
drive which runs through a wood in this place, when a
honey buzzard rose from the grass, and aUghted on a
tree on the edge of the wood. I shortly after sent my
gamekeeper in pursuit of it, and he succeeded in shoot-
ing it near the spot where I saw it. Hearing, afterwards,
that before he shot tliis bird it had been seen flying in
company with a second specimen, he returned to the
drive, and succeeded in shooting that also, very nearly at
the same spot where he had procured the first specimen,
being guided in his search by loud whisthng cries which
the bird was making, probably as a call-note to the one
which had been previously shot. About two hours later,
my son, who was passing through the drive, saw a third
specimen rise from the ground and alight on a tree, in a
similar manner and nearly in the same place as the first.
The gamekeeper was again sent in pursuit; but when
he succeeded in getting a view of this bird it had risen
so high in the air that it was out of shot, and continued
flying at a great height in an inland direction till it dis-
appeared. Both specimens that were procured were in
full adult dress, and possessed the beautiful grey tinge
on the head which always distinguishes the adult ex-
amples of this bird. On dissection both of these speci-
mens proved to be male birds. The stomachs of both
contained the remains of wasps and wasp-grubs."

1860. An immature female, in the collection of the
Rev. C. J. Lucas, occurred at Burgh, near Yarmouth,
during the first week in August.

1861. A nearly adult bird, having slight traces of
grey around the eyes and beak, was killed at Honingham
on the 27th of May.

1863. A young female at Northrepps, also in

HONEY BUZZAED. MAESH HAEEIEE. 35

Mr. Gumey's collection, and an immature male near
WjmoncLham, were procured in October about the same
date.

1864. An immature male, in dark brown plumage,
prettily spotted about tlie bead and neck with white,
each feather being shghtly tipped, was killed in Norfolk
on the 24th of September, at Gatesend, near Fakenham,
and another was seen on several occasions near the same
locaHty. The stomach of this bird contained portions
of wasps and honeycomb.

CIRCUS ^RUGINOSUS (Linnaeus).
MAESH HAEEIEE.

The habits of the Harriers in this county of late
years, have been more influenced by the changes which
have taken place in the character of the soil, through
extensive drainage, than almost any other group. In
the south-western parts of Norfolk, the changes thus
effected have resulted in the perfect extermination of
our three British species, which formerly bred freely in
that portion of the county ; and Mr. Alfred Newton, in
a communication to Mr. Hewitson on this subject,
observes, (Eggs Brit, Bds., 3rd ed.) — " The Moor Buzzard
was the first to cease from breeding there, then the Hen
Harrier, and lastly the Ash-coloured species." Mr.
Newcome, of Eeltwell, also informs me that the marsh
harrier was always the most scarce in his neighbour-
hood. In the eastern districts however, where the
broads still retain much of their normal character,
these birds have suffered only in degree ; but undoubtedly
even here, the formation of railroads through an extensive
tract of marshes, together with the facihties thus afforded
to a greatly increased number of gunners of visiting the
fenny districts, have rendered these birds yearly more and
p2

36 BIKDS OP NORFOLK.

more scarce ; wliilst their breeding grounds are confined
almost entirely to such quiet and preserved localities as
Eanworth, Barton, Horsey, and Hickling, where the
shriek of the railway whistle has not yet scared them
from their natural haunts. In the above districts a few
pairs of the marsh harrier, as I learn from the most
rehable sources, remain with us throughout the year,
and I feel justified, therefore, in still retaining the
moor buzzard, as this species is frequently termed, in
the hst of residents, whilst at the same time I believe
that some migratory specimens occur at times. A nest,
with three young ones, was taken near Yarmouth in the
summer of 1862. Formerly, as Mr. Lubbock observes, this
species might fairly be termed " The Norfolk Hawk," so
universally was it spread over the whole district of the
broads, one or two being always observed in the day, during
a shooting or fishing excursion. Adult specimens of this
harrier are extremely scarce, the examples obtained being
almost invariably young birds, and a large proportion
exhibit the straw coloured head, from which they have
been termed by some authors the white-headed harpy and
bald buzzard. It is, I think, rather generally supposed,
that these capped birds are in an intermediate stage of
plumage ; but Mr. Newcome, who has had more oppor-
tunities of observing our British harriers than most
naturahsts, assures me that it is very commonly the
case for young moor buzzards to have this Hght coloured
patch on their heads, though it is not always the case, as
he beheves he has had birds from the same nest, some of
which presented this feature and others not. From my
own notes of late years, I certainly find that of the
specimens brought to our bird-stuffers, those with Hght
coloured heads are more numerous than those which are
brown all over, and Mr. Hunt, in his "British Orni-
thology" (vol. 1, p. 50), remarks — " The Eev. G. Glover
favoured us with a note on this species, in which he says.

MAE8H HARRIER. HEN HARRIER. 37

that of two taken from the same nest and brought up
tame, one of them had a bright luteous mark on the
head, and the other was entirely of a dark chocolate
colour. The nest was built on a tree." Of the habits
of this harrier in confinement the same author adds —
" The bird now in the possession of the Rev. Gr. Glover
is particularly fond of rats and mice, which it devours
with avidity. In rainy weather it invariably makes a
hole in the earth with its beak, for the purpose of re-
taining the water, which it seems to enjoy as a luxury."
Mr. Eising, of Horsey, possesses a fine adult specimen
of the marsh harrier, killed some years back in that
neighbourhood, which Hke the figure in Yarrell's
'' British Birds," exhibits more grey than brown on the
wing coverts, tertials, and tail feathers ; and a splendid
old male, purchased at Yarmouth some 15 years ago by
Mr. Spalding, of Westleton, has the tail coverts, thighs,
and crest, rich reddish yellow, the latter streaked with
dark brown, and the tail and wing primaries very gTey.
These birds may be taken with a steelfall baited with an
egg, being apparently very partial to such diet, and
there is no doubt that Sir Thos. Browne refers to this
species when he says, " Young otters are sometimes
preyed upon by buzzards, having occasionally been found
in the nests of these birds, -h- -x- * There are the
grey and bald buzzards in great numbers, owing to the
broad waters and warrens which afibrd them more food
than they can obtain in woodland countries."

CIRCUS CYANEUS (Linnaeus).

HEN HAERIEE.

At no time so numerous in this county as the last
species, at least as regards the district of the broads
the Hen Harrier can be classed only amongst those

38 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

migratory species which remain, in rare instances, to
breed in Norfolk. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear thus
speak of its breeding in the channel fen at Barton : —
*' We have more than once thought ourselves in danger
of being attacked by it, when we had approached the
place where undoubtedly its nest was concealed;" and
Mr. Lubbock says, "The Hen Harrier always breeds
here in a few instances, although not a bird of frequent
occurrence. Many years back I have known of its
breeding at Surlingham." For the last eight or ten
years, however, I have known of but one instance
of its nesting even in such localities as the marsh
harrier and Montagu's still frequent, and although
adult females (the ringtail harrier of some authors) and
immature specimens occur nearly every year, these are
most probably spring and autumn migrants, from their
appearance invariably between October and March, and
for the most part near the coast. The adult male, in its
delicate blueish grey plumage, has been long considered a
rarity in this county ; the only one that I had heard of
for some years prior to 1859 (now in my collection), was
shot at Eanworth in November of that year, and a few days
later an adult female, most probably the companion bird,
was taken close by at Horning and being only winged
was sent to Mr. J. H. Gurney, who still has it alive in
his aviary. In the following winter, however, amongst
other rarities that visited this county during the almost
unprecedented frosts of December and January, 1860-61,
were two fine old males, killed, one at Hickling on
the 12th January, the other at Hargham about the
same time. The latter bird, although beautifully blue
and white, still retained a small patch of brown on
the nape of the neck, with a few brown feathers on the
back. An unusual number of immature birds, and some
old females, were also killed in different parts of the
county in 1862. The only recent instance of its nesting

HEN HAERIER. MONTAGu's HARRIER. 39

in this comity to my knowledge, as above alluded to,
occnrred at Horsey in the summer of 1861, when I was
informed by Mr. Teasdel, of Yarmouth, that he received
two fresh eggs from that neighbourhood, and an old bird,
I beHeve a female, came at the same time into the hands
of a Yarmouth game-dealer. Occasionally, but still very
rarely, I have found the adult male of this species to
exhibit shght dashes of red on the lower parts of the body
and under tail coverts, resembling the markings of the
old male in G. cineraceus. Mr. Gurney has one of these
varieties at Catton, in a case with other Norfolk speci-
mens, which are pure grey and white.

CIRCUS CINERACEUS (Montagu).

MONTAGU'S HARRIER.

This species, now fully distinguished in aU stages of
plumage from that last described, is certainly less rare
than is generally supposed, and whilst the hen harrier
has ceased almost entirely to nest even in the eastern
portion of the county, the ash- coloured harrier, as this
bird is also termed, has been known to breed with us in
several instances of late years, though not regularly
enough to be still looked upon as a resident species.
As before remarked also, prior to the entire drainage of
the south-western fens, this harrier was not only the
most plentiful in that locality, but was the last to quit
altogether those once favourite haunts. Probably the
last eggs of this species, known to have been laid in
that district, were taken from a nest in Feltwell fen
on the 9th of June, 1854, the particulars of which
are recorded by Mr. Alfred Newton in his " Ootheca
Wolleyana," p. 149, with many other interesting notes
relating to the ornithology of this and adjoining counties.
In July, 1858, a nest, which proved to be of this

40 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

species, was discovered on a msliy marsh near Ranworth
decoy. The old birds had been watched by the broad-man
flying backwards and forwards with food, and on making
a search he soon found the nest containing three young
ones. Of these one only was feathered, the next partly
feathered mixed with down, and the smallest covered
with down only, showing that the hen bird, as is often
the case with the Raptorial tribe, had begun sitting
after laying the first egg. In the aviary of Mr. Gurney,
at Catton park, these nestlings thrived wonderfully, and
in a few weeks even the youngest had become fully
fledged, and all three exhibited the rich chocolate colour
peculiar to their immature plumage, with the facial disk
complete. On moulting their mature plumage, two out
of the three proved to be males, which Hved in confine-
ment some four or five years, and one is now preserved
in the Norwich museum (British series (No. 23). The
female still survives. In May, 1862, two adult females
were shot about the same time, one at Surlingham
and the other on the coast near Cromer ; and an
old male, in Capt. Longe's possession, was killed at
Yarmouth in October. In the same year, about the
10th of August, three young birds, taken from a
nest at Sutton, were brought to one of our Norwich
birdstuffers, who, at my suggestion, forwarded a pair
alive to Mr. Bartlett, for the Zoological Society's
collection in London, and I have just seen (October 12th,
1864) a remarkably fine young bird, also taken from a
nest at Sutton, in the summer of this year, together
with another which died soon after. This specimen
is now in the rich chocolate colour of its immature
dress, with the irides pearl white (instead of straw
yellow as in mature birds), and is in good condition
and very tame. In the summer of 1863, an extremely
perfect adult male, in Mr. Newcome's collection, was
killed at FeltweUj together with five other specimens

Montagu's hakrie:^. 41

of tliis and the marsh, harrier, all killed in the same locality
("Zoologist/' p. 8765); these birds appearing stiU partial
to their former haunts, though now so changed in
character and unsuited to their nesting habits. Mr.
Lubbock mentions Grimston common, near Lynn, and
the neighbourhood of Thetford, (meaning most probably
the fen district below Brandon,) as places where the nests
of this harrier used to be found ; and the foUowuig notice
in the "Zoologist," p. 1496, from Mr. C. B. Himter,
of Downham Market, records the occui-rence of two
nests in that district in 1846 :— "On the 23rd of May I
took a nest of this rare bird with two eggs in it, and on
the 13th of June another nest mth two eggs also. The
eggs in both were quite fresh, and there would probably
have been five in each. The nests were composed of
dead grass and sedge laid closely together on the
ground. The eggs in one were spotted with brown."
The male specimen (No. 23. c) amongst the "British
Birds" in the Norwich museum, was taken when young,
with four others, from a nest at Feltwell some years
back, and attained its present appearance in confine-
ment; and the young and very dark female (No. 23. e) in
the same series was killed near Yarmouth, in September,
1853, and was most probably bred in that neighbour-
hood. This bird is extremely interesting as exhibiting
a melanism in the plumage of this species, occasionally,
though rarely noticed in foreign as well as British
specimens, and which thus, accidentally as it were, com-
pletes the chain between the moor buzzard and the
ordinary harrier type. Mr. Gurney, who has met with
several examples of this variety, informs me that "the
old male is of a very dark smoky grey, the female and
young an entire purplish chocolate brown." Two
French specimens, an adult male and a nestling, wili
be found in the Raptorial collection of the Norwich
museum, and Mr. Gurney has also seen another female

G

42 BIEDS OF NOEPOLK.

from Abyssinia besides tbe three following, all killed in
England. One immature example, mncli resembling tbe
Yarmoutli bird, preserved in the Canterbury museum,
and killed in Kent ; a young male, shot at Selsea, in the
Chichester museum ; and a female, most probably adult,
but not so dark as the Yarmouth bird in Mr. Newcome's
collection, shot by himself some years back, from a nest
in Feltwell sedge-fen, in this county. To these last I
can also add two other British killed specimens of this
melanite type ; one, as I am informed by Mr. Alfred
Newton, a male, shot at North Chapel, near Petworth,
Sussex, in either 1855 or the following year, now in
the possession of Mr. Knox (author of the " Birds of
Sussex"), who examined it in company with the late Mr.
Yarrell, and the other, an adult female, killed at Yarmouth
in July, 1855, which I recently discovered in the Dennis
collection at the Bury museum. ^'Vieillot (writes Mr.
Gurney) made this form a distinct species under the
name of Circus ater {' Diet. Hist. Nat.' iv., p. 459) ;
but in the 'Eevue de Zool.' for 1850, j). 82, is a note
by Dr. Pucheran, intended to shew that it is only a
variety of C. cineraceus. Prince Bonaparte also con-
firms this view in p. 492 of the same volume, and I have
no doubt that it is merely a variety, though I suspect
it may be an hereditary one from so many instances of
it occurring."

SCOPS ALDROVANDI, Bonaparte.

SCOPS EAEED OWL.

This rare little Owl is recorded by various local
authors to have been killed in Norfolk in three or four
instances. According to Messrs. Gurney and Fisher it
has occurred twice in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth,

SCOPS EARED OWL. 43

and as often near Norwich, and no doubt the one
mentioned by Hunt^ as obtained at Bradestone in 1828,
and the Brundall specimen, which Mr. Lubbock says
formed part of the collection of the late Mr. Penrice, are
included in these,t but I have also a record in the late
Mr. Lombe's notes of one killed at Strumpshaw in June,
1824. The specimen, however, belonging to Mr. Gurney,
also noticed by Mr. Lubbock as "killed near Norwich,"
is, as far as I can ascertain its history, decidedly
doubtful. Of late years this species has been recognised
but once on our coast. On the morning of the 27th of
November, 1861, an adult male was picked up at the
foot of the lighthouse hill, at Cromer, by one of Mr.
Gurney's keepers, who found the bird still alive, but
evidently much injured from flying against the glass,
attracted by the glare of the lamps durmg the previous
night, when, half stunned, it had fallen to the ground
and fluttered down the hill to the spot where it was
picked up. This bird, now in Mr. Gurney's collection
at Catton, had a mass of fur in the stomach about the
size of a walnut, amongst which was discernible an
almost perfect skeleton of a mouse, together with the
heads and forceps of several earwigs, and three stout
caterpillars nearly an inch in length. The head ex-
hibited no marks of injury, and the plumage was per-
fect, but the flesh on the breast and the point of one
wing showed symptoms of having sustained a very
severe blow.

t See Hunt's "List of Norfolk Birds" in " Stacy's History of
Norfolk" (1829).

* In a catalogue of the late Mr. Stephen Miller's collection of
birds, " principally Norfolk shot specimens," I find, amongst other
rarities, a Scops eared owl, but whether this was one of those
recorded as killed near Yarmouth, or not, I have been unable to
ascertain satisfactorily.

44 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

I.

SCOPS ASIO (Linnseus).
AMEEICAN MOTTLED OWL.

This small North American species was first included
amongst the accidental visitants to tliis country, hj the
late Mr. Yarrell, in the third edition of his '^British
Birds," in which will be found the notice of a specimen
shot in the neighbourhood of Leeds in 1852, and of
which a figure and description were given in " The
Naturahst" for the same year (p. 169). Mr. Gurney
informs me that some years back he purchased from
the late Mr. Thurtell, then a nurseryman, at Eaton,
(when selling off his collection of Norfolk Birds,) an
adult specimen of this rare owl, said to have been
killed near Yarmouth, but till then supposed to be only
an European Scops Owl. This bird was unfortunately
destroyed after it came into Mr. Gurney's possession.

OTUS VULGARIS, Fleming.
LONG-EAEED OWL.

The Long-eared Owl is another instance of the
changes which have taken place in a few years from local
causes, in the habits of some of our feathered visitants.
Whilst drainage and the plough are fast driving the
harriers and other marsh breeders from their accus-
tomed haunts, the rapid increase in our fir plantations,
especially near the coast, affords such inducements to
this species to remain and breed with us, that the
autumn visitant of a few years since, only occasionally
known to stay through the summer, may now be more
properly termed a numerous resident, receiving additions

LONG-EARED OWL. 45

to its niimbers in autumn. The Rev. Mr. Lubbock,
wi-iting of this owl some 20 years ago, tbougb mention-
ing the fact of its sometimes remaining to breed,
says, " The bird may be considered altogether rare,"
which statement is in strange contrast to the num-
ber of specimens now, at all seasons of the year,
brought to be preserved in this city (particularly the
case in 1854), and but for the thoughtless persecution
of keepers and collectors, a pair or more might be
found located in almost any of our woods or planta-
tions of sufficient extent. In the spring of 1856, no
less than ten young bu-ds were taken in a plantation
at Sprowston, near Norwich, and several old ones were
shot; yet since that date a few pairs have still con-
tinued to frequent the same locality, and they are
more particularly plentiful in the extensive fir coverts
in the vicinity of our east coast. In the western and
south-western parts of the county they are also very
plentiful. Mr. Alfred Newton, writing from the neigh-
boui'hood of Thetford, says, (Hewitson, Eggs Brit.
Bds., 3rd ed.) *' The long-eared is the most plentiful
species of owl hereabout, and there are few planta-
tions of any size wliich do not contain a pair; as
far as my own experience goes, though it is opposed to
Messrs. Tuke's opinion, quoted in your former edition,
I should say that the usual number of eggs laid by this
owl is four ; this year the gamekeeper has found a nest
with five eggs, and my brother has seen six young
ones in the same nest. The long eared owl usually
adapts a squirrel's nest, called hereabouts a drail, to its
own purposes. It appears to feed much on small birds.
I have found wheatears, willow wrens, and chaffinches,
or at least their remains, in its nest as often as not. I
think it delays the act of incubation until its clutch of
eggs is completed." The same accurate observer and
describer of bird Hfe has also contributed the following

46 BIKDS OF NOKPOLK.

notes on this owl to Mr. Gould's magnificent work on
^^The Birds of Great Britain," which I quote more
especially from their testimony to the useful qualities
of this attractive species. " I do not know many sights
more engaging to a naturalist than one which often
presents itself on peering into a thickly growing Scotch
fir-tree. A family party of some half-dozen long-eared
owls may be descried perched in close proximity to the
observer's head. Their bodies are drawn up perpen-
dicularly, and attenuated in a most marvellous manner,
the ear-tufts nearly erect, or, if not exactly parallel to
one another, sKghtly inclined inwards. Exce^Dt these,
there is nothing to break the stiff rectangle of the birds'
outline. Thus they sit, one and all, swaying slowly
upon one foot, and gravely winking one eye at the
intruder. Underneath such an owl-roost as this is cer-
tain to be found a large quantity of the pellets ejected by
its frequenters, and a good notion of their usual food is to
be gathered from an examination of the same. Half-
grown rats and mice, chiefly the former, constitute the
staple, but small birds contribute no small share ; and
I have recognised among the remains, unquestionable
bones of the wheatear, willow wren, chafiinch, green-
finch, bullfinch, and yellow bunting. How the owls
catch them I am unable to say, but I am bound to
mention that never in a single instance have I dis-
covered a trace of any game-bird, and I feel assured
that the keepers, who wage war against the long-eared
owl for the protection of their young pheasants or
partridges, are not only giving themselves unnecessary
trouble, but are also guilty of the folly of exterminating
their best friends; for the number of rats destroyed by
this species is enormous, and I look upon the rat as the
game preserver's worst enemy." Mr. Spalding, of
Westleton, informs me that on one occasion he knew of
a long-eared owl snared on her nest, which was placed^

EAGLE OWL. 47

amongst the heather at the foot of a fir tree ; the
bird and eggs having been brought to him, quite fresh,
at a time when he was endeavouring to procure
specimens of the eggs of the short-eared species. A
very singular variety of this owl, in the collection of
the Rev. C. J. Lucas, of Burgh, was killed in that
neighbourhood on the 5th of July, 1861. This beautiful
specimen had the wings, lower part of the breast and
vent, outer feathers of the tail, feet, and legs, and the
edges of the facial disk pure white, the feathers of the
back and upper part of the breast also slightly mottled
with white. This example is the more remarkable
from these birds being so rarely subject to any variation
in plumage.

Although the Eagle Owl (Bubo maximus,) has not, I
believe, occui-red in a wild state in Norfolk, I think that
the fact of a pair having regularly bred in confinement
at Easton, near Norwich, for the last fourteen years, is
worthy of record in the present work. Mr. Edward
Eountaine, the fortunate owner of these prolific birds,
purchased the female in 1848, at which time she had
been ah'eady twenty years in confinement, but the male
bird, procured at the same time, was said to be only a
year old. Of the first nest and eggs, in the spring of
1849, Mr. Gurney forwarded the following description to
the "Zoologist," (pp. 2452 and 2566,) which, with shght
alterations in dates and minor incidents, may be taken as
a fair summary of subsequent proceedings. After describ-
ing the eggs as deposited in a hollow scratched in the
ground in the further corner of the cage, into which a
little straw was afterwards introduced, and that during
the time of incubation the birds were unusually bold
and savage, he says — "The first egg was observed on
the 13th of April, and the two others about a week
afterwards. Two young ones were found to be hatched
on the 19th, and the other on the 22nd of May. They

48 BIRDS OF NOKFOLK.

were entirely covered with white down when first
hatched. When they were about three weeks old they
began to exchange the first or white down for the
second down, which was of a brownish grey colour, and
at the age of about five weeks the feathers began to
appear, and the young owls are now (July 23rd) able
to fly up to their perches, are nearly as large as their
parents, and, in fact, much in the same stage as
the specimens usually imported from Norway at this
time of year by the London bird dealers." In the
"Ibis" also for 1859 (vol. 1, p. 273), wHl be found
a yearly statement from the pen of Mr. Fountaine
himself, continued down to the spring of that year,
which shows that the usual number of eggs laid has
been three, and, in a majority of cases, three young
have been hatched, the time of nesting varying between
the months of January and April, whilst the period of
incubation lasted about thirty days, and one week
usually elapsed, in addition, between hatcliing the first
egg and the last. Trom 1855 to 1859 two nests were
made in each season, owing to the first batch of eggs
being destroyed through the severity of the weather,
having been laid either in January or February, and in
1855 even the second laying shared the same fate, and
for the first and only time no young were reared. The
last six nests, in 1857, 1858, and 1859, contained but
two eggs respectively, and Mr. Fountaine considers that
in several instances the young birds perished in his
absence from home from being egg-bound, as on one
occasion he extracted a nestling from the shell, though
it took bim three days to accomplish, and this one lived
and was brought up. Of the young birds thus reared,
year after year, three pairs had at different times laid
eggs and sat on them, but with no result tiU the year
1859, when, as further noticed in the same volume
of the " Ibis" (p. 473), three eggs were laid and one

EAGLE OWL. 49

young bird hatcLeJ, the offspring of a female then ten
years old, and a cock bird about half that age. Mr.
Fountaine had come to the conclusion that birds of this
class inter-breeding so closely were not prohfic, but in
this case the parent birds, although the offspring of the
same old pair, were bred in different seasons. Through
the kindness of that gentleman I am now enabled to
bring down these nesting accounts, both as to young
and old birds, to the present time, although the same
success does not seem to have attended the later
hatchings. In 1860, a pair of young birds brought
up one nestling, but there were none from the old
pair. In 1861, two young ones were brought up by
the old pair only. In 1862, an old blind female, pre-
sented to Mr. Fountaine some time ago, paired off
with a male hatched in 1850, and two young birds were
brought up. In the same year a young pair also had
one nestling, but which was instantly devoured by its
unnatural parent in consequence, says Mr. Fountaine,
*' of my putting a hen's egg under her to keep her
on the nest until she was inchned to sit, and as I forgot
to take away the hen's egg she hatched it and eat it,
and served her own young one the same." No young
that year from the original pair. In 1863 the blind
bird laid, but her eggs proved of no use. The old pair
brought up one nestling, and the young pair also had
one yoimg one, but the hen bird pulled its head off
when about two weeks old, in consequence, it is
supposed, of her being alarmed one night by the light
of a lantern. In 1864, another young pair nested
towards the end of February, and laid three eggs, but
from the severity of the weather and high winds all the
time there was not sufficient warmth to hatch them.
Neither the original pair, nor the blind female, did
anything this year, but another young pair had three
good eggs, which should have been hatched in the end

H

50 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

of April, but, in Mr. Fountaine's absence, these were
■unfortunately taken away under the impression they
were bad. In spite of all these disappointments,
however, Mr. Fountaine has now in his possession
twenty-six of these noble birds, and has given away
thirteen others at different times. They are fed on
rats, rabbits, and small birds. A young pair of these
owls, in Mr. Gurney's aviary at Catton, the offspring of
Mr. Fountaine's old pair, also hatched for the first time
in 1860, when they brought up two young ones ; in 1861,
two more, and in 1862, three young ones. In 1863,
three were hatched and two brought up ; and, in 1864,
two were reared and presented to Mr. Fountaine, to
supply his losses.

OTUS BRACHYOTUS (Linnasus).
SHORT-EAEED OWL.

This species visits us regularly and pretty numerously
in the autumn, though scarcely in such numbers as in
former years, arriving in September and October about
the same time as the woodcocks, from which circum-
stance it is generally known as the woodcock owl. In
the spring these birds again proceed northwards towards
the end of March, having, I believe, entirely ceased to
breed in Norfolk,'^ where, especially in the once fenny
districts of the south-western parts of the coiuity, they
were commonly met with dui-ing the breeding season.
Mr. Hoy, writing about 30 years ago in *' Loudon's
Magazine," observes — "I am acquainted with two
localities in the south-western part of Norfolk, where
pairs of this bird breed, and I have known several

* I have recently seen eggs of this species in Mr. Alfred
Newton's magnificent collection, at Cambridge, taken at Littleport,
Isle of Ely, in 1864.

SHOET-EAEED OWL. BARN OWL. 51

instances of their eggs and young being found. One
situation is on a dry heathy soil, the next placed on the
ground amongst high heath ; the other is on low fenny
ground amongst sedge and rushes. A friend of mine
procured some eggs from the latter situation during the
last summer (1832)." Mr. Alfred Newton possesses
eggs of this owl taken in Feltwell fen in the summer of
1854 (Ootheca Wolleyana, p. 159) ; and in a recent
letter to myself he writes — "In the first week of August,
1854, my brother Edward and I found on a heath at
Elveden, not three miles from the Norfolk boundary,
two young bu-ds of this species, nearly full grown, but
unable to fly. We searched in vain for the nest in
which they had been hatched, hoping to find an addled
egg in it. Though we visited the place several times
only one of the parents appeared. This bird was ex-
tremely fierce in its behaviour, swooping close to us, and
with plaintive screeches threatening the dogs by which
we were accompanied." This, as far as I can ascer-
tain, was the last instance of their nesting even in that
district, but in the vicinity of the coast, as at Horsey,
near Yarmouth, where, as Mr. Eising informs me, they
used to be met with occasionally during the summer
months, they had previously ceased to breed for some
years. In the autumn of 1859, I was shown a bird of
this species that had been picked up under the telegraph
wires, one wing having been severed during its noc-
turnal flittings, as is not unfrequently the case with
the woodcock and snipe in their migratory movements.

STRIX FLAMMEA, Linnaeus.

BAEN OWL.

The Bam Owl is resident with us throughout the
year, but I wish I could add that the term " common"
h2

52 BIKDS OF NORFOLK.

is as applicable now as in former times. The plea
raised for the protection of the kestrel may indeed be
urged for this true '' farmer's friend," whose peccadilloes,
if any, are slight indeed in comparison with its nightly
services. '' When it has young," says Mr. Waterton
from personal observation, " It will bring a mouse
to its nest about every twelve or fifteen minutes ; but,
in order to have a proper idea of the enormous quantity
of mice which this bird destroys, we must examine the
pellets which it ejects from its stomach in the place of
its retreat. Every pellet contains from four to seven
skeletons of mice. In sixteen months, from the time
that the apartment of the owls on the old gateway was
cleaned out, there has been a deposit of above a bushel
of pellets." Think of this ; whoever would, wantonly,
discharge his gun at so useftd a bird ! and let not the
sins of his race be visited iTpon him, nor his soft white
plumage be left to flutter in the wind, amongst the
feathered felons of the " Keeper's Museum." What a
pleasure it is in an autumnal evening, when returning at
sunset after a long day's sport, to watch this owl on
noiseless wings flitting about the homestead. Now
skimming along the fences in search of prey, now rapidly
turning the corner of the stack-yard, it suddenly seizes
upon some luckless victim, and is off in an instant to its
roost in the tower, or disappears for a time through the
little opening in the gable end of the barn. Its wild
screech uttered in the '^ stilly night" is certainly some-
what startling to the nerves, and, heard amidst the ruins
of some crumbling cloisters, may well scare the listener
unaccustomed to the sound ; yet scarcely would one wish
the rustic mind altogether disabused of its old super-
stitions, if the association of this owl with "uncanny
things," might aid in preserving it from unreasoning per-
secution. I would rather that every thoughtless clod, who
compassed the death of either old or young, might share

BAKN OWL. 53

the horrors of that luckless wight who, having killed
the church owl as it flitted past him, ran shrieking
home, and, with liis hair on end, confessed his awful
crime — "I've been and shot a Cherubim !" This species
occasionally, like the tawny owl, feeds its young upon
fish, which it has been seen to catch in the most
dexterous manner, and I have also known several
instances in which it has been picked up dead, or
wounded, under the telegraph wires.

An extremely dark variety of this owl in the Norwich
museum (British series. No. 29.b), was killed near Norwich
about the 13th of December, 1864, and is particularly
interesting from its similarity, both in colour and mark-
ings, to a specimen in our Raptorial collection, pre-
sented by Professor Eeinhardt. Of the latter, this gen-
tleman writes, in a letter to Mr. A. Nevrton (Oct. 9th,
1860), " I have ordered a stuffed Strix fiammea to be
put up in a little box, which will be despatched to the
care of Mr. Goddard, one of the first days. The bird is
from Fyen (Fiinen), but it is, I think, no pecuHar race ;
at least not peculiar to the said island where the bird is
rare ; I should rather suppose that all the examples of 8.
flammea from Sleswig Holstein and the northern parts of
Germany are nearly as dark beneath as the specimens
you saw in Copenhagen." I am not aware that this dark
variety^ has received any specific distinction, but it is
quite possible, as Mr. Newton is inclined to believe,
that the bird in question may have come across from the
Danish locality, whence Professor Reinhardt's example
was procured. Supposing this to be really the case, the
question natui-aUy arises, whether barn owls from more

* The dark coloured variety is figured by Kjasrbcelling (Dan-
marks Fugles, pi. vii.), but it is there called Strix flammea. It
is rather rare in all parts of Denmark.

54 BIRDS OF NOKFOLK.

eastern localities'^ may not, occasionally at least, visit
our coast in autumn ? Of this I have no direct proof
at tlie present time, but all I have known to be killed
or wounded here, by the telegraph wires, have been
invariably picked up in the three last months of the
year. The Norwich specimen differs from any I have
ever seen killed in this country (although the young birds
of the year are more or less dark on the under parts), in
having the whole of the lower surface of the body rich
reddish fawn colour ; the facial disk rusty red, becoming
greyish white only, near the outer edge, and the upper
portions of the plumage ash grey spotted as usual, but
still with a little more intermixture of buff than in the
Danish bird.

SYRNIUM STRIDULUM (LinBaeus).
TAWNY OWL.

This species I am sorry to say, from constant perse-
cution, is becoming extremely scarce in this county,
although still resident in some of the more densely
wooded locahties; but if the benefits it confers as a
vermin killer were only fairly considered, its wild lioo, Jioo,
hoot, in the still twilight, would be a welcome sound
to both farmer and naturalist. Mr. Gould has well
remarked — "Were it possible for a pair of brown owls
to produce a yearly record of the number of nocturnal
moles, Norway rats, and destructive field mice they have
destroyed, against a similar account of what has been
done in this way by any five keepers, I question whether

* The Barn Owl does not seem to range further north than
Jutland. In Sweden it is only of accidental occurrence, and that
in the extreme south. — Nilsson, ' Skand. Fauna,' Foglarna, i.,
p. 134, 3rd ed.

TAWNY OWL. 56

the balance would not be in favour of the owls. * ^ ^
I believe the brown rat to be far more destructive to
leverets and young pheasants than this owl can be."
So rarely is the opportunity now afforded of studying
the habits of this species in Norfolk, that I may be
excused for quoting the following graphic account by
Mr. Alfred Newton, in his " Ootheca Wolleyana," of a
pair, which, for several years nested regularly in the
vicinity of the hall at Elveden, near Thetford : — " From
1844, and probably for a much longer time, a pair of
brown owls had frequented some clumps of old elms,
near the house at Elveden. There were three of these
clumps, in one or the other of which they invariably
laid their eggs. The trees were of considerable age, and
mostly quite hollow, with an abundance of convenient
nesting-places. By waiting quietly about an hour after
sunset, my brother Edward or myself could generally
discover whereabouts the owls had taken up their
quarters for the season ; but it sometimes happened
that we did not find the nest until the yoimg were
hatched. Throughout the winter the owls kept pretty
much in company ; but towards the middle of February
they used to separate, the cock bird often passing the
day in a tree at some distance from where the hen
was. As soon as he came out in the evening to hunt,
he announced his presence by a vigorous hoot. Upon
this the hen would emerge silently, and, after a short
flight, would reply to her mate's summons by a gentle
note. He then generally joined her, and they would
fly off together to procure their living. The eggs were
commonly laid about the second week in March, and
the nests were almost always very accessible. I never
knew these birds occupy the same hole in two successive
years ; but, after the interval of two or three years,
they would return to the same spot. There were never
any materials collected to form a nest, the eggs being

66 ' BIRDS OF NOEPOLK.

always placed on the rotten wood, which in most cases
formed a sufficient bedding. If all the eggs were taken, as
was the case in 1854, the hen bird laid again in another
tree. We never found more than four eggs in the nest.
These often, but not always, proved to have been incubated
for different lengths of time, showing that the hen bird
sometimes began to sit as soon as the first q^^ was laid ;
but we could never divine what might be the cause of
this irregularity of habit. After the young birds had
left the nests, it was some time before they began to
shift for themselves, and they used to sit in the shadiest
trees for the best part of the summer, uttering a
plaintive note like 'keewick,' night and day, almost
without cessation, to attract the attention of their
parents, who would assiduously bring them the spoils of
the chase. * -s^- ^ Late in the spring of 1859, to
the great regret of those who knew them, the old birds
suddenly disappeared, and I never succeeded in ascer-
taining their fate. I think it due to their memory to
insert this account of their habits, the more so as I fear
the species is daily becoming more uncommon in Eng-
land." In its first plumage this bird is grey, changing
to brown or tawny as it attains maturity, and again
becoming grey in advanced age, but I never remember
to have seen a Norfolk killed specimen in this latter
stage. An unusually fine pair, killed at Stratton
Strawless in 1858, weighed together 2 4 lbs. — the female
1^ lb., and the male 1 lb. Many authentic instances are
on record of the brown owl feeding its young on fish,
taken by itself in its nocturnal forays ; and the following
singular eccentricity in the breeding habits of this
species is thus recorded by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher :
" We have known this owl to nest in a deserted rabbit
or fox's hole on the side of a wooded liill near the
coast. The nest was about two feet from the mouth of
the hole."

♦ SNOWY OWL. 57

SURNIA NYCTEA (Linnsous).
SNOWY OWL.

Tliis rare and beautiful species has occurred several
times in this county^ although an interval of nearly 30
years elapsed between the appearance of the earlier
recorded specimens and those more recently obtained.
Mr. Hunt, in his " British Ornithology," states that one
was shot at Felbrigg during the spring of 1814, and
adds — *'The weather had been previously exceedingly
severe during nearly three months. This specimen, we
are informed by the Eev. G. Glover, was presented to
Lord Stanley. ^ ^^ ■^ It had been observed for
several days standing on a heap of snow which had been
blown against a fir ; it had been often roused, and was
at length taken with difficulty." The same author sub-
sequently recorded a second example in his ^^List of
Norfolk Birds," pubhshed in Stacy's "History of Nor-
folk," which was said to have been shot at Gunton,
near Cromer, in January, 1820, and came into the
possession of the late Lord Suffield. From that time
I am not aware of any notice of its appearance on our
coast until the summer of 1847, when, as Mr. Gumey
informs me, a specimen, shot in the spring of that year,
by a gamekeeper at Beeston, on the estate of Mr. J.
Gurney Hoare, was, Jiorrihile dictu, seen by that gentle-
man hanging up as a scarecrow, and too much spoilt for
preservation. On giving directions, however, that if any
such bird should occur again, it was to be sent to him
in the flesh, Mr. Hoare received, in 1848, the beau-
tiful Greenland falcon from the same locality, already
referred to (p. 8) in the present work. In the early part of
1847, a large white owl was more than once observed in

58 BIKDS OF NORFOLK.

the neighbourliood of Brooke,''^ and in 1849-50, no less
than three specimens were met with in different parts of
the conntj, in the short space of half a year, as stated
by Mr. J. H. Gnrney, in the "Zoologist" (p. 2765). Of
these the first was seen, but not shot, at Swannington,
during the autumn of 1849 ; the second, an imma-
ture male, was shot by Mr. Cremer at Beeston, on
the 22nd January, 1850, the same Aollage where this
species had occurred just three years before ; and the
third, a young male, though somewhat more advanced
in plumage, was killed at St. Faith's, by Mr. Reynolds,
in February of the same year. The two latter are pre-
served in Mr. Gurney's collection at Catton-park. The
late Mr. Stephen Miller, of Yarmouth, had also a speci-
men of this noble bird, which, if not obtained in this
district, was most probably British killed.

* A young bii^d, in Mr. Spalding's collection at Westleton, was
shot on the 19th of February, 1847, at St. Andi-ew's, in the
adjoining county of Suffolk, and one having been previously
observed at two other neighbouring places, it is not improbable
that the Brooke and the Suffolk birds were identical. Of this speci-
men Mr. Spalding says, in a communication to Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher, "Zoologist," p. 1769 : — "It was first observed at Hedenham
wood, and was, when first seen there, remarkably tame. It visited
a farm-house and barn at Thwaite, where some white pigeons were
kept, all of which soon after disappeared. While shooting at
Tindal wood, this owl came over us, but at too great a distance
to be brought down ; from this time I heard no more of our
northern visitor till I was told that a bird of this kind had been
shot at St. Andrew's, in Suffolk, by a person named Adams, and
carried by him ahve to Bungay. I shortly after visited St.
Andrew's, and obtained a sight of the bird, which seemed perfectly
well, with the exception of a broken wing. It was shot from the
stump of a pollard elm, whence it had been seen to dart down into
the field and then to return to its perch. It had been observed in
the locality for several days, and was shot on the 19th of February,
and brought to my house dead on the 13th of April. It proved to
be a large female in rather dark plumage, and measured two feet
in length and five feet in extent of the wings."

LITTLE OWL. 69

NOCTUA PASSERINA (Gmelin).

LITTLE OWL.

I know of but two instances of the occurrence of
tlie Little Owl in Norfolk of late years; one taken
alive at Easton in 1846, by Mr. Gumey's keeper,
wbicb lived in confinement till December, 1848, having
laid eggs in the previous spring ; and an adult male,
also taken alive on board a fishing smack about ten
miles off Yarmouth, on the 6th of February, 1862.
This specimen, less fortunate than its predecessor,
when brought to a bird-stuffer in this city, showed
evident symptoms, from its ragged and dirty plumage,
of having died in some small cage or box, where
it had refused all nourishment in its efforts to
escape. Previous notices of this species appear to
be limited to the following statement by Mr. Himt,
in his " British Ornithology" : — "^ We recollect a nest of
these birds being taken at no great distance from Nor-
wich ;" the record of one, in Mr. Lombe's notes, as killed
at Blofield in 1824, and the two instances referred to
by the Messrs. Paget of its having been taken near
Yarmouth. As I have alluded to the fact of the eagle
owl (Buho maximus) having bred in confinement in this
county, I will here quote from the "Zoologist," p. 3207,
a very interesting accoimt, by Mr. J. H. Gumey, of
the nesting of this little owl in that gentleman's aviary
when residing at Easton, near Norwich, the same
village in which the larger species above-mentioned
fi.rst reared their yoiuig : — " A pair of passerine owls,
which I had in confinement, nested this spring (1851)
in a small covered box, which was placed in a corner of
their cage. They laid four eggs about the middle of
i2

60 BIRDS OF NOKFOLK.

the month of May, two of which they soon broke, but
hatched the other two early in June. The two young
ones did not long survive ; how they disappeared I am
unable to say, and am almost disposed to think the old
birds must have devoured them. I regret that, owing to
the nest having been placed in a covered box, I was
unable correctly to ascertain the period of incubation."

NOCTUA TENGMALMI (Gmelin).

TENGMALM'S OWL.

An adult female of this very rare species was killed
at Burlingham about the 6th of AprU, 1857, and is
now in the possession of Mr. H. N. Burroughes. This
is probably the only one known to have occurred in this
county, but a single specimen is recorded by Messrs.
Gurney and Fisher to have been taken some years since
at Bradwell, in the north-eastern part of Suffolk ; and
may have been the bird which was formerly in the
collection of Mr. Stephen Miller at Yarmouth.^

* This celebrated collection, to wliich I shall have frequent
occasion to refer, was sold by auction at Yarmouth, in September,
1853, subsequent to Mr. Miller's decease, but the bad state of
preservation of many of the specimens, unfortunately rendered
them of little value. In a catalogue now before me are the following
amongst the rarer birds, described as "principally ISTorfolk shot": —
Eider Duck*, Red-crested Whistling Duck, Buffel-headed Duck,
Great White Heron,* Purple Heron,* Little Egret,* Water Ouzel,*
Castaneous Duck,* Bimaculated Duck,* Golden Orioles, Night
Heron, RoUer, Red-breasted Snipe, Black-winged Stilt, Squacco
Heron, Pine Grosbeak,* Ibis,* Little Guillemot*, Gyr Falcon (in
Mr. Gurney's possession, evidently stuffed from a skin). Ivory Gull,
Little Gull,* Caspian Tern,* Storm Petrel (white var.), Scop's-eared
Owl,* Tengmalm's Owl,* Snowy Owl,* Eagle Owl,* (probably a
skin,) and Little Dotterel.* I have taken some pains to trace these
rarer specimens into the hands of their present owners, but of

GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 61

LANIUS EXCUBITOR, Linnaeus.

GREAT GREY SHRIKE.

The Great Grey Shrike may be termed both a spring
and autumn visitant, though by no means common ; the
few specimens obtained every year occurring almost
invariably between the beginning of October and the
end of the following March. Several of these birds were
killed in the neighbourhood of Downham in 1847, and a
single specimen was shot at Carrow, near Norwich, in
the winter of the same year. Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher state that a very young bird of this species " was
procured near Diss, some years ago, early in the month
of July," but I am not aware that the nest has ever
been found in this county. The same authors also refer
to an instance of a grey shrike being netted by a bird-
catcher, having pounced upon the call-bird after the
manner of the smaller hawks, a not uncommon occur-
rence, I am told, with this species. With reference to
its carnivorous propensities, I find the following interest-
ing note in the " Zoologist" for 1854, from Mr. H. T.
Partridge, of Hockham Hall, near Thetford : — " I pro-
cured a great grey shrike on the 21st of December last,

those to which I have affixed an asterisk I have been unable to
learn any particulars at this distance of time. Such as are still
existing, or of which any record remains, will be found noticed
under their respective headings, in other portions of this work. Mr.
Rising, of Horsey, who has very kindly made enquiries respecting
them for me, states, that, with the exception of a few lots of foreign
skins at the end of the catalogue, " Mrs. Miller always understood
from her husband they were all British hilled specimens, and that
the water birds, including the waders, were shot on or in the
immediate vicinity of Breydon water."

62 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

in the act of carrying a skylark in its feet, wliicli it liad
flown about witli for some time previous to my shooting
it. The lark was hardly half an ounce hghter than the
shrike." In confinement this species is very amusing,
dartmg from perch to perch with amazing rapidity,
and soon becomes tame enough to take its prey from
the hand, but is not generally long-Hved. A male, shot
at Rollesby, near Yarmouth, on the 26th of October,
1864, was found to have the remains of a small bird,
wasps, and the imago of Vanessa urticce iu its stomach,
the latter readily identified by the vdngs, which had
been swallowed with the body of the insect. I have
examined at different times two or three old females,
which showed no trace of the usual semi-lunar markings
on the breast, and were distinguishable, therefore, only
by dissection, from adult males.

LANIUS COLLURIO, Linnseus.

EED-BACKED SHEIKE.

A constant summer visitant, though not in large
numbers, and regularly breeds in the county, but is
at the same time local in its distribution. To its car-
nivorous and insectivorous tastes, its thorny larder
abundantly testifies, and Messrs. Gurney and Fisher,
speaking of a brood of young red-backed shrikes having
been fed by the old birds in a cage, purposely hung
near the spot whence the nest had been taken, remark,
" Among the remains of the food which was brought
to the cage, we noticed the skulls of small birds, and
parts of some insects apj)arently humble bees." This
species, Hke the great grey shrike, has also been known to
attack the call-birds of bird-catchers in the most deter-
mined manner. An instance of this, which came under

EED-BACKED SHRIKE. 63

ids notice, is thus recorded by Mr, J. H. Gurney in
the " Zoologist," p. 3981. " This morning (June 28tb,
1853), a bird-catcher was following his vocation near
Norwich, when a red-backed shrike pounced on one oi
his call-birds a (linnet), and attempted to carry it off,
but being prevented from doing so by the Hnnet being
fastened to the ground with a string and wooden peg,
the shi-ike tore off the head of its victim, with which it
made its escape. The bii*d-catcher then drew out from
the ground the peg which held down the dead linnet, and
left the dead bird lying in the net. In about half an
hour the shrike again appeared, pounced upon the body
of the dead linnet, and earned it off in its beak, with the
string and peg hanging to it ; the weight of the latter
probably was the cause of the shrike not carrying its
prey quite away, as it dropped it after flying about
fifteen yards, when the bird-catcher again picked up the
dead linnet, and replaced it in the net. The shrike, in
the mean time, retreated to some neighbouring bushes,
from which it soon made a third pounce upon the nets,
this time attacking the second call-bii'd, which was a
sparrow. On this occasion, however, the bird-catcher
was on the watch, and, drawing his nets, captured the
shrike, which proved to be an adult female of Lanius
colhirio." This species also becomes extremely tame
when brought up from the nest in confinement, and Mr.
Lubbock, on the authority of his fr^iend Mr. Gii'dlestone,
states that the late Mr. Downes, of hawking celebrity,
used to amuse himself, after he had given up falconry,
by watcliing his tame shrike catch flies in his sitting-
room. The eggs of this bird, as is well known, vaiy
considerably both in colour and markings ; one in my
possession, taken in 1853 from a nest in this neighbour-
hood, is pure white, and of two others found with it,
one had a single dark blotch on the larger end, and
the other a few brown spots dotted over a white ground.

64 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

Whetlier or not the female ever attains the same plumage
as the adult m.ale, as asserted by some naturalists, un-
doubtedly the hen bird, in her mottled dress, pairs with
the mature male.

LANIUS RUTILUS, Latham.
WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

Mr. Hunt, in his " List of Norfolk Birds," has the
following note on the Woodchat : — " Mr. Scales assures
me that he has killed this rare species in the neighbour-
hood of Beechamwell, where he has known it to breed
and rear its young." This statement, except on the
authority of two good naturahsts, might almost have
been questioned from the rarity of this bird, and its
occurrence only at uncertain intervals, as a merely acci-
dental visitant, since, with the above exception, I know of
only two authentic instances in which specimens of this
shrike have been obtained in Norfolk. Mr. Lubbock has
recorded one, as killed near Swaffham some years ago,
said to have been in Mr. Hamond's collection, and
on the 29th of April, 1859, a male woodchat, now
in the possession of Mr. J. H. Gurney, was killed at
Yarmouth. This bird had nearly completed its spring
moult, but from the appearance of some unmature
feathers still remaining, had probably but just attained
its adult plumage. The chesnut patch on the back of
neck, and the tints of the back and wings, were some-
what lighter than in older specimens. On the 2nd of
May, however, of the same year in which the Yarmouth
example was obtained, an adult male was shot in the
adjoining county of Suffolk, at Lound, near Lowestoft ;
and Mr. T. M. Spalding, of Westleton, has a fine old
male, killed by himself in Lord Stradbroke's park (Hen-

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. G5

ham Hall)^ in the same county, on the 10th of May,
1860. Messrs. Paget also refer to one killed at Brad-
weU, Suffolk, in April, 1829.

MUSCICAPA GRISOLA, Linnteus.
SPOTTED FLYCATCHEE.

One of our latest though most common summer
visitants, appearing generally in May, and leaving, with
its young, early in autumn. From its frequent habit of
placing its nest on the branch of a wall fruit tree, this
Flycatcher is here locally termed the *^wall bird," and
its habits are too well known to need much description.
Though plain in plumage, and by no means endowed
with song, yet its useful and energetic pursuit of insect
food, and tameness when unmolested in our gardens and
orchards, renders it a general favourite. Perched on a
stake or iron fencing, or the end of a projecting branch,
it darts off after the flies as they come within range, and
again and again returns to the same spot, and in autumn
the old birds may be seen in constant motion, supplying
the wants of a small family, ranged side by side on a gate
or railing ; the more precocious occasionally imitating
their parents, by trying a little fly-catching on their
own account. A remarkable instance of the pertinacity
of this species in the choice of a nesting place occurred
at Catton Park in the summer of 1858, the very
interesting particulars of which were thus described by
Mr. Gurney in the " Zoologist," p. 6238 :— " About the
end of June last, a spotted fly-catcher began to build a
nest over the door of the lodge at the entrance of my
grounds. The woman who lives in the lodge, not wish-
ing the bird to build there, destroyed the commence-
m^ent of the nest ; every day for a week the bird placed
new materials on the same ledge over the door, and

K

66 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

every day the woman removed tliem^ and, at tlie end of
the week, placed a stone on the ledge, which effectually
baffled the flycatcher's efforts at that spot ; but the bird
then began building at the latter end of the ledge, from
whence it was also driven, and three stones being then
placed on the ledge, the bird relinquished the attempt
to build at either end of it, and commenced building a
nest on a beech tree opposite, which it completed, and
laid two eggs in it. When the bird was thus apparently
estabhshed in the beech tree, the stones over the door
were taken away, when the flycatcher immediately
forsook its nest and eggs in the beech, and again com-
menced building over the door on the part of the
projecting ledge, which it had first chosen. The nest
was again destroyed, and two slates placed over the
spot ; the bird contrived to throw down one of the
slates from a slanting to a horizontal position, and then
began to build upon it. The nest was again destroyed,
and the three stones replaced and kept there a fort-
night, after which they were again removed, and,
directly they were taken away, the bird again began
building. The nest was subsequently destroyed several
times in succession ; the bird was twice driven away by
a towel being thrown at it ; a stone, wrapped in white
paper, was placed on the ledge to intimidate it, but the
flycatcher still persevered, completed a nest, and laid
an egg. On hearing the circumstances, I directed that
the persecution of the poor bird should cease, after
which it laid two more eggs, hatched all three, and
successfully brought off its brood."

MUSCICAPA ATRICAPILLA, Linnaeus.
PIED FLYCATCHER.

The habits of this species as a summer migrant, only,
to the British islands, are somewhat singular, from the

PIED FLYCATCHEE. 67

limited area witliin wliicli it is known to remain and
breed, and the fact of its rare occurrence in the southern
counties, although a visitant to our shores from the
coast of Africa. Mr, Gould (" Birds of Great Britain")
describes it as plentiful in Westmoreland, Cumberland,
Yorkshire, and Durham, but scarce in Scotland; and
its appearance south of either Norfolk or Suffolk, is
unusual enough to be considered an accidental circum-
stance. As far as mj own observations extend, it appears
to visit this county pretty regularly in spring, arriving
early in May, but, with the exception of the year 1849,
in small numbers, and appearing almost invariably in
certain favourite localities, either immediately on the
coast or close by in the vicinity of the larger broads, as
at Horsey and Hickling. Of its frequent occurrence in
the former locaKty, Mr. Rising very kindly furnished
me with the following particulars some four or five
years ago : — " The pied flycatcher is a constant visitor
here in the spring, and I believe as constantly breeds
here. I obtained one nest, or at least three eggs,
in the spring of 1848, which had been taken by a
chimney sweep, but, on seeing him sometime after-
wards, he either could not or was afraid to tell me
where he found them." From more recent enquiries,
however, I find that these Horsey birds, having been
disturbed and shot at on one occasion, have not been
seen in their old haunts for the last two or three years.
The spring of 1849, as above stated, was remarkable for
the unusual quantity of these flycatchers that were
met with in different parts of the county, Mr. Gurney
having recorded in the " Zoologist" for that year
the occurrence of no less than nineteen specimens
within thirty miles of ISTorwich. It is also worthy of
notice, that all these occurred between the 9th and
17th of May, and since that time all that have come
under my notice have been killed between the 1st and

68 BIRDS OF NOKPOLK.

SOtli of tlie same month. From the total absence,
therefore, of specunens during the autumn, although
stated bj Messrs. Gurnej and Fisher to have occurred
at that season as well, it would seem that of late years,
at least, their coui'se has been somewhat varied on their
southward migration. Mr. A. Newton tells me, that a
bird, which could hardly have been of any other species
than this, was seen by his brother Edward, at Elveden,
about three miles from the borders of Norfolk, on the 30th
of AprU, 1859. The same year, on the 3rd of May, a
male bird was killed at Hickling, and one at Hunstanton
about the same date, which is preserved at the Hall, in
the late Mr. L'Estrange's collection ; and on the 18th, a
pair which would probably have bred there, were shot at
Beeston, near Cromer. Probably the last obtained in
this county was killed near Foulsham on the 14th May,
1861. The same remarks as to time of appearance and
numbers, apply equally to the north-eastern portions of
the Suffolk coast, where at Gunton, near Lowestoft, an
old male and a young female were shot during the first
week of May, 1862. Sir Wm. Hooker, in his M.S.
before referred to, also notices a pair killed at Gunton
on the 29th April, 1813 ; and the late Mr. Leathes, of
Herringfleet, once showed Mr. Gurney a hole in a small
tree, standing by the side of Fritton broad, in which
a pair of these birds were said to have nested some
years ago.

CINCLUS AQUATICUS, Bechst.

COMMON DIPPEE.

The Water Ouzel can be considered only as an
accidental visitant to this county, the few specimens
obtained from time to time appearing between the months

COMMON DIPPER. 69

of November and February (usually in severe weatber),
upon our inland streams, as well as in tbe vicinity of tbe
coast. Wbether or not the black -breasted water ouzel,
tbe Cinclus melanogaster, of Gould's " Birds of Europe,"
is specifically distinct from tbe ordinary British form,
with a cbesnut band across the abdomen, or merely
a climatal variety, undoubtedly our Norfolk specimens
belong to the former type. I have at different times
examined six or seven examples, all killed in this
county, which, with one exception to be hereafter men-
tioned, exhibited no trace of cbesnut on the under parts,
but were identical with a Lapland specimen in the Nor-
wich museum (No. 40 .b), collected in that country by the
late Mr. Wolley. "We may naturally suppose, therefore,
from this circimistance, and the season at which our few
Norfolk specimens invariably appear, that they are chance
stragglers from the Scandinavian peninsula; and that
this opinion is entertained also by Mr. Gould, to whom
I communicated the above particulars for his new work
on " The Birds of Great Britain," is shown by his con-
cluding remark — "1 can account for their occurrence
in no other way." The Messrs. Paget refer to one
example of this bird in the collection of Mr. Youell, of
Yannouth, as having been killed at Burgh in November,
1816 ; and Mr. Hunt in his " List" mentions Costessey
and Taverham as places where the dipper had occurred
to his knowledge. Mr. Stephen Miller, and the Rev.
Mr. Penrice, of Plumstead, had also each a specimen in
their collections, both of which I have no doubt were
obtained in this county. The specimen (No. 40. a) in the
Norwich museum is the one mentioned by Mr. Lubbock
in 1845, as " lately" shot at Hellesdon Mills, and two
others are stated, by the same author, to have been seen
at different times, by trustworthy observers, at Marling-
ford and Saxthorpe. Of more recent occurrence, I
may notice a male in my own collection, which was

70 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

brought to me in tlie flesh, having been shot in Novem-
ber, 1855, whilst hovering over the river between the
Foundry bridge and the ferrj. It is not a little singular
that a bird so accustomed to the clear running streams
of the north, and the quiet haunts of the *^ silent
angler," should be found as in this case, almost within
the walls of the city, sporting over a river turbid and
discoloured from the neighbouring factories, with the
busy noise of traffic on every side. About the same
time that this bird appeared near the city, three others
were observed on more than one occasion on the
Earlham river, by Mr. Fountaine, of Easton, who
is well acquainted with our British birds, but these
suddenly disappeared, and were not seen again. Mr.
Cremer, of Beeston, has one killed in that neigh-
bourhood, on the 25th of December, 1860 ; another
in the possession of Mr. Hubbard, a bird-stuffer,
in Norwich, was also procured in that year ; and a
third, in my own collection, on the 29th of January,
1861. All these birds were shown me in the flesh,
and had black breasts like my first specimen, and
were in good plumage and condition. There is also a
similar example in the late Mr. L'Estrange's collection,
at Hunstanton-hall, amongst the birds said to have
been killed in Norfolk, and which was most probably
obtained on that part of the coast. From the winter of
1861 I know of no others either seen or procured
in Norfolk until the 24th of November, 1864, when a
male bird was shot at Buxton by Mr. J. Gambling,
who very kindly presented it to the Norwich museum
(British series. No. 40. c). This specimen, which was
brought to me in the flesh, is the one before alluded to as
slightly exceptional in plumage, as, when fresh killed,
there was a decidedly reddish tinge below the white on
the breast, but by no means so bright or so extended as
in two Scotch skins in my possession. This tinge.

COMMON DIPPER. 71

however, has much faded since the bird was preserved,
and I do not, therefore, think that my previously
expressed opinion respecting our Norfolk specimens, is
thereby upset. Mr. Alfred Newton, to whom I referred
this point, is of the same opinion, and remarks — "All
birds vary, and they vary so as to resemble allied races or
species. Therefore, this may yet be a Scandinavian
example, and if so it would only go to prove that in the
Scandinavian form the black belly is not a constant
feature." On dissecting this last, I found the stomach
filled with the remains of insects, nothing else, con-
sisting of fragments of the elytra and legs of a little
water beetle, and of some small Notonecta. It is
also particularly worthy of notice that in almost
every instance in which this bird has been obtained in
Norfolk, away from the- coast, it has been found in
the vicinity of the water mills upon our inland streams,
attracted no doubt by the noise and splash of the
tumbling flushes, the nearest approach to its native
waterfalls.

The great interest taken of late years in the sub-
ject of pisciculture, and the experiments made in the
artificial rearing of salmon and trout, have also led to
enquiries as to the truth or not of the assertion,
that the water ouzel is destructive to the ova of
fish. I have read with much interest the statements
of various wi'iters in the "Field," "Zoologist," and
even the ^^ Times" on this point, and am happy to
find that the evidence tends most decidedly to the
acquittal of this most interesting bird from a charge,
which at best only rested on suspicion, and may be
classed with that long list of " vulgar prejudices" which
the careful researches of our modern naturalists are fast
sweeping away. When the dipper is seen to dive down
into the stream with that strange power of submersion
which it shares with the rails and the cunning water-

72 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

hen, it is neither fry nor spawn that he is then seek-
ing, but on the contrary the larvae of innmnerable
water insects, amongst wliich, those of the dragon
fly (Lihellulce), of various water beetles and of the
May fly^ (Ephemera), are known to be especially de-
structive to spawn. The dissection of many examples
of the dipper, killed in the very act of feeding,
has failed to prove anything but their usefulness as
insect eaters, and on this point I believe I cannot quote
three more decisive authorities than Macgillivray, Gould,
and Buckland. Macgillivray remarks (Brit. Bds., vol. ii.,
p. 59), "1 have opened a great number of individuals
at all seasons of the year, but have never found any
other substances in the stomach than Lymnece, Ancyli,
Coleojptera, and grains of gravel." Mr. Grould also,
writing from personal observation, ("Birds of Great
Britain," part 1) says, " During my visit in November,
1859, to Penoyre, the seat of Col. Watkyns, on the
river Usk, the water ouzels were very plentiful, and his
keeper informed me that they were then feeding on the
recently deposited roe of the trout and salmon. By the
Colonel's desire, five specimens were shot for the pur-
pose of ascertaining, by dissection, the truth of this asser-
tion, but I found no trace whatever of spawn in either
of them. Their hard gizzards were entirely filled with
larvse of Phryganea and the water beetle (Hydrophilus).

* Mr. Wm. Brown, in his interesting little work on the
experiments made in hatching the ova and rearing the fry at
Stormontfield, on theTay, says (p. 35) — " The Messrs. Ashworth, pro-
prietors of the Galway fishings, experimented on the May fly, and
their report is ' that the larvae of the May fly are known to be
most destructive.' In proof of this being the case, they say — ' that
one year we deposited 70,000 salmon ova in a small pure stream,
adjoining to a plantation of fir trees, and these ova we found to be
entirely destroyed by the larvae of the May fly, which in their
matured state become the favourite food of smoults or young
sahnon.' "

COMMON DIPPER. 73

One of them had a small bull-head (Cottus gobio) in its
throat, which the bird had doubtless taken from under
a stone. I suspect that insects and their larvae, with
small shelled moUusks, constitute their principle food,
and it may be that their labours in tliis way are rather
beneficial than otherwise ; for as many aquatic insects
will attack the ova and fry, their destruction must be an
advantage." Lastly, Mr. Buckland, whose experiments
in, and writings upon, the art of pisciculture, are so
well known to the readers of the '^ Field," remarks in a
letter to the "Times" (AjirH 4th, 1863)— "It may be
observed that I do not mention the water ouzel as
destructive to spawn — this advisedly, as of late I have
carefally examined the gizzards of several of these
beautiful little birds, and have found only the remains of
water insects in them ; write the water ouzel, the friend
and not the enemy of the fish spawn." With such wit-
nesses to character, we may, I think, consider the
charges made against this most interesting bird as
wholly unfounded, whilst the experience obtained of
late years, through the rearing of salmon and trout,
as to the best means of protecting both spawn and fry,
ought to lead to the suppression of tame swans
on our shallow waters, as the worst enemies of the
'^Anglers' Society." The only occasion in which I
have had the pleasure of seeing this bird in a vdld
state, and that in a locality in which I should have
least expected to find it, was at Torquay, in Devonshire,
in the spring of 1859. Here a single dipper frequented
a quiet little rock girt bay, called the " bathing cove,"
where it flitted from one range of rocks to the other,
flying low over the waves as they broke on the shingly
beach, or perched now and then on the huge stones
that form the breakwater jutting out into the sea. I had
not expected to find the water ouzel as in this instance
frequenting the very sea- side itself, but it certainly

*

74 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

appeared as much at home amidst the sound of the
billows, as it would amongst the foam and splash of the
the torrent, in its mountainous and more usual haunts.

TURDUS VISCIVORUS, Linnaeus.

MISSEL-THEUSH.

The Missel-Thrush is undoubtedly one of those
resident species whose numbers, through the attractive
shelter of our large plantations, have greatly increased
of late years. It is common enough in our gardens and
orchards during the breeding season, noisily and
boldly defending its nest and young against feathered
marauders, or even man himself, often dashing at the
head and face of the intruder in the most determined
manner. Yet this very bird, which, like the rook and
wood-pigeon, draws near to our homes for nesting
purposes, is at other times amongst the most difficult of
approach ; indeed, I have often thought that the term
missel, said to have originated in its fondness for mistletoe
berries, might, with a very little alteration in spelling
(mizzle), as appropriately indicate its wary nature. In
autumn and winter we see them in considerable flocks,
scattered over the grass lands, in parks and pastures,
or feeding on the various berries at that season, and it is
not improbable, although at present I have no direct
proof of the fact, that their numbers are increased at
such times by migratory arrivals from the north. I
believe that in many cases these birds, congregated
together, are mistaken by ordinary observers for field-
fares, and hence many of the stories of the early
appearance of those winter visitants. In this county,
also, the term "dow fulfer," in allusion to its large
size, is commonly applied to the missel-thrush. A

MISSEL-THKUSH. FIELDFARE. 75

curious pied variety was killed in tliis county in 1853.
This bird had all the upper parts of the body white,
with the exception of one or two brown feathers on the
back, the chin and throat also white, but the usual
spots appeared on the lower part of the breast.

TURDUS PILARIS, Linn^us.

FIELDrARE.

To the lover of nature in all her varied aspects, there
is something peculiarly attractive in the first fall of
snow, be it early or late, before or after Christmas. It is
not the less cheering because of the cold, when, for the
first time in the season, upon drawing up our blinds in
the morning, a white unsullied covering presents itself,
with a glare that makes our eyes blink again, as the
sun struggling through the heavy clouds lights up the
brilliant landscape. How exquisite is that delicate
white fringe that hangs upon the branches of the leafless
trees, each twig, however small, each sturdy hmb,
bearmg on its surface its proportioned weight — the
'^ giant of the forest" as completely powdered as the
little sapling by the road side. In our gardens and
shrubberies the thick white puffs are hanging in masses
on the plants and shrubs, and the dark green of the
laurel, the privet, and the box, looks almost black
beside the dazzling snow. Every breath of wind
scatters a gentle shower to the ground, and a constant
succession of little avalanches are falling in all direc-
tions from the laden branches. Contrasted with that
emblem of purity itself, all else assumes a darker shade.
The walls of our dwellings, with every ^^ coin of van-
tage" picked out in relief by the penetrating drift, look
more than dingy, though the spotless roof has almost
l2

76 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

lost its outline against the clear back-ground of the
wintry sky. The cattle in the yards^ the sheep in
the pens, nay, if possible, the pigs look dirtier than
before, whilst even the white cat as she daintily but
reluctantly picks her way in the snow, shows a tinge of
yeUow on her soft fur, and the pretty fantails on the
pigeon-locker are as little able to bear the contrast.
Aheady the birds show symptoms of privation, and are
gathering around our dwellings for any crumbs of
comfort. The pert robin alights upon the window-sill,
and ruffles his feathers as, with head a little on one
side, he looks in upon us with his large bright eye, a
mute but eloquent appeal to our sympathy. A lump of
sparrows, looking half as big as usual, are collected
together in the freshly swept drive, and others, Hke
little feathered bunches, sit huddled up upon the trees,
scattering the snow in showers to the ground as they quit
or settle on the branches. The timid hedge sparrow
becomes more confiding, and shuffles its way to our very
door-steps, or creeps about beneath the wide spread
laurels, where still a httle space, thus sheltered, affords a
snug retreat. We know where the blackbird has been
seeking his breakfast by that long double trail across
the grass-plot, and a perfect fretwork of mingling
footsteps shows where the meal was shared with others.
The song-thrush, now more pinched than any, is finish-
ing the last of the scarlet rowans that looked so pretty
on the mountain ash, but those once gone, and 4;he
worms and insects buried beneath the snow or the hard
crust of the frozen soil, this delicate bird wiU fall the
earhest victim if, warned in time, he seeks not a warmer
climate. Such is the morning of the first snow; on
the morrow perhaps a stinging frost may have added
crystals to our winter carpet, ghttering like diamonds in
the bright sunshine, but soon the glory of that match-
less whiteness is lost, through the minute particles that

FIELDFARE. 77

are blown over its surface, and that wMcli but now bad
the charm of novelty will weary from its monotony in a
long winter.

Now is the season for tbe noisy Fieldfares, chatter-
ing amongst the trees in the open country. How large
they look in the dark foggy mornings as they hurry
across the fields on the shghtest alarm, looming through
the mist as big as ring-doves, and whether singly or in
flocks always wary ; trying the patience of the youthful
gunner, who may reckon amongst his holiday exploits
many fruitless attempts, to stalk up to and bag
the Christmas fulfer. Regular and numerous winter
visitants to this county, they usually make their appear-
ance in November and leave us again towards the end
of April, but their movements in both cases depend
much upon the season, having occurred as early as the
14th of October, and in the cold spring of 1860 small
flocks were still met with up to the middle of May.
An instance is also recorded by Messrs. Sheppard and
Whitear, of a fieldfare having been killed at Cromer
during the first week in June, but I am not aware
that the nest of this species has ever been found in
Norfolk, although Yarrell has recorded one or two
doubtful instances in more southern counties. Mr. St.
John, in his "Natural History and Sport in Moray,"
speaks of the fieldfares in severe weather doing much
damage by feeding on the Swedish turnips, scooping
pieces out with their beaks, and thus letting the frost
into the roots, a charge which I never remember to
have heard made against them in this county. A
specimen nearly white was killed at Hickling in 1848,
and a beautiful variety with the back and upper portions
of the wings and tail Hght buff, marked with a few
darker blotches, and the under parts of the body and
wings cream coloured, was shot at Swardestone in
March, 1858.

78 BIKDS OF NOEFOLK.

TURDUS MUSICUS, Linn^us.

SONG-THEUSH.

The Song-Tkrusli or Mavis, as it is more commonly
called in this county, is plentiful enough, and in the
spring and summer months its sweet notes fill our
gardens and groves with the choicest melody. How ex-
quisite are the rich thrillrag tones of this bird, as in the
light spring evenings he sings longest and latest, till at
times the varied beauties of his strain, induce some won-
dering listeners to believe that the nightingale is come
already. There is no author who has written more truth-
fully or more charmingly of our familiar British species
than Macgillivray, and amongst many passages in his
'^British Birds," unrivalled for the minuteness and
accuracy of their details, is his sketch of the habits of
the song-thrush, as studied by himself amidst the wild
scenery of the Hebrides. " Listen (he says) to the clear
loud notes of that speckled warbler, that in the softened
sunshine pours forth his wild melodies on the gladdened
ear. * * -J?- Listen again, and say what it does
resemble —

" Dear, dear, dear,

Is the rocky gleu ;
Far away, far away, far away,

The haunts of men.
Here shall we dwell in love
With the lark and the dove,
Cuckoo and corn rail ;
Feast on the banded snail,

Worm, and gilded fly ;
Drink of the crystal rill,
Winding adown the hill,

Never to dry.

SONG-THEUSH. 79

With glee, witli glee, with glee.

Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up ; here
Nothing to harm us; then sing merrily.
Sing to the loved one, whose nest is near.
Qui, qui, qui, kweeu, quip,
Tiurru, tiurru, chipiwi.
Too-tee, too-tee, chiu choo,
Chirri, chirri, chooee,
Quiu, qui, qui."

This is indeed tlie " Poetry of nature/' and a marvellous
imitation of a song as remarkable for its varied modula-
tions, as for its surpassing richness and beauty. The
good effected by these birds in the destruction of
innumerable snails, worms, insects, &c., might well
insure them protection at our hands, independently
of their charms both of song and action. How hand-
some is the thrush as he appears on our walks or
grass-plots, with his rich spotted breast, and neat
trim figure, all energy and life. Just venturing from
the shelter of some laurel fence, he stands with
head erect and slightly turned to hsten, now leaps a
pace or two and stops, his full bright eyes searching the
ground for food ; then with a short quick run he reaches
some worm protruding from the ground, extracts him
with a jerk, and bolts his prey. How often too in
some retired corner of our gardens we find his snailery,
if one may be allowed the expression, where, round the
stone that serves him for an anvil, are the debris of his
feasts, the numerous empty snail shells thus ingeniously
broken, proving at once the value of his services in
ridding us of these garden pests. In autumn our re-
sident thrushes receive very considerable additions to
their numbers by migratory flocks from the north,* as

* Sir Thos. Browne was evidently well acquainted with this
fact, as in speaking of our regular spring and autumn migrants,
he says — "They are observed to come in great flocks, with a
north-east wind, and to depart with a south-west ; nor to come

80 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

must be evident to every sportsman who finds tlie turnip
fields at that season everywhere full of them, rising two
or three at a time, from the thick ^^ whites," and more
particularly near the fences, or in snug comers with
plenty of cover. These, together with the majority
of our native birds, again proceed southwards on
the approach of winter, till, in severe weather, a few
pairs only remain in the vicinity of our towns, pick-
ing up a scanty subsistence in our shrubberies and
sheltered gardens, drawing nearer and nearer to our
dwellings as the cold increases and the berries begin
to fail. Mr. Alfred Newton, in a paper "On the mi-
gratory habits of the Song-Thrush" (Ibis, 1860, p. 83),
thus writes of them as observed by himself and his
brother, in the wide open districts in the south-western
parts of the neighbouring county : — ^' Since the autumn
of 1849, my brother Edward and myself have paid much
attention to the presence or absence of the so-called
^ resident' species of Turdus. The result of our observa-
tions is such as to leave on our minds not the slightest
doubt of the regular migration of the Song-Thrush, as
far as concerns the particular locality whence I write.
Year after year we have noticed that, as summer draws
to a close, the birds of this species (at that season very
abundant) associate more or less in small companies. As
autumn advances, their nmnbers often undergo a very
visible increase, until about the middle of October, when
a decided diminution begins to take place. Sometimes
large, but more generally small flocks are seen passing
at a considerable height overhead, and the frequenters
of the brakes and turnip-fields grow scarcer. By the
end of November, hardly an example ordinarily appears.

only in flocks of one kind, but teal, woodcocks, fieldfares, thrushes,
and small birds to come and light together; for the most part
some hawks and birds of prey attending them."

SONG-THRUSH. 81

It is true that sometimes, even in severe weather, an
individual or so may be found here and there, leading a
soHtarj hfe in some sheltered hedge-bottom or thick
plantation which may aiford conditions of existence
more favourable than are elsewhere to be met with ; but
this is quite an exceptional occurrence. Towards the
end of January or beginning of February, their return
commences. They reappear at first slowly and singly ;
but as spring advances, in considerable abundance
and without iuterruptiou, until, in the height of the
breeding season, they by far outnumber their more
stay-at-home cousins, the Blackbirds." The same
thing may be also noticed in our eastern district,
although probably from its cultivated and more sheltered
character, the " Exodus" does not take place so early ;
yet, with the first indication of severe frost, their
" southern proclivities" are proclaimed by their absence,
and even of the very few that still linger about our cities
and suburbs, many are starved with both cold and
hunger, or meet a less lingering but not less cer-
tain death, from the school-boy g-unners at Christmas.
The curious fact of a song-thrush having laid and
hatched her eggs on the bare ground in a plantation at
Sprowston, is recorded by Mr. J. H. Gurney in the
"Zoologist," p. 3475. In this case the nest consisted
^' simply of a Kttle hollow scratched out at the foot and
under the shelter of a small bush." The same gentleman
has also noted in the above journal for 1864 (p. 9105), the
singular fact of a pair of song-thrushes having built
on the top of a straw beehive, resting on a covered
stand in his kitchen garden, at Catton; when probably
owing to the hive being fully tenanted, the female deserted
her nest after laying three eggs. One of the most ex-
traordinary nests, however, of this species that has come
under my notice, both as to locahty and construction,
was shown me in 1861 by Mr. E. N. Bacon, who was

31

82 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

then residing at Intwood. It liad been built in an open
summer-liouse near the drive, and the bird had selected
for nesting purposes, an earthenware pan, accidentally
left on the top of a bracket, in which receptacle, the
materials, composed of moss and bents, were compactly
arranged, though necessarily flattened from the shallow-
ness of the saucer. In spite, however, of frequent
intruders to watch the progress of her novel proceedings,
the hen bird succeeded in hatching and bringing off five
young ones from this most unusual and uncomfortable
little nursery. The thrush is one of our earliest
breeders, incubation commencing generally by the
middle of March; and in the spring of 1864, a nest,
with three eggs was found in the vicinity of Norwich on
the 10th, the bush in which it was placed being covered
with snow, a heavy fall having occurred on the previous
night. Pure white and pied varieties of this bird are
occasionally met with. A very beautiful specimen of
the former, without spot of any kind, was killed near
Norwich in 1862, a year particularly remarkable for the
number of *^ varieties," amongst our common species of
birds, as observed in this county ; and I have also
noticed more than once, that varieties in eggs will
abound in particular seasons, though I am unable to
assign any probable cause.

TURDUS ILIACUS, Linn^us.

REDWING.

A common winter visitant, arriving rather later
than the fieldfare, and leaving again earlier in the
spring. This species has probably never been known
to breed in Norfolk,* but a single specimen was killed

* In Sir Wm. Hooker's MS. is the following statement, with
the name of Mr, Crow appended as the authority : — " The Kedwing

SONG-THETJSH. BLACKBIED. 83

in an ozier ground at Heigham, in 1850^ as late as tlie
3rd of June, and on the 9tli of tlie same month I picked
up one, very recently dead, in a garden on Bracondale,
which appeared to have been shot, having one leg broken.
Mr. H. E. Dresser, in the "Zoologist," p. 8484, states
that a fine albino specimen, seen by himself in the shop
of Mr. Wilson, bird preserver, of Lynn, was killed in
that neighb.ourhood in February, 1863. It was nearly
white, having only here and there faint cream coloured
markings.

TURDUS MERULA, Linnaeus.
BLACKBLRD.

Common throughout the year, and migratory speci-
mens apparently arrive in the autumn, but being a much
hardier species than the song-thrush, most of our
native birds remain throughout the sharpest winters.
However deep the snow or intense the frost, the alarm
note of the blackbird is still heard in our gardens and
shrubberies, as he scatters the flakes from the powdered
laurels in his hurried exit; or his jetty plumage con-
trasts with the white covering of the ground, when,
half running, half leaping, he leaves the well-known
imprint of his feet, diverging here and there as his
quick eye detects some chance morsel, till, head erect,
he listens to approaching footsteps, and then a Httle
scuffle in the snow, and the slight markings of his out-
spread wings show where he took to flight. White, buff,
and pied varieties, in almost every degree of albinism,
are not unfrequently met with. A very beautiful

breeds at Lakenham every year ; its song is far superior to that
of the Throstle." I cannot but think that if this were really
correct, the fact would have been known to, and recorded long
ago by our many resident naturalists.
. H 2

84 BIRDS OF NOKFOLK.

example of tlie latter kind was shot in a garden on
Bracondale, near this city, in November, 1856, having
the head and neck with portions of the wmgs and tail
pure white, and beuig an old male, the deep black of
the other parts, mottled with white, had a very showy
appearance ; the legs were black, with the toes and
claws flesh colour. I have also in my possession a
specimen kiUed at Shottesham, in November, 1863,
which, with the exception of one black feather in each
wing, exhibits the strange anomaly of a pure white
blackbird. In the spring of 1852 I was shown a
nest of this species, which had been built so close to
that of a thrush on the same bank that the materials
of both nests were completely interwoven, and remained
so when removed from the spot. Mr. St. John alludes
to the great increase of blackbu-ds in Moray owing to
the destruction of hawks for the preservation of game,
the sparrow hawk especially being a determined foe ; and
in this county the abundance of both blackbu-ds^ and
thrushes may be attributed, in a great degree, to the
same cause, since not only are their natural enemies
destroyed, but our strictly preserved coverts afford them
immunity from all bird-nesting boys, no intruders being
allowed during the breeding season for fear of disturbiag
the sitting pheasants.

TURDUS TORQUATUS, Linnffius.
EING OUZEL.

A regular migratory visitant, though, for the most

* The following entry in the L'Estrange "Household Book"
refers, no doubt, to this species, although the association of black-
birds and woodcocks is somewhat singular : — " It pd to Stephyn
Percy for ij woodcocks and iiij blackbyrds iilj'*- " A preceding
entry shows also the small sum given in those times for what is
now reckoned the greatest dehcacy in the way of game — " It pd
to John Long of Ingaldesthorpc for vj woodcocks x^- "

EING OUZEL. 85

part, in small numbers, passing northward in spring
and soutliward in autumn, appearing generally in
April and October. The Ring Ouzel has been known
occasionally to nest in this county, and although
probably overlooked from its general resemblance to
the common blackbird and the similarity in the eggs
of the two species, it is not improbable that a few
pairs may do so nearly every year in favourable
districts, and I have reason to believe that such is the
case at Holkham. Mr. Spalding, of Westleton, who
has paid much attention to their habits in Suffolk,
assui-es me that he has himself taken several nests
and eggs in his neighbourhood, where they remain till
late in May should the winds be contrary, and then
frequently nest and lay; but he has never known
the young to be hatched, as the old birds appear to
leave at once with the first favourable wind, for more
northern localities. They build on the stubs in low
damp cars, both at Westleton and Yoxford, where the
birds have been watched, and would appear to remain
in all cases at no great distance from the coast. About
thirty years ago a nest of this species, with the old
bird sitting upon it, was found by Mr. Rising in his
garden at Horsey, and the same gentleman has kindly
supphed me with the following observations on their
annual appearance in that locaHty. He says, " We
generally see several of them every year in the early
spring ; and in May, 1857, I watched four of them,
morning after morning, on the grass in front of my
window, and as constantly did an old missel-thrush
descend from an oak hard by where she had a nest, and
attack first one and then another until she drove them
fairly away. I fear these incessant attacks forced
them to some other locahty, as on a sudden they were
gone, otherwise I felt a strong conviction that they
would have remained to breed." In 1856, ring ouzels

86 BIEDS OP NORFOLK.

were TimisiiaUy numerous during their autumn migra-
tion, as appeared from the various notices at the time
of their occurrence in different parts of England; and
in April, 1859, when these birds and hoopoes were
unusually plentiful at the same time, at least thirty
specimens were brought to one bird preserver in Nor-
wich to be stuffed. Their numbers, however, in autumn
are generally very small compared with those that arrive
here in spring.

ORIOLUS GALBULA, Linn^us.

GOLDEN ORIOLE.

This rare and beautiful species is described by the
Rev. E. Lubbock and Messrs. Gurney and Fisher as
having occurred several times in this county, and since
the date of their respective publications no less than
eight specimens have been killed in Norfolk, as recorded
on good authority in the " Zoologist." It is extremely
doubtful, I think, whether the Oriole has really been
known to nest in Norfolk, since, of the only two
recorded instances, one is undoubtedly inaccurate, and
the other founded merely on *' hearsay" evidence.
Yarrell remarks, in his '* British Birds," " I have been
told that Mr. Scales, of Beechamwell, had eggs of the
golden oriole in his collection, which had been taken in
Norfolk," but Mr. Alfred Newton was assured by Mr.
Scales himself that the eggs here referred to were
brought from Holland, whilst the statement of Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear amounts only to the fact of
their having been " informed that a pair of these birds
built a nest in the garden of the Rev. Mr. Lucas,
of Ormesby." It is not at all improbable that if un-
molested they might occasionally attempt to nest here.

GOLDEN OKIOLE. 87

occurring as tliey do for the most part in pairs,
between spring and autumn, but the brilliant plumage of
the male bird at least, must inevitably attract notice,
and in these " collecting" days the fate of a visitant so
rare and so beautiful is unhappily sealed at once. The
subjoined list, I believe, includes all the examples
obtained in this county during the last seventeen years.
1847. On the 8tli of May, an adult male was shot
in the garden of the Dolphin public-house, at Heigham ;
and another bird, probably the female, was observed
near the same spot on the following day. This specimen
is now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney.

1850. On the 1st of August a female was killed
near Yarmouth; another, supposed to be the male,
being seen at the same time.

1851. In July of this yea,r, an adult female was
obtained near Bungay.

1853. About the 17th of May, two males, in full
plumage, were killed, one at Kenninghall and the other
at Dilham. The former specimen was particularly rich
in plumage.

1856. On the 18th of May, a pair were shot toge-
ther near Lakenham. These birds, which are now in
my possession, are also in full adult plumage, the male
bird extremely beautiful, from the rich contrast of black
and yellow.

1861. A male, in full plumage, picked up dead at
Telbrigg, near Cromer, about the 17th of May. This
bird, in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, exhibited
no appearance of having been shot, but, although
perfect in plumage, had from some cause almost wasted
away.

The following are all the earlier notices of the occur-
rence of this species in Norfolk that I have been able to
find in either pubHshed or MS. notes : — ^According to
Yarrell, a pair shot at Diss, in 1829, were in the collec-

88 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

tion of tlie Rev. Francis Henson, of Cambridge; and
Mr. Hunt, in his "List of Norfolk Birds/' says — "I
have three specimens killed in different parts of this
county; and recently f April, 1824), a fine male specimen
was shot at Hethersett, which is now in the possession
of J. Postle, Esq., of Colney." Of this bird, which is
also referred to by the late Mr. Lombe in his MS. notes,
the Rev. Edwd. Postle, of Yelverton, kindly sent me the
following particulars only a few weeks before liis death: —
'' It is now in the possession of my sister at Thorpe, and
was shot by my father at Hethersett. He only saw the
male bird, and had the good fortune to secure it by means
of a crow keeper's gun. It was reported that the female
had been seen with it, and Mr. Lombe for several days
had the place watched by his keeper, but it was never
reported by him as seen. The male was very tame, as
he allowed my father to go some little distance for the
weapon which brought him to death." Mr. Lombe also
mentions another male, as shot at Burlingham in 1830.
An old male, and an immature bird in Mr. Gurney's
possession, were purchased at the sale of the late Mr.
Stephen Miller's collection, and I recently destroyed a
moth-eaten female, formerly belonging to the Rev. C.
Penrice, of Plumstead, all of which I have no doubt
were obtained in this county.

ACCENTOR MODULARIS (LInnseus).

HEDGE SPARROW.

Next to the house sparrow and the redbreast, this is one
of our most famihar species, resident with us throughout
the year, and nesting in our city and suburban gardens, as
well as in the hedgerows of the open country. Although
in summer rather heard than seen amongst the dense

HEDGE SPARKOW. 89

foliage, in winter they boldly join the robin and other
pensioners upon our bounty ; coming close to our win-
dows and doors for crumbs, as they peck right and left
with their short shuffling gait, or with a succession of
long rapid leaps, or jumps close feet, seek the nearest
shelter when suddenly disturbed. With myself the
Hedge Sparrow has been always an especial favourite,
from its gentle unobtrusive nature, assimilating so well
with the neat russet and grey of its finely marked
though quiet plumage ; retiring yet not shy, and if
never quarrelsome, still always " holding his own,"
even with the pert sparrow and still more saucy red-
breast. Perfect contentment and self respect seem
stamped in every action; its little song is heard as
cheerily whilst sheltering in the hedge bottom from the
driving snow storm, as on the brightest morning in the
early spring ; whilst in the aviary he still utters his
little notes, low, soft, and warbling, and though to a
great extent an insect eater when at large, seems equally
happy on an exclusively seed diet. Considering the
large number of their nests that are yearly taken or
robbed, it is somewhat singular that these birds should
continue so plentiful, their beautiful little blue eggs
forming the chief spoil of our bird-nesting boys, being
so easily detected during the early spring, when as
yet the leaves are but sprouting in the bare fences.
Macgillivray alludes to a singular disease to which this
species is peculiarly subject, and which he describes as
" tubercular and apparently carcinomatous excrescences
upon the eye-lids and about the base of the bill." This
is observable in some examples, both in a wild state and
in confinement, but perhaps more frequently in caged
birds. I never remember to have had a hedge sparrow
in my aviary that did not sooner or later throw out one
^f these excrescences just over the eye^ and which after
a time would come away quite whole, about the size of a

N

90 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

small pea^ leaving a slight hollow completely bare of
feathers. The bird has not appeared to be otherwise
in ill health at the time, but the first tubercle was
usually followed by others. A curious white variety was
shot in this neighbourhood in 1854, having only two or
three brown feathers in the vdngs and tail; and one
shot at Eaton, near Norwich, in December, 1862, was
also mottled with white on the upper parts of the
plumage, a rather unusual circumstance, as this species
is rarely subject to any variation in plumage.

The Alpine accentor (Accentor alj^inus) has not been
added to the Norfolk list; but Mr. Lubbock mentions
having seen one in 1824, on a grass-plot at Oulton, near
Lowestofb, and this, with Dr. Thackeray's specimen,
are probably the only instances known of the appear-
ance of this rare species in the eastern counties.

ERYTHACA RUBECULA (LinnEeus).

REDBREAST.

Everywhere welcome and protected, and therefore
everywhere common, the history of the Robin in Nor-
folk, as in all other counties in England, is but a " twice
told tale." Resident with us throughout the year, each
garden and shrubbery in town and country, each fence
by the roadside, or in the open fields, has its pair of
Redbreasts, ever ready " to do battle" for their rights,
against all kindred intruders upon their prescribed
domain. In winter, drawing nearer to our homes, they
claim our sympathy, and with that bold confiding nature
which has won for them an almost sacred place in every
Enghsh heart, seek at our doors and windowsills the
proffered crumbs. Nor does our bright-eyed friend,
wander far from us in the summer months, though the

REDBREAST. 91

tliick foliage of the trees and fences, and tlie ricli medley
of onr migratory songsters, render him then but little
heard or seen. Now and then his trim figure and his
ruddy breast appears upon our walks and grass-plots, or
flits before us down the wayside fence, where, perched
on some projecting spray, bowing, he utters his httle
note and flirts his tail ; next moment, lost amongst the
tangled briars, unseen, he threads some well-known path
to seek his nest and young. His presence too, tlirough-
out the summer, in the close vicinity of our homes, is
proclaimed at times, after a sultry day, when as late as
nine or ten o'clock his song is heard in our gardens,
all other notes but those of the nightingale being hushed
for the night. There is no portion of the year, however,
when for me the robin has so many pleasant associations
as in the shooting season. The leaves are falling and
the groves are still, the merry group of smnmer song-
sters have left us once again for the sunny south, and
winter migrants are fast arriving to supply their place.
Then gladly welcomed is his autumn song, which seems
to tell us that one friend is left to cheer the " waning
year." How strangely it breaks upon the ear at first,
as when some well remembered tune calls up old
memories. Clear and sharp it sounds in the fresh
morning air, whilst still the hoar frost hangs upon the
trees, or ghtters on the threads of endless gossamer.
The sportsman hears it by the covert side as at mid-
day he rests awhile, and seeks refreshment after all his
toils ; and later still, as he " homeward plods liis weary
way," that simple note, in some mysterious manner,
awakens recollections of the past, when the same sport
was shared with dear and absent friends. Again, in the
months of September and October, as the day declines
and the evening " draws in," how we listen to liim in our
gardens and shrubberies, now clattering his httle man-
dibles as he jerks up and down on some projecting branch,
N 2

92 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

now singing sweetly, or at short intervals waiting for/ and
answering some neighbouring songster. As a weather
guide to those who closely study the habits of birds, the
robin is indeed a feathered barometer, and often have
I proved the truth of an old countryman's remark —
" 'twill be fine yet, sir ; that robin is singing higher
up the tree than he did this morning." Should a bright
interval also occur before sunset, after a day's rain, he
still cheers us with a merry note, though at such times,
as I have frequently noticed, he perches only midway
on the trees and bushes. On the other hand, though his
song may be heard at times during unsettled weather,
how doleful he seems when the clouds are heavy with
impending rain; how his httle mandibles then vibrate
together with a peculiarly querulous sound, as though
his spirits fell with the occasion, and no doubt they do !
for watch him again on some fine autumn evening,
when the sun setting leaves a glorious sky and gnats
in waltzing myriads proclaim a fine to-morrow, where
is he then ? There ! on that highest twig nearest to
heaven, where every leaf stands out, clear and distinct
against the deep blue sky, warbling his heartfelt satis-
faction in the scene, his little vesper hymn.

Who shall say that British ornithology is an ex-
hausted theme, when even the robin itself, still forms a
subject for discussion amongst enquiring naturalists ; and
are there not many of our most common species, whose
habits are literally less known than those of rarer birds,
simply because, being always with us, no one takes the
trouble to observe them thoroughly? Much has been
written of late in the " Field" and " Zoologist " as to
what becomes of the large number of robins, which, from
their very immunity from persecution, must necessarily
be reared in this coimtry. Many, and ingenious have
been the theories advanced for their not increasing in
proportion beyond all other birds j some alleging that

REDBREAST. 93

the young kill the old, others that the old, and especially
the hen birds, are migratory in antmnn, whilst their
natural pugnacity, the cat, and cold winters, have been
each in turn alleged as the chief cause. That they do
fight, and that to the death, is a well known fact, and
many probably from their very tameness fall victims to
the cat; but I beUeve the robin to be as capable of
braving our winters as any of our resident birds, and
from its very boldness in seeking the protection of man
is less likely than many to suffer privation. There is
one other point, too, which has often struck me, that
whatever the cause that thins their numbers, a dead
robin is after all about as rarely seen as Mr. Weller's
dead donkey or defunct post-boy; and yet, though
puss from her very love of destroying hfe does "kill
cock robin," so far as my experience goes she never eats
him, he being one of those birds whose peculiar odour or
flavour seems particularly obnoxious to the feline race.
With reference, however, to the supposed migratory
habits of the redbreast, I quote the following passage
from a most interesting paper, by Mr. Edward Blyth,
in the first volume of the "Field Naturalist" for
1833 (p. 466) ; the facts stated having been commimi-
cated to him at the time by a friend, a good observer of
nature, who had just come from Aberdeen on board
a trading smack : — *^ On the 16th of September, on
the voyage from London, northward, when off the
coast of Yorkshire, and about ten or twelve miles from
Redcliff, several small birds alighted on the vessel."
After enumerating tree pipits, willow- wrens, whinchats,
and a female redstart, he adds, " On the following day
(Sept. 17th), other species made their appearance ;
several wheatears, robins, and one male stonechat. All
these birds migrate by night ; and they all left the vessel
on the first night after their appearance excepting two
robins, which remained for some time, being fed by the.

94 BIRDS OF NOHFOLK.

passengers, and whicli, with the characteristic effrontery
of their species, stationed themselves, the one at the
front of the vessel, the other at the stem, and fought
on the least intrusion into each other's territory."
There is, unfortunately, no statement as to the course
these birds were observed to be taking; but from the
time of year and the species enumerated, we may
infer they were proceeding more or less in a southerly
direction; and whilst it raises the question whether
robins from more northern countries may not swell
the numbers of our resident birds in autumn, as is
the case with the tiny goldcrests and other delicate
forms, it renders it by no means improbable that some
of our home-bred robins may in like manner leave us for
a warmer climate. At present, at least, I have no direct
proof of their arrival on our coast, either from their
being picked up under the telegraph wires, or at the
foot of our light-houses; but I have certainly been
struck on more than one occasion in the autumn months,
with the very unusual number of robins observed by the
roadside. On the 11th of October, 1864, when driving
early in the morning, between Wymondham and Funden-
haU, a distance of about four miles, my attention was
attracted by the constant succession of robins (from their
pale breasts and unfinished plumage, apparently birds of
the year), that appeared on the trees and fences on either
side. As usual scarcely two birds were seen together, but
single individuals appeared nearly all the way at short
intervals, and if collected like linnets into one flock, would
have given the impression of numbers even more forcibly.
Could these then have been for the most part autumnal
migrants, or indications only of the large quantities
reared in this county as a favoured race ? If merely
the latter, then undoubtedly we have httle need to
repeat the enquiry so often made, "what becomes of
the large number of robins annually reared in this

REDBREAST. 95

country?" Wlietlier some portion of our robins how-
ever, do or do not, proceed southward during the winter
months, I can see no reason for supposing (as alleged
by certain writers), that such an exodus would be confined
to the females, a fact, which only a " slaughter of the
innocents," owing to the similarity of plumage in the
two sexes, could satisfactorily determine. Of the mi-
gratory habits of this species on the Continent there is
no doubt, and the following passage with reference to
this fact appeared in a very interesting paper in the
'' Ibis" for 1864, by Lieut. Sperling, on the ornithology
of the Mediterranean :^ — " The Robin (he says), I
am certain, migrates regularly, for I have very fre-
qently met them at a long distance from the land;
besides which an ornithological friend of mine re-
cords it as a regular passenger through Malta." The
same writer also, speaking of the redbreast as found
in Santa Maura and Greece, describes it as, ''more
plentiful during the winter than the summer," and
adds — " This bird is, I believe, not supposed to migrate.
If this be the case, how is it that they are so frequently
met with at sea — just in the migratory season?"
In the same volume also (p. 413), my friend Mr. Swin-
hoe, Vice-Consul of Formosa, in recording his ornitho-
logical observations during the overland route to China in.
October, 1863, remarks — " Between Marseilles and Malta,
when eighty miles from the latter place, the weather
being calm, two male Sparrows (Passer domesticus) , and
two Eobins (Erithacus ruhecula), came on board the
steamer and stayed a short time ; they were evidently on
their passage across from Europe to the African coast."
Anecdotes are not wanting in this county, as throughout
the kingdom, of strange situations chosen by these

* " Some account of an Ornithologist's Cruise in the Mediter-
ranean." By Lieut. R. M. Sperling, E.N., " Ibis," 1864, p. 268.

^O BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

familiar pets for nesting purposes; and occasionally,
tliougli rarely, buff coloured and pied varieties have
been met with. Mr. T. E. Gunn, of this city, in his
notes on varieties occurring in Norfolk, (Journal of
the West Eiding Naturalists' Society, 1864, No. 10)
mentions two examples obtained in this neighbourhood
ill the winter of 1859, "one of a blueish slate colour,
lighter on the breast and abdomen; the other white,
mottled with small patches of the usual colour." A
correspondent in the "Field" (Feb. 13th, 1864,) also
described one recently shot near Lynn, as having the
*^back a light stone colour, its breast slightly tmged
with orange, and its belly light lavender;" and a
specimen in my possession, procured near Norwich in
February, 1865, has the whole of the upper portions of
the plumage light buff colour, the wings pale buffy
white, and the under parts as usual.

PHCENICURA SUECICA (Liimaeus).

BLUE-THEOATED WAEBLEE.

The only example of this most elegant species, known
to have occurred in Norfolk, is a male bird in Mr. Gur-
ney's collection, picked up dead on the beach at Yar-
mouth, on the 21st of September, 1841. The same
gentleman has also another male killed about the 15th
of May, 1856, near Lowestoft, in the adjoining county,
and it is particularly worthy of note, that both these
birds, as well as the first recorded British specimen now
in the museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne, belong to the
form with the red spot prevailing in Scandinavia,
and not to the white spotted form which yearly visits
Germany and Holland. Of these two the Lowestoft
specimen is the most perfect in plumage, both as to

BLUE-THROATED WARBLER. 97

the extent and vividness of the blue, and the purity
of the red spot, the same parts in the Yarmouth
bird being less clearly defined. How far the white or red
spots may be considered as characteristics of two distinct
species it is difficult to say ; it will suffice, however,
for my present purpose, to have shown that the only two
examples met with on our eastern coast are Hke the
dippers before alluded to, identical with Lapland speci-
mens, presented to the Norwich museum by the late
Mr. WoUey, and are represented by the two figures in
Dr. Bree's "Birds of Europe" (vol. ii., p. 11). Having
adopted the nomenclature of Tarrell in this work, I
have retained his scientific designation of Phcenicura
suecica, the specific term suecica being perfectly appli-
cable in the present instance, although not correctly so to
the white spotted form, figured by that author in his
^^ British Birds." There is no doubt that the red
spotted form is the true Motacilla suecica of Linnseus,^
subsequently described by Pallas, as M. coerulecula;
and by Schlegel, as Lusciola cyanecula orientalis ; whilst
the white spotted form which does not seem to extend
its range so far northward, is the S. cyanecula of l^eyer,
and Schinz, improperly called Cyanecula suecica by
Brehm and others. Another, and apparently less com-
mon form of blue-throated warbler, having the entire
throat blue, without either a red or a white spot, has
received the name of Sylvia wolfii. Mr. Newcome's
collection, at Feltwell, contains an example of this form,
which was killed in Holland, and it is by no means
improbable that it may some day be recognised in
Norfolk.

SeeLinn^us' diagnosis ' Syst. Nat.' 1766, i., p. 336, " M [otacilla]
pectore ferrugineo fascia coerulia," 8fc.

98 BIRDS OV KOKFOLK.

PHCENICURA RUTICILLA, Swainson.

EEDSTAET.

A common summer visitant appearing early in April,
tliongli sometimes seen by tlie middle of March, and
almost rivalling the redbreast in the singular localities
occasionally selected for nesting purposes. This beautiful
species, or at least the male bird, with, its white fore-
head and rich black throat, is one of the most striking
of our southern migrants, and when perched on a
low branch or stake in our gardens, constantly jerking
his tail and uttering his sweet and peculiar song,
attracts deserved attention. Its dexterity as a fly-
catcher is something marvellous, springing up into the
air and seizing three or four insects one after the other
before returning to its perch, and so quick sighted is it,
that I have seen one dart off the ground and capture a
fly from the wall many feet above it, the sharp tap of
the beak upon the bricks being heard at some distance.
Year after year it appears with singular regularity in
the same locality, seeking, if undisturbed, the same
favourite spot for its nest; and like the redbreast
and hedge sparrow frequents the walled-in gardens of
our towns and cities, as well as the orchards and groves
of the open country. At my father's residence, in
Surrey-street, a pair always frequented the garden in
summer, and were a source of no little pleasure to me,
as a boy, when I anxiously watched for their appear-
ance in spring, speculating as to where they would
build next. One year, to my great surprise, they nested
under the tiles of an adjoining house, in just such a
locahty as a sparrow would choose, but in these matters
they are peculiarly eccentric. Elegant in form, sprightly

EEDSTAET. BLACK KEDSTAET. 99

in action, and peculiarly bright and diversified in colour,
tlie redstart at all times delights tlie eye, but never
looks more beautiful tlian when, resting awhile, it sits
embowered amidst the clustering blossoms on our apple
or cherry trees. As a songster it ranks amongst the
earliest and latest in the summer months, as I have
heard its singular hweet, tit, tit, between two and three
o'clock in the morning, and as late as nine and ten at
night.

PHCENICURA TITHYS (Scopoli).
BLACK EEDSTAET.

Until 1848 this rare species had probably not been
noticed in this county, but on the 31st of October of
that year an adult female was killed near the old battery
at Yarmouth, as stated by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher, in
the " Zoologist," p. 2345 ; and two more were obtained
about the first week in November of the following
year, as recorded by Mr. Gurney in the same journal
(p. 2651). "With the exception of an occasional specimen
or two obtained by the late Mr. Thurtell at Lowestoft,
in the adjoining county, the above are perhaps the only
instances known of the Black Eedstart having visited
this district. It is, however, worthy of notice that,
both at the time these specimens appeared on our coast
in 1849, and also between January and March of the
following year, an unusual number of these birds were
met with in various parts of England (as noticed at the
time in the "Zoologist"), but mostly in the southern
counties. It is somewhat remarkable that this species,
which, according to Mr. Gould and other authorities,
breeds in Belgium, the north of France, and the south
of Germany, should be a winter visitant, only, to the
British Islands, regularly appearing ia Sussex, Devon,
o2

100 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

and Cornwall, at a time wlien its allied species, our
common redstart, lias left us with other soft billed
migrants to winter in a warmer climate. Mr. Gould,
however ("Birds of Great Britain"), considers that this
apparent eccentricity is owing to a partial westward
migration, some even crossing the Irish Channel, whilst
the main body do really pass southward in autumn, and
cross the Mediterranean.

SAXICOLA RUBICOLA (Limiaeus).

STONECHAT.

A common spring visitant, and breeds with us,
frequenting the wild open districts abounding in furze.
The grassy summits of the cHfis on our seacoast, when
gay with the yellow gorse, are also very favourite re-
sorts, where this restless species may be seen incessantly
flitting from one bush to another, or uttering its little
jerking notes from the topmost twigs. The male, with
the rich black head of the breeding plumage, forms a
striking object in our rural walks, and both sexes, from
their sprightly actions and incessant cries, enliven such
scenes as might otherwise weary from their very mono-
tony. If we chance to approach the vicinity of their
nests, the excitement of these little creatures becomes
intense, each parent endeavouring to lead us on, by
perching at short intervals directly in our path, the
male stiQ continuing this anxious duty long after the hen
bird has slipped quietly back again, to assure herself of
the safety of her household treasures. Mr. Blyth has
aptly rendered their notes, at such times, by the words
hweet, jur, jur j hweet, jur, which to the ear, at least of
the field naturaUst, wiU convey a sound, associated
always with the ylvit, yhit, yhit, of the flickering titlark

STONECHAT. "VVHINCHAT. 101

and the "Kttle bit of bread and no eheese" of the
drawling yellow amnier. Some of these birds evidently
remain with us throughout the year^ having been noticed
in the most exposed situations during very severe
weather.

SAXICOLA RUBETRA (Linnffius).

WHINCHAT.

Common in summer, and breeds in the county. In
habits the Winchats much resemble the last named
species, with which they commonly associate on our
heaths and sandhills, though less numerous ; but in
the spring of 1864, I saw the contents of some four-
teen or fifteen nests, all taken amongst the furze on
Household, near Noi-wich, with only a few eggs of the
stonechat amongst them. Mr. Hewitson speaks of find-
ing the nests of this bird in rough pasture fields and
grassy meadows, in Westmoreland; and on one occa-
sion I met with an old pair and a young one, in what
seemed to me a very strange locahty — namely, on a
wet marsh adjoining the broad at Surlingham. This
was in the month of June, 1859, when, after spending a
night on the water, I was endeavouring to find the nest
of some grasshopper warblers, which were ^^ creaking,"
in various directions, about three o'clock in the morning.
A strange note from a neighbouring sallow bush
arrested my attention, and, wondering what new
discovery I was destined to make, I observed a pair
of whinchats jerking their tails up and down, and
uttering their peculiar cry in an agitated manner. On
searching the bush I soon found a half-fledged young
one, but no nest; yet, being unable to fly, it must
have been bred on the marsh, a very swampy and
unusual locality. Being in want of specimens I se-

102 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

cured tlie wliole family, and the nestling is now in tlie
mnseum collection (British series, No. 58.c). Messrs.
Gnrney and Fisher have recorded an instance of this
species having been observed here in winter; and
Mr. T. E. Gunn, who is weU acquainted with most of
our British birds, states in the "Zoologist" p. 9455,
that he observed a male at Hethersett, near Norwich,
in January, 1864, and a pair near the banks of the
Heigham river, towards the end of November, in the
same year ; but such cases are, I believe, uncommon in
any part of England.

SAXICOLA (ENANTHE (Linnaeus).
WHEATEAE.

A common summer visitant and breeds in Norfolk,
arriving about the end of March and leaving in
September ; a large number also from more northern
locaHties appear here, on their way southward, towards
the end of August. This species, like the two pre-
ceding ones, is met with in the open parts of the
county, on heaths and common lands, or in the vicinity
of gravel pits, and abounds on the sandy hills by the sea
coast. Mr. Salmon, writing of the Wheatear in Nor-
folk and Suffolk, says (YarreU's " British Birds," vol. i.)
^^it is very abundant on the warrens, and usually
selects a deserted rabbit-burrow, in which it places its
nest at some little distance from the entrance : it is
composed of dried roots, intermixed with feathers,
rabbit's down, and other light substances; it generally
contains six pale blue eggs. The nest is easily de-
tected by a little observation, for in such situations
the old birds amass a considerable number of small
pieces of the withered stalks of the brake, Pteris

WHEATEAR. 103

aquilina, on the outside, at the entrance of the burrow :
by noticing this circumstance its nest is sure to be
discovered." There is little doubt that this is the
species thus noticed by Sir Thomas Browne ; " Avis
trogloditica or chock, a small bird, mixed of black and
white, and breeding in confey-burrows, whereof the
warrens are full from April to September, at which time
they leave the country. They are taken with a hobby
and a net, and are a very good dish." I have frequently
observed them on their first arrival in spring, exhibiting
a most singular diversity of colouring in the gradual
assumption of the breeding plumage, the earhest speci-
mens having the grey of the upper parts much clouded
with brown, but in a short time the grey predominates,
and in old males becomes quite pure. By the sea-
side, I have always found them more numerous along
the extensive line of marram hills, in the vicinity of
Hunstanton, than amongst the brakes and furze, upon
the lofty clifis in the neighbourhood of Cromer, though
equally perforated with rabbits' burrows; and on dis-
sction have almost invariably found their stomachs
filled with the remains of such small beetles as are seen
at the roots or on the blades of grasses, and minute
spiders, commonly called ^' money spinners." A very
curious female variety, killed at Thetford, in July,
1850, is thus described by Mr. J. H. Gurney in the
"Zoologist," p. 2923, "The colour on the head, neck,
wing-coverts, back, rump, tail, throat, breast, and belly,
are distributed as usual. The most singular thing about
this specimen is, however, the circumstance of the wings
being of a pure white with the exception of a few feathers
on the shoulders, and two or three adjoining primaries
in the centre of each wing, which are of a pale buff
colour."

104 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

SALICARIA LOCUSTELLA (Latham).
GRASSHOPPER WARBLER.

Macgillivray, in Ms notes on tlie Grasshopper
Warbler ("Britisli Birds," vol. ii., p. 489), gives
the following local account of this species, as written
by his son from personal observations : — '' During a
short residence in Norfolk, from the middle of June
to the beginning of October, 1838, I had almost
daily opportunities of hearing the singular note of
this interesting bird, which is nowhere, perhaps,
more abundant than in the neighbourhood of Norwich,
where I saw it alive for the first time. * ^ ^ "i^
The note, if once heard, can never be afterwards
mistaken for the sound of a grasshopper or cricket,
however striking the resemblance ; besides, the length
of time for which it is contmued, provided the bird be
not disturbed, is much greater. Thus, on one occasion,
while watching some pike lines by the margin of a deep
pool, I heard the trill of the grasshopper chirper
emitted from a neighbouring hedge for at least twenty
minutes, duj-ing which time the bird appeared to have
been sitting on the same spot. I cannot state the
period of the arrival of this bird in the Eastern counties,
but I observed it as late as the end of September, up to
which period I regularly saw and heard my little friends
in a lane through which I passed every second day on
my way to the bath-house at Heigham. Although it
frequents hedges alone, in so far as I have observed, I
once heard two crying in the gardens attached to the
Bishop's Palace, at Norwich. ^ ^ -^ On Costessey
common, a few miles from Norwich, I never met with
it, although it is abundant in all the neighbouring

GRASSHOPPEE WARBLER. 105

hedges, so much so that on a fine evening*, I have at one
time listened to at least a dozen, and have heard their
cries even until the goatsucker and the hat flitting
ahout, on noiseless wings, announced the close of day."
That these birds are not at the present time thus
plentiful in the locahties above alluded to I have had
many opportunities of ascertaining, and though occa-
sionally heard in the neighbourhood of this city and
in many parts of the county, where large woods, inter-
sected with runs of water or thick old-fashioned hedge-
rows afford sufficient shelter; their great stronghold,
together with the allied species, is decidedly the district
of the broads. There, large tracts of fresh water com-
municating with the navigable rivers, are surrounded
by the most luxuriant marshes, covered, during the
summer, with long tangled grasses and innumerable
wild flowers. Eeed beds on every side bordered with
green sedge, line the water's edge, the treacherous soil
admitting of no heavier footsteps than those of moorhens,
rails, and coots, thus forming a retreat, better suited
than almost any other in the kingdom, for those marsh
warblers, which, from their local and distinctive habits,
have been classed by Selby under the genus Salicaria.

The desire to obtain some Norfolk specimens of
this bird, of which I had never seen more than two
or three examples in the hands of our bird-stuffers,
induced me, in the summer of 1852, to pay several
visits to one of our smaller broads. Many fruitless
trips began to try my patience, when, at last, on a
still summer's afternoon, when scarcely a breath of
wind stirred the feathery tops of the reed, I heard, for
the first time, the singular creaking note of this wary
songster. Finding it impossible even then to make
him break cover, I told the broad-man, who was with
me, to pay attention to the note, since, his employment
causing him to be early and late on the water, he was
p

106 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

by . far tlie most likely to obtain a shot. This man
assured me at the time that he had often heard the same
^^ creaking noise" amongst the sedges without imagining
that it was caused by a bird. Two days later I received
my first specimen, an adult female, and the above, with
one exception, is the only occasion on which I have
heard this warbler on the broads in the middle of the
day. The want of success, therefore, usually attending
the search for this species, will be readily explained by
the following description of its habits, as observed in
our fens during several successive seasons ; and I may
add that since 1852, except from one or other of the
broads, I have known of but three or four obtained in
this county, although I have heard them occasionally
on heaths and in hedgerows, at a distance from any
water, and have had their egg's from various localities.
The same broad-man who procured my first specimen,
and from the same marshes, has since obtained many
others during the last few years, all of which have been
shot between three and six in the morning, or by moon-
light as late as ten and eleven o'clock. At these times
the grasshopper warbler appears to throw off somewhat
of its shyness, continually uttering its loud note,
distinguishable at a great distance, and when seen is
almost invariably perched on the highest twig of a small
bush. If undisturbed it remains "creaking" by the
hour together, constantly moving its head from side to
side, and if silent may be readily distinguished from the
reed or sedge warbler by its sitting more upright, with
its tail straight down. When observed on a reed stem
(which is very seldom), it is always at the top, keeping a
sharp look out, and on the slightest noise it drops like a
stone into the thickest cover. In one respect it re-
sembles the sedge warbler, preferring the shelter of the
small bushes on the drier marshes to that of the reed
beds, and here, no doubt, the nests are usually placed ;

GEASSHOPPEE WAEBLEE. 107

but the restless motions of tlie birds, and the dense-
ness of the herbage, render them more likely to be dis-
covered through accident than by the most diligent search.
That they do breed there, however, has been proved by
the appearance of the breast feathers in more than one
female, and two young birds of the year have been also
obtained. It was also formerly abundant in the fen-
districts in the south-western corner of the county,
where it was known to the sedge-cutters as the
"reeler," through a fancied resemblance between the
sound of its song and the noise made by a fishing line
running off the reel; and even now, in spite of the
changes effected by drainage and cultivation, a few
pairs still resort there every year. Mr. Newcome's
collection contains several eggs of this species from
Feltwell fen, and he informs me that a few nests
are found there nearly every season. The earliest
appearance of these warblers, to my knowledge, is
the first week in April, and several have been
heard towards the end of August, about which time
they probably leave us. The females are, if any-
thing, larger than the males, but the latter, even in
their young plumage, are at once distinguishable by a
number of minute spots on the throat, and the legs of
this, as also of Savi's warbler, are flesh-coloured, and
the eggs profusely freckled with minute pink spots on a
white ground. On the 7th of June, 1852, a male bird
was shot near a pond at Tivetshall, which, from its
peculiar tints and small size, might ahnost be termed a
variety. I have only once since met with a similar
specimen, also a male ; in both eases the underparts ex-
hibited a rich yellowish tinge, reminding one rather of
the willow or wood-warbler, and the markings on the
back and wings were far more vivid than usual. The
latter example in my collection is, however, no longer
distinctive in this respect, the brighter shades having
p2

108 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

faded like tlie biiff-coloured breast of an adult goosander,
so soon lost in a preserved specimen. The account of a
nest and eggs of tMs warbler, taken near Downbam
Market, on the 24th of May, 1847, is noticed in the
'^ Zoologist" for that year. I have also eggs of this
species found in 1859, on the grassy banks of the
railway cutting, near a plantation at Ketteringham, and
others were taken in Hethel wood, near Norwich, in
May, 1864, as noticed in the " Zoologist," p. 9108.

SALICARIA PHRAGMITIS (Bechstein).

SEDGE-WAEBLEE.

The Sedge Warbler is not only far more numerous as
a species, but less local in its habits, than any other
member of this small group, arriving about the first
week in April, and leaving again towards the middle of
September. Not only does this bird abound on every
part of the broads, but the sedges bordering the banks
of rivers, the reedy margins of our inland lakes, osier
carrs and moist plantations, with tangled thickets in
low meadows, — ^where the running stream is lost for
a space beneath the overhanging brambles, and struggles
on through a thick growth of flags and rushes, alike
resound with its incessant notes ; in short, wherever a
sufficiency of coarse moist herbage affords food and
shelter, the hurried chitty, chitty, dm, cha, chit, chit,
of this garrulous warbler may be heard throughout
the summer. Except in windy weather, when it
keeps low down amongst the reeds and sedges, this
species is by no means shy, but flits openly from one
green covert to another, often singing as it flies, and
seeming to sing still louder in defiance of any inter-
ruption, whilst it perches on and sings from the

SEDGE-WAEBLEE. 109

brandies of the willow and birch., as well as from the
stems of aquatic plants. It is singular that the nest of
this species should have been so often confounded with
that of the reed warbler, being so different in shape and
general character ; for the depth and compactness of the
one, which suits it so admirably for its position on the
reeds, is wholly wanting in the other, which is flat and
loosely constructed. Such as I have myself examined have
resembled in form the black-headed bunting's, and were
built externally of the stems of grasses interwoven with
moss, and lined with the feathery tops of umbelliferous
plants, neatly arranged round the upper surface, with a
small portion of thistle down. Certainly, as far as the
broads are concerned, where by far the larger number that
visit this county are collected together, I have had every
opportunity of observing their habits, and amongst
some dozens of nests have found none that, like the reed
warbler's, could be termed in any way suspended. Here,
amongst the small sallow and alder bushes on the marshes
are their most favourite nesting places, the nest being
placed near the ground, and resting on the long coarse
grasses which hide the stems ; I have also found it in
some few instances in a little hollow on the ground, but
so concealed amongst the surrounding moss as to be dis-
coverable only by the bird rising frightened from the spot.
Again amongst the sedges, as its name denotes, it
seeks concealment in the treacherous nature of the soil,
and the nests may be there found supported, but not
suspended, on the dead weed and leaves of the sedge
broken down. These bii'ds, together with the reed
warblers, sing at intervals throughout the night in the
early summer, breaking forth into those bursts of
melody which so astonish and delight the ear of the
naturalist, who hears them for the first time during the
^' dark hours ;" whilst their power of imitating the songs
of other species is equally remarkable. In the breeding

110 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

season, and especially when anxions for the safety of its
young, the sedge warbler also utters a creaking noise,
so closely resembling the grasshopper warbler, that I
have shot the bird by mistake for the rarer species.
Although generally far outnumbering the reed warblers,
I have observed more than once, after an unusually cold
spring, that the reed birds were decidedly the most
numerous. This I can only account for by supposing
that the sedge birds, arriving earlier, suffer from the
severe frosts that occur at times after their arrival ; but
whether this be the cause or not, I have known the broad-
men themselves to remark the small number of these
birds in some seasons. Mr. Yarrell mentions a rare
instance of a sedge warbler being observed near High
Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, in winter, but I have
never known of its occurrence in Norfolk later than the
20th of October.

SALICARIA LUSCmiOIDES (Savi).

SAVI'S WAEBLER.

At least six well authenticated specimens of this
very rare British warbler are now ascertained to have
been procured in Norfolk, of which the first, though long
overlooked, was for many years the only one known to
science. This bird (No. 63.b), in the museum collection,
was obtained by the late Eev. Jas. Brown, at Limpenhoe,
in the early part of the present century, during the
month of May, and the following interesting account
of it was kindly sent me by Mr. Brown, in 1856, on his
hearing that I had lately received one from Surlingham
broad. He says — ^' Its singular note had been observed
at Limpenhoe by Sir Wm. Hooker, myself, and another
ornithological friend, whilst investigating the natural

SAVl's WARBLER. Ill

history of that district, but for a considerable time not
a sight of the bird could be obtained. We called it the
reel bird, on account of the resemblance of its monoto-
nous note to the continuous whirr of the reel, at that
time used by the hand-spinners of wool. At length it
was discovered uttering its singular song (if so it may
be called), from the top of an alder bush that grew in
the midst of a large patch of sedge, into which it fell
like a stone as soon as it was approached. After, how-
ever, much patience and caution, it again re-ascended
the alder and was shot. It is a very shy bird, and in its
habits seems to resemble the grasshopper lark (warbler),
creeping among the sedge in search probably of insects
and small moUusks. It was submitted to the inspection
of the celebrated ornithologist, Temminck, whilst he
was in London at the sale of Mr. Bullock's museum."^
He was puzzled, and requested permission to take it
with him to the continent, to compare it with specimens
in his own splendid collection. He returned it with his
opinion that it was a variety of the reed wren, and as
such it is noticed in their ' Catalogue' by Messrs. Shep-
pard and Whitear. I afterwards gave instructions to a
marshman at Strumpshaw, of the name of Waters, who
procured another specimen, which I presented to my
friend, Edward Lombe, Esq., in whose splendid collec-
tion of British birds it probably may be found, under
Temminck's nomenclature, as the reed wren, or as
Sylvia luscinioides.f As the note is peculiar to the
male, the female, eggs, and nest are probably desiderata,

* This remarkable sale took place in tlie spring of 1819. The
bird in question was therefore very probably killed in that year, at
all events it could not have been obtained later.

t I have lately seen this specimen, which, under the name of
" Savi's Warbler," is still preserved in the late Mr. Lombe's
collection, now in the possession of his daughter, Mrs. E. P.
Clarke, of Wymondham.

112 BIRDS OV NORFOLK.

but by a knowledge of its haunts, and careful and
quiet watching, may perhaps be discovered. This
bird was also heard between Hoveton and Wroxham
broads."

In the summer of 1843, a pair were shot at
South Walsham, one of which was presented by Mr.
J. H. Gurney to the Norwich museum, the other
to the late Mr. T. C. Heysham, of Carlisle, who was
anxious to possess a British specimen of this rare
warbler ; but on the sale of that gentleman's collection
in 1859, this bird was also procured for the museum by
Mr. Gurney, and, together with its companion from
South Walsham and the Limpenhoe specimen, forms a
highly interesting group. That the above-mentioned
specimens from South Walsham are by no means all that
have been heard or even killed in that district, I have
very recently ascertained from a communication kindly
made to this work by the Rev. H. T. Frere, of Burston,
who possesses an example from that locality, and says,
" Others have been heard there since. Specimens were
sent from thence by the late Mr. W. H. Jary, years ago,
before the species was recognised by Savi, and no par-
ticular notice was taken of them beyond a formal acknow-
ledgment by the British Museum authorities. It is
known as the 'red craking reed-wren' by the marsh-
men." Presuming that Mr. Frere' s bird was procured
about the same time as the museum pair, the next
occurrence of this species, after an interval of thirteen
years, is the specimen now in my collection from
Surhngham, which was shot on the 7th of June, 1856,
by the same man who had been so successful in pro-
curing the grasshopper warblers. His account of the
actions of this warbler agrees very nearly with the re-
marks of Mr. Brown, but as everything relating to a
species so little known is worthy of record, I give it as
taken down at the time in my note book. Being

SAVl's WARBLER. IV]

engaged on the broad all nighty lie first lieard the bird
'^noising" about nine o'clock in the evening, on the
6th of June, and observed it from his boat running up
and down the dead reed stems, fr-om the tops of which it
kept calling at intervals until two in the morning. He
then returned home, but at six o'clock he again found
it in the same clump of reeds, though more restless and
calling incessantly. Soon after this the wind began to
stir the reeds, and it then dropped down and remained
silent among the thick sedges. Up to this time he
had imaguied it to be a grasshopper warbler, although
the note seemed unusually loud and clear, and like
them it kept moving its head from side to side
whilst singing. On the following evening, at eight
o'clock, the bird was still in the same place calling as
before, and as one or two of the grasshopper warblers
were singing at the same time, he distinguished at once
a difference in their notes. As soon as he had shot the
bird, he saw that it was different to any he had handled
before, and observing that it remained so long in one
spot, made every search for a nest, but could find no
trace of one. About ten years ago, he assures me there
were several couple of birds on the broad with similar
notes, and he then found a nest with eggs, which,
from his description, might be either that of Savi's or of
the grasshopper warbler. About the first week in May
of the following year, a bird, agreeing exactly in note
and appearance with the above, was also seen by this
marsh-man in a small sallow bush ; not having his gun
with him, he watched it for some time, and had no
doubt of its identity. From the occurrence of this
species in one or two instances in the middle of summer,
there is little doubt that it has occasionally nested
in our marshes, indeed a nest in the collection of
Mr. Newcome, of Feltwell, presented to him by the
Rev. J. Burroughes, was said to have been found near
Q

114 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

Yarmouth. It is also most probable that although so
rarely recognised in this county, others may have been
shot, and mistaken as the first was, by M. Temminck,
for varieties of the reed warbler, since the two species
at first sight are very similar, but Savi's is not only a
larger bird, but in the reddish tints of the upper parts
more resembles the nightingale. My own specimen, a
male, like males of the grasshopper warbler, exhibits
the small black spots on the throat. The following
remarks upon the habits of this rare species, as observed
by Mr. Osbert Salvin, in the Eastern Atlas,"^ will pro-
bably be read with interest, from the perfect confirma-
tion they afibrd, of the accuracy of the above descrip-
tions : — " I found this bird abundant in the marsh of
Zana. On approaching the margin of the reeds, its
peculiar rattling note might be heard in every direction.
The bird, when uttering this cry, climbs to the very top
of a reed, often choosing the tallest, where it sits, if not
disturbed, for several minutes, without changing its
position. When singing, the head is moved slowly from
side to side, by which means it may be that the ven-
triloquism ascribed to the grasshopper warbler is pro-
duced, the apparent change of position of the bird
being, in fact, a change in the direction in which the
sound of its voice is thrown. On taking alarm, the
songster drops mstantly into the thickest sedge, when
pursuit is hopeless, as it carefully eludes observation,
never showing itself in open flight ; sometimes, however,
its course may be traced by the shaking of the reeds as
it springs from one to another. The pecuhar nest of
this species, a beautifully compact structure, composed
entirely of dead flag, is artfully concealed in the thickest
parts, and at Zana it can only be found by wading in

* " Five Months' Birds'-nestin in the Eastern Atlas," by
Osbert Salvin. " Ibis," 1859, p. 304.

EEED-WARBLEK. 115

mud and water up to the middle, and even then it is
quite a chance to find one."

SALICARIA STREPERA (VieiUot) *

EEED-WARBLER.

The Reed-Warbler, as its name implies, is confined
almost exclusively to the reed beds on the broads and
rivers, being far more local in its habits, and less
numerous as a species than the sedge warbler; it also
arrives somewhat later in the spring, and leaves us again
earlier in the autumn. The beautiful little nests of
this species, so carefully and curiously suspended on the
stems of the reeds, are, with the exception perhaps
of the long-tailed titmouse, the most interesting in
construction of any of our British birds. They are
formed externally of dried grasses, stalks of plants,
and the feathery tops of the reed, the latter generally
forming the only lining, with occasionally a bit of wool
or a stray feather or two on the edge of the structure.
The materials are, however, occasionally much more
diversified, especially when, as I shall presently show,
the nests are constructed in bushes and garden shrubs.
One of these, now before me, is composed externally of
dried grasses, studded over with little patches of wool ;
the interior consisting of a layer of moss, lined with a

* I am compelled in this instance to depart from the nomencla-
ture of Yarrell. The specific name arundinaceus was first applied
by Linnaeus to a bird — the Great Eeed "Warbler — which being con-
generic with the one mentioned in the text, is properly entitled to
that appellation ; and the next name in order of priority, as shewn
by ]SIr. G. R. Gray (List Br. B. in Br. Mus., p. 49), is Vieillot's
strepera, which I accordingly adopt, as does Mr. Hewitson, in hia
last edition of his ' Eggs of British Birds' (p. 119).
q2

116 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

flax-like substance, procured from the willow, {Salix — ?)
and mixed with sheep's wool, feathers, and a few black
horsehairs. They are for the most part very compactly
made, and in some cases will bear much handling with-
out disarranging the materials, yet this is not always
the case, as I have seen some taken on Hickhng broad,
built on very slender reeds, and so loosely constructed,
that I wondered they held together at all; but at the
spot where these were found, the ground was covered
with a sort of wild convolvulus or creeper, whose tendrils
encircling both the reeds and nests had a very pretty
appearance, and afforded an unusual support. The ordi-
nary number of reeds selected is three, round which the
materials are firmly woven, so as to include them all in
the structui-e, whilst the nest is placed with instinctive
judgment, neither low enough to be affected by the
rising of the water, nor yet high enough to be influenced
too powerfully by the wind. Occasionally a nest may be
found on four reeds, and I once found one on five, and
another on two, but these cases are rare. Arriving here
later than the sedge warblers, the nests of the reed
birds are seldom completed before the end of May, and
the young are hatched about the first week in July. In
1852, a reed- warbler's nest was found built in a small
bush near a pond at Bracon Ash, but even in this
unusual situation its general character was preserved,
being suspended on three twigs of the bush, built into it
in place of the reeds. This is one of the very few
instances in which I have known these buxls to breed in
any locality not adjacent to reed beds ;^ but at Ean-
worth, where the broad joins the garden of Mr. John

* " In the ' Zoologist' for 1864, p. 9109, is a very interesting
description by Mr. R. Mitford, of the nesting of this species in a
garden at Hampstead, near London, * far away from water in any
shape,' " the nests being constructed in Hlac and other shrubs.
Mr. Hewitsou also cites sevex'al similar instances.

EKED-WAEBLEE. 117

Kerrison, I have frequently seen the nests of this
warbler built into the laurel bushes by the water's edge,
in the same manner as I have just described ; and in the
summer of 1861 I was shown four or five which had
been found in various shrubs in a kitchen garden at
Lakenham, situated by the riverside, with a reed bed
and osier ground in close proximity. In each of these,
twigs of the respective plants were ingeniously woven
into the structure itself, and though somewhat shallow,
they all retained much of their normal character.
The most curious fact, however, in connection with these
nests, was finding a cuckoo's egg in three of them, and
a young cuckoo, of course per se, in the fourth. This
youngster was kept alive for some weeks in confine-
ment, and presented the most absurd appearance, when,
having grown uncomfortably large for it, it still at-
tempted to nestle down in its original cradle. Occa-
sionally, but rarely, I have known a cuckoo's egg de-
posited in the nest of this species when placed as usual
amongst the reeds ;^ but in the above four instances,
increased size and depth and easiness of access afforded
no doubt pecuHar attractions. One nest, which had been
built into the centre of a currant bush, presented a most
novel and beautiful appearance, the dry materials con-
trasting with the green foliage, whilst the young fruit
hung in bunches above and aroiuid it. This species, like
the sedge warbler, is an incessant songster, heard at

* Mr. W. H. Thomas, (" Zoologist," 1843, p. 97), in his most
interesting description of these birds and their nests, as observed
by himself on the banks of the Thames, mentions two instances in
which he had found Cuckoo's eggs in nests built amongst the reed
stems, and the novel method adopted by the little reed bird, to
feed its unwieldy nestling, perching on its broad back, and thus
dropping the food into its gaping mouth. Mr. A. Newton tells me
also that he has frequently known of similar cases. In one
instance he found two Cuckoo's eggs in the same nest.

118 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

short intervals thronghout tlie day, except in windy
weatlier, but saving its choicest music for the twihght
hours. Its lavish notes are thus associated in my mind
with many a calm summer's night on the open broads,
the stars shining brightly overhead, and the soft breeze
sighing through the rustling reeds, mingled with the
hum of insect-life on the water. It is at such times
that the song of these marsh nightingales is heard to
perfection. All is still around, save those murmuring
sounds that seem to lull to sleep ; the barking of the
watch-dog has ceased in the distance, and the hoarse
croak of the coot or the moorhen harmonises too well
with the scene to startle with its frequent repetition.
Presently, as if by magic, the reed beds on all sides are
teeming with melody ; now here, now there, first one,
then another and another of the reed birds pour forth
their rich mocking notes, taken up again and again by
others, and still, far away in the distance, the same strain
comes back upon the breeze, till one is lost in wonder at
their numbers, so startling to the ear of a stranger, so
impossible to be estimated at all during the day. About
the first week in June, should the weather be fine and
still, is the best time to hear these nocturnal warblers ;
the sedge birds, however, as earlier breeders, have by
this time almost ceased to sing during the night, their
young being already hatched.

I can imagine few things more delightful to the
out-door naturalist than his first introduction to the
broads by night. The mere escape for a time during
the height of summer from the heat and bustle of
a city life, might alone repay the trouble of a visit,
were there no further attractions in those sights
and sounds which have for the naturalist a pecuKar
charm. Never, I think, does marsh scenery look more
beautiful than on a fijie summer's evening, when
even distant objects appear distinct against the clear

REED-WAEBLEE. 119

bright sky. How the rich green of the riishy marshes,
and the luxuriant growth of sedge by the water's side
relieve the eye after the heat and glare of the day. The
whole landscape, flat though it may be, is yet prettily
broken by small groups of cattle in every attitude of
repose ; with here a marsh mill, picturesque in its rough-
ness, or there the tall mast and sail of a wherry alone
visible across the next reach of the winding river.
Nor does the ear fail to share in the pleasures of the
scene ; innumerable sand-martins fill the air with their
hurried twitterings, as they chase each other over the
water in endless evolutions. Every covert seems alive
with the merry notes of the sedge bird, now mocking
the sand-martins in their passing flight, now pouring
forth its own babbling notes, till one's head seems
filled with its incessant song. Close by from the bushes
on the drier marshes titlarks are rising and falling on
quivering wings, and though lost almost to sight, far
above all, the skylark's song still mingles with the
rest, as

" Higher still and higher the deep blue he wingeth,

And singing still doth soar, and soaring ever singeth."

Such is indeed a fitting evening to prelude a nocturnal
trip, and as, wrapt in the enjoyment of these rural
sounds, one glides gently down the stream towards the
entrance of the broad; the soft breeze rustles amongst
the feathery reed tops and the light foliage of the
willows by the river side, the wide expanse of water
glows with the reflection of the setting sun, whilst the
rippling waves upon its surface dance and sparkle on
their way, as though hastening onward to those quiet
shades, where twilight stealing over the landscape speaks
of sleep and rest for the weary.

120 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

A SUMMER'S NIGHT ON THE BROADS.

It was on the lOtli of June, 1859, that I paid my
first nocturnal visit to Surlingham, one of our prettiest
broads, and, from its close vicinity to the Brundall
station, one of the most easy of access by rail from
Norwich. The evening train had deposited me in close
vicinity to the water, where a marsh-man with his boat
was waiting by appointment, and soon the heat and
bustle of the city were forgotten in the enjoyment of
that quiet scene, as we passed from the main stream
into the long narrow channel, which connects the broad
itself with the navigable river. The following extracts
from my own notes, made at intervals throughout that
lovely, and only too short, midsummer night, will best
serve to convey to my readers the various little incidents
of such an excursion : —

6.30. p.m. Eeed birds singing a little, but the wind
rather too high to hear them properly. Yery few
sedge birds heard on the marshes, and none amongst
the reeds, as they have been sitting for three weeks,
and some have probably hatched off. Sand-martins in
plenty playing over the water, and starlings arriving in
flocks. One snipe flushed on the marshes, which are
Covered at this season with the gayest wild flowers,
and a reed ^bird's nest found with four eggs, and sup-
ported on four reed stems. — 8 p.m. Starlings settling
on the reeds for the night,^ but not in large numbers.
Sand-martins and a few swallows stiU out after insects. —
8.30 p.m. Sand-martins in swarms over the water and

* By the 13tli of July I have known the starlings assemble
here in immense flocks, and when disturbed in the reed beds,
after dark, make a noise not unlike the roar of the waves, as their
wings seem to rattle against the reed stems in their fright.

A summer's night on the broads. 121

higli over head ; the young of the first broods preparing
to roost amongst the reeds, and the old birds to seek
their nests in the bank at the back of the Brundall
station. Gradually becoming dusk, now the sun is down,
but cuckoos stiU heard in all directions. Two ducks
flying round at 9 p.m. "Water-hens and coots calling
at intervals, and corn-crakes heard in the distance.
Martins and starlings all settled by 9.15, saving here
and there a benighted straggler hurrying to its roost. —
11 p.m. A sudden and heavy rain from nine o'clock
di'ove us for shelter to the marsh-man's cottage, where
supper and a quiet pipe soon passed away the time. The
stars were now shining brightly, and the moon breaking
from a bank of clouds ; the air was filled with the hum
of insects, and a light breeze rustling the reeds and
sedges, as it passed us by, completed one of those
deUciously quiet scenes which only a night on the
water at this time of year can possibly afford. On
every side as we rowed through the little channels
dividing the reed beds, the reed warblers were singing
all over the broad, and here and there a sedge bird
from, the marshes joined in the general medley. Just
then, almost startling with its depth and fullness, the
cuckoo's note, rich and mellow in its tone, feU upon the
ear with unmistakable reality ; the bird being evidently
close by on some sallow or alder bush in the adjacent
marshes, where earlier in the evening we had seen
several. — 2 a.m. A short nap on the brick floor of a
marsh-man's cottage, is refreshing enough to those who
can rough it, and as we turn out once more and walk
down to the boat, the skylarks are singing from the
neighbouring fields, and one in the clouds, though it is
too dark to see him. The water looks cold and silvery
beneath the star lit sky, and as the dawn keeps breaking
and the dark curta.in of night is drawn aside, every
object becomes each minute more and more distinct,

R

122 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

and a few bats, still flitting about in the uncertain light,
seem the last link of connection betwixt night and day.
A few minutes later and the reed and sedge birds com-
mence singing again in all directions, and continue so
for more than an hour. Then the black-headed bunting
begins his note ; cocks are crowing from the neighbour-
ing farms, and an early train rumbling over the bridges
probably scares, with its shrUl whistle, the two ducks
which come high over our heads directly afterwards. —
3 a.m. The morning star still shining in the bright blue
sky, streaked with purple and fleecy clouds. The martins
leaving the reeds in flocks, and spreading themselves
over the broad to feed on the myriads of flies and midges
that rise at every step from the dewy marshes. Cuckoos
singing in every direction, and the reed birds as noisy
as if tlieir rest had never been broken during the night.
Two or three herons rise lazily from the water's edge as
we come suddenly upon them, with the boat, round a
projecting reed bed. Corn-crakes answering one another
with their peculiar notes, and water-hens and coots
crying at intervals. — 4 a.m. Large fish rising at the flies
on the open water. A bright blue sky, but the sun
hidden behind a bank of clouds, indicative rather of wet
later in the day. First large flight of starlings leaving
the reeds, though stragglers have been rising since the
beginning of daylight. A redshank calling from a gate-
post on one of the drier marshes, and walking back-
wards and forwards along the top rail. Two common
terns, hovering over the river, are fishing as they pass
on their way towards Yarmouth. The next hour is
devoted to an al fresco breakfast, with sundry prepara-
tions for a speedy start, then a quick row down the
river to catch the first train for home, and our trip
is reckoned amongst the '^•'pleasures of memory."

Attractive as these localities are, both to the sports-
man and naturalist by day, the latter, at least, can never

NIGHTINGALE. 123

fully realize their beauties without such a visit as I have
here attempted to describe, — when the soft air and dewy
odours, the rich vegetation and varied sounds, have each
their charm ; the notes of the rails, the coots, and the
moorhens form the bass to the concert of the warblers
in the reeds ; and the strange sucking noise of the eels,
in the muddy channels, sounds as if the nymphs of those
quiet waters were giving and receiving the heartiest of
kisses, to their own entire satisfaction.

PHILOMELA LUSCINIA (Linnseus).

NIGHTINGALE.

A regular summer visitant and breeds with us,
arriving in April"^ and leaving again in September.
Though not visiting us in large numbers, and being at the
same time very local in their habits, these lovely songsters
are, I believe, in certain localities, much more numerous
than in former years. The immediate vicinity of Norwich
is particularly rich in their "favourite haunts," and for
some weeks on their first arrival they may be heard,
both day and night, on the Ipswich, Newmarket, and
Unthank roads, and at Bracondale, Earlham, Thorpe,

* The Eev. R. Forby, in his "Vocabulary of East Anglia,"
assigns to the nightingale the local designation of the "Barley
Bu'd," as appearing in the season of sowing barley, or rather what
was formerly the accustomed season, the end of April or beginning
of May. I cannot say that I am familiar with this provincial name
for "querulous Philomela," and am inclined rather to adopt a
suggestion of Mr. Newton's, that the term " Barley Bu'd" is here
apphed to the wrong species. It is a common provincial name for
the yellow wagtail in many parts of the country, and these wag-
tails often frequent fields of newly sown spring corn, whence the
the name " Barley Bird" would be appHcable to them, though by
no means so to a purely woodland species like the nightingale.
K 2

124 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Si^ixwortli, and otlier neiglibouring places. Though
frequenting the thick cover of onr groves and shrub-
beries, the Nightingale is by no means a shy bird, at
least on its first arrival, but sings fearlessly throughout
the day in the most exposed situations. In my own
garden, bordered on two sides by public roads, I have
known one sing at intervals throughout the day, on
the yet leafless branches of an almond tree, perfectly
indifferent to the voices and footsteps of the passers by ;
and on the 1st of May, 1864, a most exquisite songster
stationed himself on a small tree, in Mount Pleasant
lane, close to the footpath, where groups of Sunday
walkers, both morning and afternoon, stopped to listen
to its " sweet descants," and probably for the first time in
their lives saw, as well as heard, a nightingale. How
strange it seems that a bird, gifted with such wondrous
powers of voice, and such exquisite modulations, should
be also capable of uttering that harsh croak, which
later in the season bespeaks alarm for its young. No
one on first hearing that strange sound could possibly
guess its origin, or could fail to be astonished, as
I was myself, when I discovered the real author. I
have watched this species searching for insects in the
garden towards the middle of August, when it assumes
a much more nervous manner, listening like a thrush
with head inchned, to every passing sound, and progress-
ing by little quick runs, or more proj)erly speaking, a
succession of rapid hops. Whilst resting, however, it
has more the character of a large robin, the eye showing
bright and full, the wings slightly drooj)ing, and the
tail raised, or flirted up and down with the actions
of the body. The light colour of the breast, and the
bright reddish tint of the tail and tail coverts, at once
distinguish it from otlier birds even in the absence of
song. From personal enquiries in many instances, I
am convinced that in a large majority of cases the

BLACKCAP. 125

'^ early niglitiiigales" of newspaper paragraphs originate
simply in the exquisite notes of our common song-
thrusli, as heard at a late hour during the long spring
evenings.

CURRUCA ATRICAPILLA (LinnaBus).
BLACKCAP.

A regular summer visitant^ and breeds in Norfolk^
arriving somev^hat earlier than the last sj)ecies, and
leaving us generally towards the end of September.
Occasionally, however, specimens are met with much
later, as in 1852, when an old male, in good con-
dition, was killed in this county on the 22nd of Decem-
ber, as recorded at the time in the " Zoologist," by Mr.
J. H. Gurney, p. 3753. It would seem from the remarks
of various correspondents in the "Field," that late
stragglers of this species are also observed in other
counties feeding on the berries of the mountain
ash, having probably as much penchant for them
as for elder-berries in the early spring, of which I
once saw a blackcap partaking with such amusing
voracity that he finished a large bunch in detail before
he noticed my face within a few inches of his fruit-
stained beak. At that moment his combined expres-
sion of fright and repletion was one of the most comic
bird scenes I ever witnessed. A small unfeathered
biped, caught in the very act of clearing a jam-pot,
with his rueful countenance besmeared with the sweets,
would perhaps form the nearest approach to the guilty
look of that little glutton. I have two eggs taken from
a nest at Ketteringham, near the railway cuttmg, in
1859, which were identified by Mr. Hewitson as *'rare
and beautiful varieties" of the blackcap warbler's, being
richly blotched with red on a white ground.

126 BIRDS 0¥ NORFOLK.

CUPvKUCA HORTENSIS (Gmelm).
GAEDEN WAEBLER.

Visits us in summer and breeds with us, appearing
rather later than the blackcap warbler, and leaving
again in September. Somewhat local in its habits, this
species is nowhere very numerous ; indeed this, as well
as the blackcap warbler, are far scarcer here than in
more southern counties. I have rarely detected the
song of this warbler in summer in close vicinity to the
city, but in autumn, towards the end of August or
beginning of September, a pair or two, with their little
families (and the same may be said of the blackcap and
whitethroat), invariably appear amongst the slu'ubs in
my garden, betraying their presence by the same anxious
cries so aptly described by Mr. Blyth, as ^^ resembling
the sound produced by tapping two small pebbles toge-
ther." This is evidently intended as a note of warning
to the young brood, always ' carefully concealed amongst
the thick foliage, their whereabouts being indicated
only by a rapid movement of the leaves, as they search
the branches for berries and insects.

With reference to the varied notes of birds, a
quick eye and a good ear are not moVe essential
to the out-door naturahst than a good memory for
sounds ; in order to treasure up, not merely the usual
note or song of each species, but the strangely different
sounds emitted under particular circumstances by the
same bird. Taking our ordinary songsters as a class,
besides their true song, distmctive in character and
easily recognised, they have for the most part a call
note as well, such as the pinJc, pinJc, of the chafiinch ;,
an alarm note, like the shrill chatter of the blackbird.

GARDEN WAEBLEK. 127

when scared from the laurels, and a note peculiar to the
breeding season, which, though differing in almost every
species, yet in each denotes anxiety as we approach
their haunts, and conveys no doubt a timely caution
to the objects of their care. Mr. Blyth, to whose
valuable communications to the *' Field Naturalist"
I have before alluded, in his remarks on " British
Birds of the Eobin kind," (vol. i., p. 434), thus
endeavours to render in words the sounds emitted
by some of our more familiar species when tending their
young ; although these agam are perfectly distinct from
the sweet guttural tones indulged in by many, when feed-
ing or caressing their nestlings, and unconscious of the
close propinquity of any human being. *' The peculiar
double note (says Mr. Blyth) which all the species utter
when a person is near their nest is worthy of being
noticed ; this in the nightingale may be expressed by
Jiweep ; hwee'p, carre : in the redstart by hweet, tit, tit,
tit ; hweet, tit, tit : in the robin, by a loud tit tit tit ;
and now and then a long drawn plaintive note (between
a whistle and a hiss), which cannot be expressed in
writing : the stonechat's note resembles hweet, jur, jur ;
hweet, jur : the whinchat's is yeer, tip ; yeer, tip, tip :
and the wheatear also has a note analagous, but which I
cannot accurately express in writing from mere memory.
The common grey flycatcher has a note of this kind,
which may be tolerably expressed by ist, chit ; ist, chit,
chit." The singularly happy rendering of most of the
above notes will be admitted, I am sure, by all who
have studied them in garden or grove, and many others
might be added amongst our summer warblers ; yet even
an old observer will not unfrequently find himself at
fault, when tracing a sound, apparently new to him, to
some familiar form amidst the foliage of the trees in
summer. The titmice, with r|,ther a series of call notes
than any real song, have a hiss to greet the birds-

128 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

nester's fingers, and in their pendulous search for food
amongst the branches high over our heads, drive one
ahnost wild with the variety of their cries, both natural
and imitative ; the great tit more especially pirating the
notes of many species, and thus leading the collector a
fruitless chase after all sorts of imaginary birds. The
reed-warbler also croaks like the nightingale when
anxious for the safety of its nest and young ; and the
sedge bird, under like circumstances, "reels" like the
grasshopper warbler; at other times, in its merry
medley, the notes of the titlark, the sand-martin, and
the black-headed bunting, are mingled with its own,
till experience teaches the young ornithologist to believe
his eyes rather than his ears.

CUE-RUCA CINEREA (Latham).
COMMON WHITETHEOAT.

As its name implies, one of our most common summer
visitants, appearing about the middle of April, when,
until the business of nesting commences, our hedge-
rows and bushes fast budding into leaf are alive
with its simple song, and its trim little figure is seen
flittmg from spray to spray, or rising into the air,
hovering and singing in the pure enjoyment of the re-
newal of spring. Later in the season the dense herbage
of the banks and hedges hides it from view, yet still
heard, though rarely seen, it well deserves its rural
name of the " nettle creeper," and both old and yoimg
together leave us again in the autumn, about the same
time as the preceding species.

It is singular how habit gives the power of dis-
tinguishing any knovni species at a glance, whether
seen on the wing, or restlessly flitting amongst leaves

COMMON WHITETHEOAT. 129

and branches. To the unobservant individnal, whose
*^ British ornithology" is pretty nearly restricted to the
robin^ the sparrow, the rook, and the swallow, (the latter,
of course, including the martin as well), the power of
recognising a variety of forms, by gait, by flight, by par-
ticular distribution of colour, such as a white barred wing
or tail covert, seen but for an instant, yet recognised at
once, — are matters inexplicable ; yet these to the true
naturalist form the freemasonry of his craft, and
strange is that sort of instinctive feeling which tells
him when a strange form has crossed his path, and
assures the observer that the object seen, however
briefly, is something altogether new to his experience.
To acquire this habit of quick recognition, I know no
better plan than that which I have adopted from boy-
hood, of always endeavouring to identify satisfactorily,
whilst driving or riding, the birds presented in quick
succession to the eye upon the trees or fences ; and in
travelling also by rail, the eye may be accustomed in the
same manner to detect not only partridges on the
stubbles, or wood pigeons in the turnips, but many
smaller and less easily distinguished species, by their
flight and actions, when disturbed by the train or
whilst settling again in the adjoining fields.

CURRUCA SYLVIELLA (Latham).

LESSER WHITETHROAT.

This less numerous species is a regular spring
visitant, and breeds in Norfolk, appearing in April
and leaving in September, but, though generally dis-
persed, is decidedly local in its haunts. Mr. Dix
has kindly sent me specimens from West Harling,
and I have seen its eggs from various localities, but
s

130 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

my own personal acquaintance with it in this county-
is very shght. Mr. Bljth^ thus speaks of its notes and
actions — " The warble of the babillard or lesser white-
throat is pretty and lively, but its song is rendered
monotonous in the spring and summer by the constant
repetition of its loud note of defiance, analagous to the
clear lively note with which the blackcap generally con-
cludes ; this may be expressed by the monosyllable see,
repeated nine or ten times in quick succession, and at
times very loudly. -^ * ^ The song of this bird is
very superior to that of many whitethroats, but not to
all ; he has none of those harsh sounding notes which so
often disfigure the whitethroat's song. He seems also to
be always in such high spirits as not to know how to
contain himself, taking frequently a long circuitous
flight from tree to tree, and back again a dozen times,
seemingly for no other purpose than mere exercise ; but
he never mounts singmg into the air like the white-
throat." He also refers to its preference for lofty elms
and other trees, in the place of low bushes or roadside
fences, which quite agrees with my own limited observa-
tions of its habits in this neiorhbourhood.

SYLVIA SYLVICOLA, Latham.

WOOD-WARBLEE.

A regular summer visitant arriving in April, but
later than either of the two next species, and leaving us
again in September. By no means so numerous as the
willow-warbler, this bhd is particularly local in its
distribution. The few examples that find their way

* " On the British Fruit-eating Warblers."—" Field Naturalist,"
vol. i., p. 306.

WOOD-WARBLEK. 131

into our bird-stuffers' hands is owing probably as
mucli to their habits being but little known, as to their
late arrival in spring, when, in most seasons, the trees
are in full leaf and effectually conceal such small
objects. Mr. Dix has most kindly furnished me with the
following notes on this species, as observed by himself
at West Harling, in Norfolk, from which locality
he has sent me their eggs, and where I have had
the pleasure, in his company, of both seemg and hearing
several. He says, " they are not at all uncommon but
confined to one wood, and are very local in their habits.
There is one peculiarity I have invariably noticed,
thouofh I do not remember to have seen it recorded : it
is their fondness for beech trees, so much so that I have
never seen the bird where the beech is absent. I have
found them in several locahties, and in four different
counties, and even in Epping forest they are confined to
two or three limited spots. The call note and song is
so distinctive that once heard it cannot be mistaken,
and is sure to be noticed by any one at all attentive to
the songs of our summer birds ; so I do not think it
likely I have passed the bird. They feed principally at
the top of the high oak and beech trees just after sun-
rise, and I have seen them there washing in the dew.
I once shot an old female in the act, so there could be
no mistake. They are, I think, the most lovely and
elegant of our summer birds, perhaps, of any we have."
To these notes of a true naturaHst I may also add
that my friend Mr. Alfred Newton, when residing at
Elveden, near Thetford, found the wood- warbler in that
district extremely local, but frequenting the same oak
plantations from year to year. It may be recognised at
once by its peculiar note, which is quite different from
that of the willow-wren, but by no means easy of
imitation. Mr. Blyth, in his usual ingenious manner,
gives it as " Twit, twit, twit, tit, tit, tit, ti-ti-ti-i-i-i,
s2

132 BIRDS OV NORFOLK.

beginning slow^ but gradually becoming quicker and
quicker, until it dies away in a kind of thrill;" and
Yarrell describes it as resembling ''the word twee sounded
very long, and repeated several times in succession, at
first but slowly, afterwards much quicker, and when
about to conclude is accompanied by a peculiar tremulous
motion of the wings, which are lowered by the side."

SYLVIA TROCHILUS (LinnsBus).

WILLOW- WAEBLEE.

The great increase in planting of late years will
account for the large number of our summer warblers
that now visit us, whilst the strict preservation of
game in most parts of the county affords them at
the same time protection during the breeding season.
Amongst the first of that merry group (and later in
the season by far the most numerous,) to enliven our
shrubberies and plantations with its joyous notes, is
the willow-warbler, arriving, except in very backward
seasons, towards the end of March, and leaving us again
in September. The song of this elegant little bird on a
bright sunny morning in the early spring, when the trees
are putting forth their freshest green and all is life
and animation amongst the feathered throng, is one of
the most delightful and cheering sounds of that tuneful
season. If we walk through any large plantation on
their first arrival, the whole place seems alive with their
merry notes, and as we trace the sound into the topmost
branches, nearly every other tree seems to have a
separate vocalist, whose song, commencing in a high
key, runs down the scale with the most charming modu-
lations. I have also noticed, that, although always
plentiful, they occasionally appear in unusual numbers.

CHIFFCHAFP. DARTFOED WARBLEK. 133

as was particularly tlie case in 1857. A rather singular
variety was killed at Gunton, near Lowestoft, in August,
1861, of a uniform pale yellow, becoming straw-coloured
on tlie under parts, with the bill and legs straw yellow,
remarkable rather from the rarity of any variation in
the plumage of these warblers.

SYLVIA RUFA, Latham.

CHIFFCHAFF.

One of our earliest summer visitants and breeds with
us, arriving in March and remaining till October ; and it
is not unusual to hear, at the same moment, the note of
the ChifichafF, and the chatter of the fieldfare, the one
already arrived in its summer quarters, before the other
has left us for its northern breeding grounds. This
diminutive warbler is scarce in comparison with the last
species, but its well-known and peculiar note makes it
very generally noticed. According to Messrs. Glurney
and Fisher, " A low bush, frequently of furze, appears
to be a favourite locality for the nest of the chiffchaff."
As many as four have been found in such places within
a few yards. The melodious willow- warbler of con-
tinental authors, the true 8. hypolais, has not yet been
recognised in this county.

MELIZOPHILUS DARTFORDIENSIS (Latham).

DARTFOED WARBLER.

But two specimens of this warbler have been re-
corded as killed in this county, and in both instances on
the Denes, near Yarmouth. The first was obtained

134 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

some years since, as noticed by Messrs. Gurney and
Eisher; and tlie last, a young male, was cauglit by a
dog in a fui-ze busb, on tbe 25tli of February, 1859.
This bird was sent to a bird-stuffer in this city, together
with a stoat killed at the same time, and was intended
to be placed in the mouth of ^Hhe varmint," when
fortunately it was recognized as a rarity. The above
Norfolk specimens are preserved in Mr. Gurney' s col-
lection at Catton. Mr. Hunt, in his "List" of Nor-
folk Birds, has the following note on this species : — " A
pair of these elegant little birds were shot in the month
of June, 1828 ; they are the only specimens ever found
in this part of the kingdom, and are now in the pos-
session of Mr. Crickmore, of Beccles." No locality being
named in this instance, it is most probable, I think,
that these specimens were obtained in the neighbourhood
of the town where Mr. Crickmore resided, and would
therefore be the first recorded instances of the Dartford
warbler appearing in the Eastern Counties; but as
Beccles is situated on the borders of the two counties,
they are quite as likely to have been kUled on the Nor-
folk as on the Suffolk side of it. — Mr. Dix informs me,
that one in his possession was killed in December, 1860,
on Nacton heath, near Ipswich, where others are said to
have been seen.

REGULUS CRISTATUS, Koch.

GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN.

Exquisite alike in form and plumage, the diminutive
little gold-crest is resident with us throughout the year,
and braves our sharpest winters, and in summer nesting
in our gardens and plantations, is probably far more
plentiful and more generally distributed than formerly.

GOLDEN-CEESTED WREN. 135

owing to tlie system, of late years extensively adopted,
of planting larch, spruce, and other firs, which form
their usual resort. Scarcely less beautiful also than
its tiny architects is the marvellously constructed nest of
this species, so ingeniously suspended for the most part
from the under side of a fir-branch, with the smaller
twigs and foliage overhanging and protecting the
entrance, the whole presenting a little ball of moss,
lined with the softest feathers. That these little fairy-
like creatures risk the perUs of a sea- voyage in autumn,
and leaving more northern countries, swell the numbers
of our usual residents, has been ascertained of late years
beyond a doubt, from their frequent appearance on the
coast at such seasons in an exhausted state, and the fact
of specimens being picked up dead at the foot of our
lighthouses, having flown, with other nocturnal migrants,
against the windows at night, dazzled and attracted
by the glare of the lamps. I have also recently met
with a communication by Mr. Blyth to the " Field
Naturalist" for 1833"'^ (p. 467), containing a record
of the Golden-crested Wren, having been actually
observed at sea on its southward migration. The
observer, in this instance, was returning from Aber-
deen, on board a trading smack, and states that, *^ When
off Whitby, about fourteen miles from land, on the
7th of October, a flock of gold-crests settled on the
ship's tackle; the little creatures, being much exhausted,
suffered themselves to be taken with the hand; as did
also a solitary chiffchaff, which, together with nine
gold-crests, it was attempted to bring alive to London ;
but they all died on the passage." Chafiinches (females),
song-thrushes, fieldfares, starlings, tree-pipits, tree-
sparrows, a nightjar, and a woodcock, are also men-

* I have before had occasion to allude to this most interesting
paper in my remarks on the Redbreast, at p. 93 of the joresent work.

136 BIEDS OF NOEFOLK.

tioned, as eitlier aligMing upon or attending the vessel
during the same voyage. Perhaps, the most striking
instance, however, of the migration of the gold-crest, in
large numbers, to our eastern coast, was witnessed by
Captain Longe, of Great Yarmouth, on the morning of
the 2nd of November, 1862. In a letter to myself at the
time, he says, ^^As I was walking to Hemsby, about
7.30, when it was just daylight, about half-a-mile out of
Yarmouth, on the Caister road, my attention was
attracted to a small bush overhanging the marsh dyke,
which borders the pathway, by the continuous twittering
of a small bird. On looking closely, I found the bush,
small as it was, literally covered with golden-crested
wrens. There was hardly an inch of twig that had not
a bird on it, and even from my rough attempt at
calculation at the time, I feel sure there were at least
between two and three hundred. Most of them were
either females or young birds, having a lemon-coloured
crest, they were perfectly tame, and although I sat
down on the other side of the ditch, within six feet, and
watched them for some time, they did not attempt to fly
away ; but one or more would occasionally rise off its
perch, and hover like a butterfly, and settle again in
some other position. I went the next morning to look
for them, but they were all gone. The wind had been
easterly, with much fog." I have lately seen the spot
where this flight had settled themselves before pro-
ceeding inland, and found it close to the sandhills which
run parallel to the coast, and not more than two or
three hundred yards from the sea beach. The same
thing had been observed many years before in more
northern counties, by Mr. Selby, who writes : — " On the
24th and 25th of October, 1822, after a severe gale, with
thick fog, from the north-east (but veering towards its
conclusion to the east and south of east), thousands of
these birds were seen to arrive upon the sea shore and

GOLDEN-CEESTED WREN. 137

sand banks of the JSTortlmmbrian coast, many of tliem
so fatigued hj the length of their flight, or perhaps by
the unfavoui'able shift of the wind, as to be unable to
rise again from the ground ; and great numbers were in
consequence caught or destroyed. The flight must have
been immense in number, as its extent was traced
through the whole length of the coasts of Northumber-
land and Durham. There appears little doubt of this
having been a migration from the more northern pro-
vinces of Europe (probably furnished by the pine forests
of Norway, Sweden, &c.), from the circumstance of its
arrival being simultaneous with that of great flights of
the woodcock, fieldfare, and redwing." The occurrence
of large flights in a similar manner on the Caithness
and Yorkshire coasts, in October, 1863, during severe
gales from the south-east,"^ are also recorded in the
"Zoologist" for the foUowing year (pp. 8879, 8950).
From the above and many other equally trust-worthy
instances of actual migration, the sudden appearance
amongst us of this species in autumn, in unusual
numbers, is fully accounted for, but when either
handling a specimen of this most elegant and fragile
species, or watching a small family group desporting
themselves amongst the foliage of the ornamental firs
in our gardens and shrubberies, one is lost in astonish-
ment that this feathered mite should be capable, not
only of a sustained flight, but of encountering the vicissi-
tudes of such a journey, at a season when the weather

* The apparent anomaly of migrants from more northern
countries appearing during gales from the south, or south-west, is
accounted for by the violence of the head-wind which prevents the
birds from continuing their journey, and thus large flocks that
would otherwise have passed on unobserved, are suddenly found
on our coast in an exhausted state. This fact is particularly re-
ferred to by Messrs. A. and E. Newton, in their " Observations on
the Bu'ds of St. Croix."—" Ibis," 1859, p. 255.
T

138 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

is proverbially unsettled, and tlie "stormy winds do
blow." Mr. Gonld, in his new and splendid work on
"The Bu-ds of Great Britain," referring to the un-
doubtedly migratory habits of this species, observes,
"It would be highly interesting to ascertaia whether
these migrants return again in the spring to the
countries whence they came, like the redwing and
fieldfare ; or whether these vast accessions are due to
some extraneous cause, such as an unusual severity in
the season prompting them to seek a more genial
climate, or an undue increase in the number of indi-
viduals, rendering the removal of a portion of them
necessary for the general welfare."

REGULUS IGNICAPILLUS (Brelim).

FIEE-CEESTED EEGULUS.

I know of but two recorded instances in which
examples of this rare species have been actually obtained
in this county. The first was the one referred to by
Yarrell as " caught on the rigging of a ship five miles
off the coast of Norfolk, in the early part of October,
1836;" the second was procured at Yarmouth, in Novem-
ber, 1843. Of the latter Mr. W. E. Eisher remarks,
in the "Zoologist," p. 451, "It was taken, I believe,
among some gold-crests, which appear annually about
that time in considerable numbers. The dark bands on
the cheek, and the white line over the eye, are in this
bird very conspicuous, but the colour of the crest is
much less vivid than in many of the gold-crests, whence
I conclude that it was a young male." I must not,
however, omit to mention that Mr. Hewitson (Eggs of
Brit. Birds, 3rd ed.) has published the following statement
with reference to the fire-crest in this county : — " The

FIRE-CRESTED REGULUS. 139

Rev. E. H. Browiie lias watched this species diiring the
summer, near his residence, at Bio' Norton, in Norfolk,
and has no doubt it breeds there." It is, of course,
quite possible that such may have been the case, but it
is, also, far more probable that in this, as in many
instances that have come under my own observation, the
rich colour on the heads of adult male gold-crests may
have caused them to be mistaken for the rarer species ;
an error which the name of fire-crest tends much to per-
petuate, since the tints of the crest in this bird (as seen
by Mr. Fisher's remarks) form by no means its only or
most decided distinction. Mr. Gould, in describing the
chief characteristics of the two species, says — "The
fire-crest is larger than the gold-crest, has the centre of
the crown orange red, the forehead crossed by a band of
buff, terminating in a distinct stripe of white, wliich
surmounts the eye and extends far towards the occijDut,
while the lores and the ear coverts are blackish brown,
and the sides of the neck and upper surface sulphur
green, none of which features are found in the common
species." The note of this bird has been also described
as " shorter, not so shrill, and pitched in a different
key to that of the common species."

PARUS MAJOR, Liimasus.

GREAT TITMOUSE.

Always active and sprightly our various species of
titmice, though with no real song, have nevertheless
many powers of attraction, and their varied and
occasionally harsh notes are welcomed at a time
when few resident species remain in the vicinity of
our homes. Omnivorous 'almost in diet, sharp and
fearless by nature, and in action almost reahzing
t2

140 BIRDS 0¥ NORFOLK.

the theory of perpetual motion, this engaging race
has always won the attention of observing naturalists,
and from its unwearied researches after insect life,
deserves at our hands every possible protection and
encouragement. The Great Titmouse is common
throughout the year, frequenting woods and planta-
tions as well as gardens in the close vicinity of our towns,
but the latter more particularly in the winter season.
Occasionally, also, this species has been met with
during the autumn months under circumstances suggest-
ing the probability of their numbers being increased
at that season, and an apparently (return) migratory
movement was observed at Yarmouth in February,
1848, as recorded by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher in the
'^ Zoologist" for that year. This bird, like the little
bluecap, is often strangely eccentric in the choice of
a nesting place, though commonly selecting some suit-
able aperture in either walls or trees, and is par-
ticularly partial to a decayed stump. A nest, which I took
myself on the 11th May, 1863, in a plantation at Kes-
wick, was built at the bottom of an old tree stump, hav-
ing a small hole in its upper surface, through which the wet
had penetrated, forming the only entrance to the bird's
dwelling. Having enlarged the opening, I caught the
hen bird and let her fly, and then found nine eggs lying
on the rotten wood which filled the bottom of the trunk,
but not in the nest, although close beside it. The nest
was formed of moss outside, lined with hair, wool, and
a few feathers and shreds of gay-coloured threads, as if
from carpets or red woollen cloth. Both Montagu and
Hewitson have recorded instances of the eggs of this
species, in similar locahties, being laid on the rotten
wood alone, without any nest; but in this case I took
the bird off the nest, and from the eggs being perfectly
uninjured and placed in a regular manner, I do not
think they had been turned out by the titmouse, in her

GREAT TITMOUSE. 141

alarm at my unwelcome intrusion. In tlie spring of
1853, a pair of these birds built their nest in a wooden
pump (not an uncommon occurrence witli the tit tribe),
near Norwich, a detailed accomit of which will be found
in the "Zoologist" for that year, p. 4015. The birds,
who gained an entrance to the interior through the sHt
made for the handle to work in, passed in and out
repeatedly, regardless of observers or the passing up and
down of the rod at every stroke of the pump, which
was in constant use; and eventually hatched twelve
young ones in this strange situation. The most extraor-
dinary nest however, of this species, that I ever saw or
read of, was discovered in a plantation at Earlham in
the summer of 1859. This natural curiosity, which
is carefully preserved in the collection of Mr. John
Gurney, of Earlham Hall, was discovered in a rough
corner cupboard, fixed at one end of an old shep-
herd's house, erected in a plantation for the use of the
gamekeeper. In the centre of the cupboard was a
single shelf, and the door being kept shut, the pair of
titmice could only obtain access through a small hole in
the woodwork above. Through this opening, however,
the enormous amount of materials found must have
been introduced bit by bit, until the entire space
between the shelf and the top of the cupboard, leaving
only just room enough for the hen bird to sit, was filled
with a compact mass of twigs, moss, bents, feathers,
rabbits' down, horse hair, wool, and even flowering
grasses. Moss formed, of course, the chief substance
employed, yet so wonderfully had the whole fabric been
woven together, that when taken from the shelf upon
which it was erected, it retained the exact shape of
the three-cornered cupboard, the sides being as firm
and neat as a well kept grass edging levelled with a
roll. The following dimensions of this remarkable
structure will best give an idea of the skill and labour.

142 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

tlius strangely devoted to it by its untiring arcliitects : —
Length in front, 15 inches ; height, 9 inches ; depth
from front to back, measured to the angle of the
cupboard, 10 inches. In the centre of the upper part
was a slight depression in which the eggs were laid, and
here, in spite of frequent intrusions, from curious visitors,
the hen bird being even handled on her nest, these Httle
creatures reared five young ones, and carried them off in
safety. A similar nest, commenced in the previous
spring, was unfortunately destroyed, but since the
successful completion of the one above-mentioned, no
farther attempt has been made to repeat so formidable
a task.

PARUS C^RULEUS, Limi^us.

BLUE TITMOUSE.^

Who does not love that pert little bluecap; whose
cheery notes are heard from the branches overhead, where,
without troubling oneself to look up, we know by the
very cadence, that he is jerking himself as usual from
twig to twig, now under, now over, head up or head
down, the same to him, though all the while his sharp eye

* The provincial name of Pickclieese is here generally applied
to the blue titmouse, although Forby, in his " Vocabulary of East
Anglia," remarks — "Perhaps the word includes most of the Linnean
genus Parus, or all its species ; yet it does not appear that any
of these pretty little ever busy birds are justly chargeable with
attacking our cheeses. If they get into dairies or cheese chambers
at all, it must be in pursuit of the insects which breed there,
insects being their proper food." Mr. Alfred Newton suggests to
me that the name is possibly derived from one of the common call-
notes of the bird ; but with reference to the great titmouse, Mr.
St. John states (Nat. Hist, of Moray, p. 17), that he has known
that species repeatedly caught in mouse-traps, baited with toasted
cheese.

BLUE TITMOUSE. 143

and little stout beak are searching every cranny for insect
food? Clinging to the walls in our gardens he digs out
the larvae from their holes and corners, and when he does
scatter the blossoms from the fruit trees a stiU greater
evil has been lurking at the base of the bud. Surely,
then none, but the surliest old gardener, would grudge
him a taste of the fruit or other dainties he has so
well helped to preserve, or look otherwise than leniently
on such peccadilloes, and even the most obstinate of that
opinionated race need but dissect the next victim of
his folly to know that he has killed a friend."^ In winter,
when his more natural food runs scarce, hardly anything
comes amiss, and many a time has he afforded me a
fund of amusement, when picking a bone, specially fixed
to a stake in the garden for his and my gratification.
How he raises his little crest, and flutters his wings,
when he first discovers the tempting feast, now hovering
around or clinging to the sides, as some scrap of meat
comes handy to his bill, or perched for an instant on the
broken shank, he makes one laugh outright at his
comical expression, as with head on one side, he seems
to speculate on the chances of reaching the marrow
still remaining in the shaft. In one very severe winter,
when many of our resident birds were completely
starved, I remember seeing a pair of blue tits following
a cart-load of turnips along the road, settling upon and

* Macgillivray, on the authority of that most patient and
accurate observer, Mr. Weir, shows that a pair which were closely
watched from half-past three o'clock of a July morning, tUl half-
past eight in the evening, fed their young for nearly 17 hours
incessantly, returning to the nest with food 475 times ; and at
certain periods during the day they fed them from 20 to 46
times in an hour. " They appeared to feed them solely on cater-
pillars ; sometimes they brought in a single large one ; and at
other times two or three small ones. It is therefore impossible to
say how many had been carried in by them during the day."

144 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

pecking at the roots, for tlie purpose, no doubt, of
extracting maggots from tlie wart-like excrescences on
their surface. It has been remarked also bj Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear, that this species in winter
frequent, for the same purpose, the sheds in which
turnips are kept, and where they are sliced up for the
use of the cattle. Thus resident throughout the year,
the blue titmouse nests with us in . all the quaint situa-
tions characteristic of its race, creeping mouselike into
the most absurdly small fissures in walls or trees, where
its numerous brood is reared with untiring labour, and
defended with a spirit which seems perfectly unawed by
disparity of size in its enemies. A pair that I watched
as a schoolboy with much interest, for two or three
seasons, frequented my father's garden in Surrey Street,
and nested in a small hole in an old wall where the mortar
had crumbled away from the stonework, the aper-
ture running backwards and downwards for several
inches. Into this little opening the old birds brought
the materials for nesting, consisting of minute twigs as
well as the softer lining, and when a larger piece of
wool than usual refused to be dragged or pushed into
the nest-hole, these tiny creatures would fly off with it to
a neighbouring apple tree, and there trim its dimensions
to a more convenient size. Here, in this snug retreat,
safe from cats or any other marauders, their httle fami-
lies were brought up during two seasons, and loud was the
hiss that assailed any intrusive finger. The young once
hatched, the old birds were incessant in their search for
food, and once every minute, as I found by my watch,
one or other returned to their clamorous young. The
hole being at least ten feet from the ground, and no tree
near within four or five yards, I was particularly
anxious to see how the little fledgelings would leave
their home; but this I could never succeed in doing,
though I found them sitting on neighbouring trees

BLUE TITMOUSE. 145

evidently soon after this difficulty had been accom-
plished. In the third year, after I had been some time
aware that the yoiuig were hatched, I one morning
found the old pair feeding a youngster, quite unable to
fly, on the open grass-plot, and thinking he had some-
how tumbled out of the nursery I replaced him. for fear
of the cats. Next day, however, both old and young
were gone, and on afterwards di'agging out the con-
tents of the nest-hole, I found three young half-fledged
nestlings quite dead, which had evidently been so for
some time, and probably from these becoming offensive,
the parents had somehow carried off the survivor
who was quite incapable of assisting himself; yet, how
this was accomplished remains to this day a mystery to
me. Fi-om that time the hole was deserted, this little
catastrophe having doubtless given them a distaste for
their old haunt.

The following facts as to a most singular nesting
place of this species I can vouch for from personal
observation: — In the spring of 1857, a pair of blue-
tits built theu' nest in the interior of a door-post,
forming part of the back entrance to a house, a
short distance ft-om Norwich. On the inner side of
the door-post was the usual brass plate, with three
square openings for the lock, sneck, and bolt to shoot
backwards and forwards in. Through the largest
of these, the woodwork being rotted away, the birds
obtained access to their strange nesting place. The
materials were carried in bit by bit, regardless of
the constant passing to and fi'O of the servants, and
their presence was intimated by a loud hiss whenever
a finger or stick was intruded into their domicile. The
most singular thing, however, was the fact that the
door, though open during the day, was always
locked at night, thus shutting in these little tenants
without a chance of escape until morning, the lock
u

146 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

itself filling up tlie only possible exit. The nest
appeared to be placed about six inches below the
entrance to it, but how supported could not be seen,
and in this place, in spite of every drawback, these little
creatures managed to hatch and bring off their young
ones in perfect safety. A white variety of this species
was observed, with others of the usual colour, at North-
repps, in January, 1848, an unusual occurrence with
these birds, which rarely vary in plumage.

PARUS ATER, Linnseus.

COAL TITMOUSE.

This prettily marked species is commonly met with
throughout the year, though not so generally distributed
as the little blue-cap. In the fir-plantations it associates
at aU seasons with the little gold-crests, and in spring
is found as frequently in the beech and oak woods in
company with the willow- wrens. It frequents also our
gardens and shrubberies even in close vicinity to the
city, and occasionally, as Macgillivray observes, betakes
itself to the thickets of broom and gorse. The Coal Tit
mostly breeds in the holes of trees, but not far from the
ground; and Mr. Newton tells me that at Elveden he
has found them prefer a subterranean nursery, the nest
being placed a foot below the ground, amongst the
roots of an old stump cut level with the earth. Mr.
Hewitson also quotes a remark of the late Mr. Salmon,
that it has a ^^ great partiality for rabbits' fur, with
which it always lines its nest when in the neighbourhood
of a warren, and even when at a distance from one."
Mr. Blyth, in a most valuable paper "^On the British
Tits" (Field Naturalist, vol. i., p. 262), aUudes to
the habit in both the coal and marsh tits (as observed

COAL TITMOUSE. MARSH TITMOUSE. 147

in confinement) of hiding a portion of their food,
and again retm'ning to their hoard when hungry; an
action not noticed under siEailar cu'cumstances in the
great or blue tits. He also acquits the first two
species of those carnivorous or rather predaceous habits,
particularly exhibited by thev great tit. It would be
useless to attempt to render in my present space,
even were it practicable, the various notes of our
British species; alike in character, yet so strangely diver-
sified, and in the great tit especially, so imitative of
others. The most usual cry, however, of the coal tit,
resembles if-hee, if-hee, if-hee, repeated sharply and
quickly ; of the great tit, pincher, pincher, pmcher, often
changing into the vinh, vinh of the chaffinch ; and the
marsh tit's has been given as like tis-yipp, tis-yipp, with
an occasional chicha, cliicJca-chee. The blue-cap's notes,
by no means easy of imitation, are happily too well
known to necessitate any description of them.

PARUS PALUSTRIS, Linnseus.

MAESH TITMOUSE.

The Marsh Tit, like the preceding species, is also
resident throughout the year, but is by no means con-
fined to such locaUties as its name implies. Though
commonly met with by rivers and streams and in other
low and damp situations, it is also found in our fir-
plantations and in gardens and orchards far from any
water, where, in autumn, they feed on the seeds of
various berries, bemg particularly partial to those of
the snowberry shrub (Symphoria raceTnosa). Before I
discovered the actual depredators I had often observed
that the berries on these shrubs m my garden disap-
peared very rapidly, and, moreover, that the berries
u2

148 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

themselves were strewed about under the neighbouring
trees. I was quite at a loss to account for this, until
one morning I observed a marsh titmouse flying across
the grass-plot with a wliite ball, almost as big as his
head, on the point of his bill. He looked so oddly at the
moment I could scarcely at first sight determine either
the bird or its burthen, but as soon as he alighted on an
opposite tree he gave a little wrench with his beak, and
dropping the husk at the same time, flew off du-ect
to the snowberry bush. The whole thing was now
explamed, and as I watched, another titmouse joined the
first, and these continued as long as I had time to
wait carrying off the berries on the ends of their bills
to the same tree opposite, were they opened and dropped
the husks, then back again for more. On pickmg up
these husks afterwards, I found each of them split open
down the side, and minus the two little kidney-shaped
seeds that grow in either half of the white fruit. I have
often observed the coal, marsh, and blue tits at the same
time on some small firs in my garden, though scarcely
more than half a mile from the city, but the great
titmouse less frequently and for the most part in vdnter.
Mr. Gurney has known the nest of this bird to be placed
in a rat's hole, burrowed down into a closely mown
lawn. In the "Zoologist" for 1847, Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher refer to the great abundance of this species in
Norfolk, apparently occasioned by migratory arrivals,
whose departure was again noticed in the following
March.

PARUS CAUDATUS, Linnaeus.

LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE.

Though so small and dehcate in appearance, this
beautiful and interesting species remains with us

LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 149

throughout tlie year, and even in the hardest winters
finds subsistence upon minute seeds or the insect
atoms, which, with ceaseless energy, it extracts from
the crevices in the bark of trees. How often I have
watched them, when covert- shooting in autumn, come
streaming along in advance of the beaters, as the game
was bemg driven towards the end of the wood. More
curious apparently about the cause of disturbance than
alarmed by the guns, they keep up a constant twitter-
ing; now passing from tree to tree in one undulating
line, their small bunchy figures and long tails looking
like so many little arrows going the backwards way, now
setthng for an instant amongst the "high fell" till the
tapping of sticks and the shouts of the men start them
again on the wing. Marvellous also is that structure of
moss, lichens, and feathers — a perfect triumph of skill
and industry — which we find built into our fences and
bushes, as well as on the branches of trees, and so
securely placed, as Mr. Yarrell remarks, that it is
necessary to cut out the portion of the bush containing
it to preserve the appearance and form of the nest. I
have seen them built into gooseberry and currant-
bushes, with sprigs passing through and supporting
them, exactly in the same manner as the reed- warblers'
nests described in my notice of that species. Fre-
quently as I have examined these ^^feather-pokes," as
they are aptly termed (one only having been known
to contain 2,379 feathers of various kinds'^), I have
never observed the second aperture described by some
authors; and impossible as it may appear for the old birds
and some twelve or fourteen young ones to find room to
move in their soft retreat, every youngster in turn

* Morris's " British Birds," vol. i., p. 278.

150 BIRDS OP NOEFOLK.

receives its food from the parent's beak, fully realising
those charming lines, by Grahame —

" But now behold the greatest of this train
Of mii-acles, stupeudotisly minute ;
The numerous progeny, claimant for food
Supplied by two small bUls, and feeble wings
Of narrow range ; supplied — ay, duly fed —
Fed in the dark, and yet not one forgot !"

CALAMOPHILUS BIARMICUS (Linn^us).

BEAEDED TITMOUSE.

This elegant and very remarkable bird, the only
known species of the genus Calamo'philus, remains with ns
throughout the year, but is confined almost entirely to
the district of the broads where the swampy nature of the
soil and extensive reed beds afford them food and shelter.
A long and intimate acquaintance with this species in our
eastern fens, enables me to add but little to the admira-
ble description of its habits by the late Mr. Hoy (Mag,
Nat. Hist., vol. iii., p. 328), as quoted by Yarrell, Gould,
and other authors, but I cannot agree with Mr. Hoy in
considering "the end of April" as the usual time for
these birds to commence building. I have frequently
known their nests completed, and the full complement
of eggs laid, by the 7th and 8th of April, and others
hard set upon by the 17th, which would carry back the
commencement of the nests to about the last week in
March. I think, therefore, that the beginning of April
may be fairly considered the average time, as the
instances I have given were in no way referable to any
particular mildness in the season, but occurred even
when snow and frost prevailed later than usual. The
nests are generally placed amongst the reed stems, close
to the water's edge, supported on the loose herbage that

BEARDED TITMOUSE. 151

forms tlie foundation of the reed beds, bnt never in any
way suspended. The materials consist of the dead
leaves of the sedge and reed loosely interwoven on the
outside, whilst the feathery top of the reed forms the
only lining. As soon as the breeding season is over,
these birds collect together in flocks, and perform short
migratory trips from one broad to another in search of
food, sometimes in sharp weather as many as forty and
fifty together, and I am assured by the broad-men that
even larger flights are occasionally seen. In the Cley
and Blakeney marshes, near the sea coast, the Eev.
E. W. DoweU has observed this species in small num-
bers on two occasions, but only in the months of
October and November; and as these were not seen
throughout the winter, and I am not aware that their
nests have been found in that neighbourhood, I
should consider them as merely roving flocks, attracted
by the reeds on the tidal marshes. When shooting
at Surhngham in the winter months, I have more
than once observed the arrival of a flock from some
neighbouring broad, their presence overhead being
indicated by the clear ringing sound of their sUvery
notes, uttered preparatory to their pitching into the
nearest reed bed, and in autumn, after roosting in
small parties on the reeds, they will fly up simul^
taneously soon after sunrise, swarming for awhile
like a flock of bees ; and uttering in fidl chorus their
pretty song, disperse themselves over the reed beds for
their morning's meal. Dehcate as these Httle creatures
appear, I have found them during the sharpest frosts,
when the snipe had left the half frozen waters for upland
springs and drains, still busy amongst the reed stems as
lively and musical as ever. It is greatly to be regretted
that the demand for specimens from their handsome
plumage should lead to the wholesale slaughter of the
Bearded Tits throughout the winter; added to which.

152 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

the price of late years offered for tlieir eggs, has
caused a sensible diminution in tlieir numbers. After
tlie mild winter of 1862-3, tliese birds were more
than usually plentiful at Hickling in tlie following
spring, and from this locality alone about five dozen
eggs were procured by one individual, nominally a
collector, but in reality a dealer, who thus for the sake
of a few shillings would go far towards exterminating
this beautiful species (many old birds being also kiUed
at the time), whose numbers we have no reason to sup-
pose are replenished by continental migrants. Already
in one or two districts, where only a few years back
they were very plentiful, scarcely a pair or two to my
knowledge can now be found in the breeding season.
Happily our more common and useful species are, by
recent legislation, protected in some degree from whole-
sale and indiscrimmate slaughter ; can no law* be
made applicable to the preservation of other indigenous
and ornamental races, whose extinction would be a
continual source of regret to every lover of nature ?
From enquiries made amongst the older broad-men in
different localities, I find no reason to believe that these
birds, as has been occasionally remarked, were not
known in this county tiU of late years, and in Sir Wm.
Hooker's MS., the entries in which were made some
fifty or sixty years ago, I find the following note: —
" This beautiful bird is by no means unfrequent in the

* So particular was tlie old Mosaic law upon this very point,
tliat we find its injunctions coupled even with promises of reward
for obedience, as in the following passage from Deutronomy,
chap, xsii., v. 6 and 7 : — " If a bii'd's nest chance to be before thee
in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young
ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the
eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young : But thou shalt
in anywise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it
may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days."

BEARDED TITMOUSE. 153

reedy parts of Surlingham broad, and remains there
througliout the year." The provincial name of " Eeed
Pheasant" is here applied to this species, from its
miniature resemblance to the nobler " longtails."

Having adopted the classification of Tarrell in this
work, I have, according to his arrangement, and
indeed that of foreign as well as British ornithologists
generally (with the exception of Macgilhvray), re-
tained this bird amongst, or rather appended to, the
ParincB or titmice. I cannot help feeling, however,
that Macgillivray, guided by an examination of its
digestive organs, was right in consideriiig it more
allied to the FringiUine than the Parine group, and
especially to the black-headed bunting (Emheriza,
schcenidus) , its constant companion in the fenny dis-
tricts. In its active and pendulous actions, and per-
haps, also, in its gregarious habits in winter, it seems
alone referable to the tit tribe, resemblmg more par-
ticularly the long-tailed tit, yet even this species
has been long removed by naturalists from the true
Parince, and placed in a separate genus. In internal
structure and the character of its food its affinity to
the tits, as shown by Macgillivray, is very remote.
It has not, he says, "the bristle-tipped tongue of a
tit, and its oesophagus is dilated towards the right
side, as in all the birds which I have referred to the
order of Huskers. During the autumn and winter they
live chiefly on the seeds of the reeds, which they pick
from the husks ; but they also, as is related by Mr.
Dykes, feed upon Succinia amphibia and Pupa muscorumj
he having found the crop of one, which was not larger
than a hazel nut, containing twenty of the former, and
some of them of a good size, together with four of the
latter. Now none of the Parince, nor indeed any bird
of the whole order of Cantatores, has a crop, which on
the other hand occurs in a greater or less degree of

X

154 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

development in all the DegluhitoresJ' Mr. E. F. Tomes,
in a most interesting paper on "The internal struc-
ture of the Bearded Titmouse" (Ibis, 1860, p. 317),
fallj coincides in the above views of the learned pro-
fessor, and supports them also by osteological evidences
from the dissection of specimens which I had the
pleasure of forwarding from this county, at the request
of Dr. Sclater.

BOMBYCILLA GARRULUS, (Linnseus).

WAXWING.

Of all our occasional winter visitants there are none
so eccentric in their movements as the Waxwings.
Sometimes appearing during two or three successive
seasons in more or less numbers ; at other times entirely
absent from our shores for as long if not a longer period ;
in one winter noticed only as the rarest stragglers, in
another creating a perfect sensation by their numbers,
and though usually appearing in sharp winters, yet
often absent when most looked for, and present again
when least expected. These beautiful and erratic
wanderers are thus no less uncertain in their migratory
impulses than in the choice of breeding sites in those
northern regions where, of late years, ornithologists
have traced them to their homes. Sir Thomas Browne
does not appear to have noticed this species, and the
earliest record therefore of its appearance in Norfolk
and Suffolk, is contained in the " Catalogue" of Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear, who speak of it as an occasional
visitant, which " has not unfrequently made its appear-
ance in these counties, and generally from November to
March." They also allude to its abundance at Herring-
fleet, in 1810, and to a " prodigious flock" observed at

WAXWING. 155

Bawdsey, in SiiffblJrj some years prior to tlie date of
their publication (1825). In 1829, according to tlie
Messrs. Paget, of Yarmoutli, tliey were very plentiful
in that neiglibourhood, and several were obtained in
the winters of 1847 and 1848, in the latter year more
especially, but in the following winter of 1849-50,
perhaps the largest number ever known in this country
were observed along the entire eastern coast of England
and many parts of Scotland. Upwards of thirty suc-
cessive notices, from various places, of specimens
obtained, appeared at that time in the *^ Zoologist,"
and though even these conveyed but a very small idea of
the numbers that actually visited us, they amounted to
five hundred and eighty-six birds hilled. A very large
proportion of these were procured in the month of
January, when in Norfolk alone twenty-two specimens
were obtained and sent into Norwich for preservation.
In a summary of the notes supplied to his journal, on
this most interesting subject, Mr. Newman, in his pre-
face to the "Zoologist" for 1850, describes the direction
taken by these flights as from " east to west, appear-
ing simultaneously along a great tract of the Eastern
Counties, and proceeding directly inland ;" he also adds
that, "during January, March, and April, the ther-
mometer was unusually low, the wind boisterous, and
chiefly from the north and east." During the winters of
1851, 52, and 53, only a few stragglers appeared in
any one year, and singularly enough in 1854-55, when
the severity of the weather brought over an unusual
number of rare winter visitants, not a single waxwing
appeared amongst them. Again, from 1856 to 1862, I
am aware of only a chance bird or two having been
observed in this county, in spite of the intense cold ex-
perienced during that period in two successive winters ;
and their latest arrival in any quantity occurred in Nov.,
1863, when some fourteen or fifteen specimens were
x2

156 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

killed in different parts of tlie county, and many others
appeared simultaneously (between tlie lOth and 25tli) in
more northern counties, as well as in Scotland. (See
Zoologist, 1864, p. 8880). The very unusual occurrence
of a pair at Cringleford, near Norwich, in 1851, as late
as the 20th of April, was recorded by Mr. Gurney at the
time in the above named journal ; and in 1853 I saw a
single specimen, which was killed near North "Walsham
during the first week in May,

Amongst the valuable ornithological contributions
to the Norwich museum by the late lamented John
Wolley, there is none more interesting in itself, or more
peculiarly associated with the name of that hberal donor,
than the nest, nestling, and egg of the waxwing, together
with a pair of old birds in their breeding plumage. To
the untiring researches of that talented naturahst is
due the discovery of the nidification of this hitherto
mysterious visitant to our shores, sought for in vain for
many years throughout the northern regions of America,
Europe, and Asia, until both nests, eggs, and young
were procured by Mr. Wolley, in Finnish Lapland, in
the summer of 1856. A full account of this, his
greatest oological discovery, from his own pen, was read
to the Zoological Society at their meeting on the 24th
March, 1857, and will be found in the " Proceedings"
for that year,"'^ (p. 55). At this meeting a pair of adult
waxwings killed from their nest, a young bird, two
nests, and several eggs were exhibited by Mr. Edward
Newton, and a complete series of these specimens is now
in our Norwich collection. It had long been supposed that
the waxwing, in its immature plumage, would be found
wanting in those wax-like tips to the wing feathers.

* Tliis communication was also reprinted almost entirely in the
"Annals and Magazine of Natural History," 2nd ser., vol. xs..,
p. 308, and in tlie " Zoologist," p. 5754.

WAXWING. 157

wliicli form so marked a feature in the adult bird, but
this theory was completely upset by the appearance of
the nestling above-mentioned, in reference to which Mr.
WoUey remarks : — ^^ A young bird, caught on the 5th
of August, as it fluttered from the nest, had a general
resemblance to the adult, though all the colours were
more dull. The wax-like ends to the wing feathers,
the yellow tip to the tail, the black patch between the
eye and the beak, are all there, whilst the rich maho-
gany of the under tail coverts is of a quieter brown ;
the blooming vinous colour of the head and back has
not yet emerged from a homely neutral, and the crest is
but just indicated by the longish feathers of the crown.
The most marked difference between the adult and
young is in the throat and under surface generally.
There is at present scarcely a trace of the deep black
patch of the chin, and the delicate tint of the general
under surface of the adult is replaced by mottled, neutral,
and white. This, upon examination, is found to owe
its appearance to those longer webs which, arriving
towards the root of each feather, extend as far outwards
as the webs which arise nearer its tip, being very pale or
white, and thus reheving, on both sides, the last-men-
tioned darker webs." In the 3rd volume of the "^ Ibis"
(1861, p. 92) will be found a more detailed account
of this most interesting discovery, chiefly compiled from
Mr. Wolley's notes and letters, by his old friend and
feUow-traveller, Mr. Alfred Newton, to whom, at his
death in November, 1859, Mr. WoUey bequeathed his
magnificent oological collection, comprising, amongst
other rarities, a series of some hundreds of waxwings'
eggs. From these statements it appears that nests were
discovered at Sardio, on the Kittila river, early in June,
1856, by some intelligent lads, employed by Mr. Wolley
to collect for him, and the description of his delight, in
realizing at last his great ambition, and actually beholding

158 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

these long'-soug-lit treasures, will find an echo in tlie heart
of every ardent naturalist. Some twenty-nine eggs were
taken in the first season ; but it was not till the follow-
ing summer (1857) that Mr. WoUey succeeded in finding
a nest himself '' close to the house at Sardio," on the
16th of June, but which had been " deserted a. day or
two before, and from which something had thrown the
eggs, one after another, upon the ground as they were
laid ; of course broken to bits." The waxwings being
much more scarce in Lapland during that year, only
eight more eggs were brought in by the natives ; but in
the summer of 1858, when Mr. Wolley was himself
absent in Iceland, these birds, considered '^the fore-
runners of famine" in those districts, appear to have
been as plentiful in their newly discovered breeding sites
as occasionally in winter on our own coasts. Mr. Newton
remarks — ^'Not far from one hundred and fifty nests
were found by persons in his (Mr. Wolley's) employment
in Lapland, and some of them close to Muoniovara. It
seems, as nearly as I have been able to ascertain,
that no less than six hundred and sixty-six eggs were
collected, and more than twenty others were obtained
by Herr Keitel, of Berhn, who happened, without,
I believe, any expectation of the luck that was in store
for him, to be that year on the Muonio river." A
perfectly independent discovery of a waxwing's nest
was also made in this year by Mr. H. E. Dresser, on
the island of Sandon, off the harbour of Uleaborg,
where he succeeded in capturing two out of five young
ones, and securing also the old birds and one egg. In
this nest were the remains of some dried cranberries.
In 1859 the birds were again scarce, and not more than
forty-six eggs were obtained by Mr. Wolley's collectors ;
and in 1860 about fifty-two were procured through the
same agents. Mr. Newton describes the various nests
''as built mostly in Spruce and Scotch fir trees {Pinus

WAX WING. 159

ahies and P. sylvestris), chiefly, I think, the former.
The usual complement of eggs is certainly five, but six
not uncommonly, and seven and four occasionally were
found. The second week in June seems to be the
general time for the birds to have eggs ; but there
are some which must have been laid in the last days
of May, and others (perhaps second broods) a month
later." As some proof of the interest attaching to this
great oological fact, and the desire of collectors to secure
specimens for their cabinets, I may add that on the
sale of a portion of Mr. Wolley's duplicates, in London,
by Mr. J. C. Stevens (May 30th and 31st, 1860), nine
waxwings' eggs averaged £3 3s. each. As a cage bird,
from its handsome form and gentle though sprightly
nature, the waxwing is a particularly engaging pet,
but somewhat difficult to keep in a healthy condition
from its voracious and almost omnivorous appetite. In
November, 1859, I purchased a pair from Jamrach, of
London, which were moulting at the time, and were in
anything but a promising state. With careful treat-
ment, however, both as to cleanliness and diet, the male
assumed his perfect plumage by the following January,
and was then as handsome as any wild specimen I ever
saw. The female, however, remained sickly, being too
weak apparently to throw off her old feathers, and,
though feeding heartily to the last, died a perfect
skeleton on the 1st of March. I found bread and egg,
with a little hemp seed, the best diet, with berries
such as privet and ivy occasionally ; and latterly I
obtained some of the preserved cranberries, which at
that time were much sold by the grocers. They also
ate a good deal of old dried mortar, and swallowed a
quantity of small stones, having, as I afterwards found,
a true and very firm gizzard. Their note is a clear
silvery whistle, more subdued in tone than might have
been imagined from a bii'd of its size, and this when

160 BIRDS OF NOKPOLK.

Tittered of an evening, with various modulations, after
tlie lamp was lighted in tlie room where they were kept,
was excessively sweet and pleasing. In their actions they
somewhat reminded me of starlings, playfully snapping
at one another with their beaks, as they sat side by side,
and occasionally in the most affectionate manner taking
food from one another's mouths. The male when thus
excited with play was a very striking object, his whole
figure full of life and vigour, being drawn up as if stand-
ing on tip-toe, with the crest elevated and curving for-
wards. At times he would amuse as well as exercise him-
self, by hopping sideways on his perch in a very droll
manner, and when alarmed by a visitor, or listening to
any strange sound, his expression of curiosity (the head
and neck being stretched out to the fullest extent), mixed
with a queer pert manner, was extremely comic. The
loss of his mate, however, seemed greatly to affect his
spirits, and during my absence from home in the
following May, he also died, to my great regret, but
whether from pining, or from neglect on the part of my
servants, I am unable to say.

MOTACILLA YARRELLI, Gould.
PIED WAGTAIL.

Resident with us throughout the year, — since, though
the majority of our home-bred birds leave us for a time
in mid- winter, a few are still met with during the most
severe weather, — the Pied Wagtail, with its neat plumage
and elegant form, is associated with the enjoyment of our
out-door recreations at all seasons. Never far away
from the vicinity of water, if only a pond or a little run
by the roadside, we find it about our homes and in the
open country. Running here and there on our lawns and

PIED WAGTAIL. 161

grass-plots, it darts right and left at the rising insects,
or capturing, on the wing some dainty morsel, its rapid
flight is arrested by a graceful curve, as it alights
again, with a short quick run and vibratory action of
the tail. In the farm yard, we find it by the edge of
the horse-pond, or amongst the cattle in the open sheds,
daintily picking its way amongst the fodder, its long
tail and delicate breast-feathers unsoiled, however dirty
the locality it frequents. From thence, with a sharp
cheeping note and undulating flight, it makes its way
to the ridge of the barn, or runs along the parapet of
the house, constantly in motion, yet always ready for
the passing insect. Further afield we see it in the
meadows and pastures, closely following the feeding
cattle and fearlessly running about amongst their feet
to seize upon the flies which these animals attract.
If waiting for the train at any country station, the time
seems shorter as we watch this wagtail, busy as ever
amongst the rails and sleepers, or, disturbed from
thence, settling amongst the martins on the telegraph
wires, or chasing one of them in playful flight, with
almost inconceivable swiftness. By the river side, or
on the open broads, it is still with us, whether shooting,
fishing, or saihng be the object of our trip, and even in
the sharpest weather is fomid clinging to the reed
stems, or carefally searching for some means of sub-
sistence amongst the sedgy margins of the frozen
stream. Once more, let us change the scene, and pay
a visit to the sea coast. Here, on the grassy slopes
facing the sea, the wagtail runs on before us in our
walks, or flits over the edge of the cliffs to catch the
flies upon the sandy beach. If the tide is in, we know
at once where to find it. Look at those heaps of
decomposing seaweed, high up under the sand hills,
which have been raked together to be carted on to the
land. How the sand-flies swarm about them as the hot

T

162 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

sun draws out tlieir objectionable odours, yet here is tlie
wagtail's feast, and its little friend the titlark comes in
for a share. As the tide falls, however, and the rocks
become bare, another field of research is opened to its
view, and a fierce slaughter is commenced amongst the
insect atoms that settle on those slippery weed-covered
stones, now exposed for a time. From these it runs
along the wet sands, following up the little waves, and
even wading at times, but, as Macgillivray has most accu-
rately noticed, so rapid are its actions, and so slight
its frame, that it leaves no impress of its little feet, and
the tail, though scarcely ever still, is carried too high to
be draggled by the soil. Messrs. Gurney and Fisher, in
the " Zoologist" for 1847, mention the arrival by a south
wind in March of a '^ considerable number of pied wag-
tails, several of which were seen to alight in a field at
Caister," and small flocks are invariably seen in the
course of that month feeding on the newly ploughed
lands, or chasing each other over the ridges. There
is also no doubt that very considerable quantities
appear regularly on our coasts in autumn, resting
for a short time, and then proceeding on their south-
ward journey. On the 16th of November, 1858, and
on two subsequent occasions, whilst snipe-shooting at
Surlingham, I found, towards the afternoon, large flights
of pied wag-tails dispersed all over the broad, many of
them chnging to the reed stems, like the bearded tits,
and smaller bodies were continually passing overhead or
stopping to join their companions. From the locality
in which I found them, and from the fact of their
immediately preceding continuous and severe frosts, I
have no doubt that these were migratory arrivals, about
to rest for the night on their way inland, their numbers
and extreme tameness reminding me of similar flights
observed in the South of England, on their way north-
ward, in the early spring. Wliilst staying at Teigmnouth,

PIED WAGTAIL. GREY WAGTAIL, 163

in Devonshire, in 1859, a most undoiibted arrival of
migratory specimens appeared on tlie morning of the
20th of March. The grassy slopes in front of the sea
were covered with them till late in the day, and so
unusual was their appearance in such quantities that
they attracted general attention ; but on the next morn-
ing they had passed on, and only a pair or two as usual
frequented the "Denes," nor did I subsequently observe
any similar accession to the ordinary number of residents.
I may remark also that these were all pied wagtails, not
a single white wagtail (M. alba) appearing amongst
them. It has been more than once questioned in the
"Field" of late years, whether the pied wagtail ever
perches on trees : that it does do so, occasionally, I can
speak from my own observation, as well as on fences,
walls, and railings, but when observed on the branches
of trees or shrubs, it is generally at the close of the
breeding season, when the old birds are accompanied
by their young broods. I cannot ascertain that the
continental white wagtail, the true M, alba of Liniiseus,
has ever occurred in NorfoUc.

MOTACILLA BOARULA, Latham.

GEEY WAGTAIL.

A regular spring and autumn migrant, though not
in large numbers, appearing generally in March and
October; but at neither season remaining long in this
district, and but few specimens, at any time, are found in
the hands of our bird-stuffers. A male in my collection,
kiUed at Boyland on the 13th of March, 1863, has
nearly completed its summer dress, and Mr. Spalding,
of Westleton, has also a male, killed by himself at
Ditchingham, some years ago, in the month of May,
t2

164 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

which is in full breeding plumage, with a pure black
patch on the throat. In this state, however, it is very
rarely met with in Norfolk, and then only when detained
on its way northwards by contrary winds in spring.

MOTACILLA FLAVA, Linnaeus.

GEEY-HEADED WAGTAIL.

I am not aware that more than three examples of
this rare species have been actually identified as killed in
Norfolk. Of the first (No. 92) in our museum collection,
the following account is given by Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher : — " A male bird was killed at Sherringham"^
about May, 1842 ; another wagtail was procured at the
same time, which was probably the female ; but as the
person who shot them only preserved the brighter-
coloured specimen, the latter was unfortunately not
identified." The next example, which occurred at Yar-
mouth about the 18th of April, 1851, was also a male,
and came into the possession of Mr. John Smith, of that
town, who recorded its capture in the ^^ Zoologist," p.
3174; and a female in the collection of Mr. Alfred
Master, of this city, was killed on the Heigham river, a
few years back, very late in the spring. That this bird,
though for the most part unrecognised, appears from
time to time in this county amongst our yellow wag-
tails, is extremely probable, from the fact of its having
been met with at Lowestoft (Suffolkj on more than one
occasion, consorting with the more common species.
The late Mr. Thurtell, a bird-preserver of that town, in
a communication to Mr. Gurney, in 1854 (Zoologist,

* This is the same bird mentioned by Mr. Lubbock in his
" Fauna," as preserved in the Norwich museum.

GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. BAY's WAGTAIL. 165

p. 4440), remarks — " During the protracted dry weatlier
from tlie beg-inning of last Marcli to tlie end of
April, we had the wind from the N.E., with light
sunny days, and every day, for more than six weeks,
there were to be seen some forty or fifty yellow wag-
tails running upon our Denes ; and on the 24th of April
I observed a grey-headed one amongst them. I fetched
my gun and shot it. On the 25th I killed two more,
and on the 26th I killed one. These four were all
males, besides which I shot on the 26th two females."
Mr. Newcome, of Feltwell, and Mr. J. H. Gurney, have
each a pair of these birds in their collections. Another
male was also obtained at the same place in June,
1849, as recorded in the above named journal, p. 2499,
besides the one recorded by Yarrell and other authors,
to have been killed by the late Mr. Hoy, on the 2nd
of May, 1836, at Stoke Nayland, in the same county.
It is further stated by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher, that
"a nest, containing four eggs, was taken on a heath
at Herringfleet, in Suffolk, on the 16th of June, 1842,
which probably belonged to a bird of this species. The
eggs closely resembled an egg of the grey-headed wag-
tail, which had been taken on the continent, and the
situation of the nest, and the materials of which it was
composed, also corresponded with the descriptions given
of the nest of this bird."

MOTACILLA RAYI, Bonaparte.

YELLOW WAGTAIL.

A common summer visitant and breeds with us,
appearing in March and leaving again in September.
One can scarcely think of this beautiful bird without
calling to mind the luxuriant herbage of our meadows

166 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

and grass-fields during tlie spring months. How-
brilliant are the colours of the male, in his nuptial
dress, as he picks his way amongst a profusion of
buttercups, assimilating so closely with his own tints,
that his actions only betray his whereabouts. In
busy little flocks upon their first arrival, we find
them on the Denes and grassy slopes by the sea-shore,
graceful in every movement as they run or flit from one
spot to another, enjoying alike the warmth of the sun
and the myriads of insects which it calls into being. In
autumn again, in little family groups, the young, in
their more sombre tints, resembhng the females, are
learning for themselves the art of fly-catching, and, till
instinct warns them of the coming winter, each day
finds them busily employed amongst the cattle in our
fields and pastures. Though not so constantly seen in
the vicinity of water as some other species, this wagtail
frequents the margins of rivers and streams, and the
marshy grounds adjacent, as well as open downs and
furzy commons, with arable land and sheep walks.

ANTHUS ARBOREUS, Bechst.

TEEE PIPIT.

This species, at once distinguished from the meadow
pipit by its short hind claw, is found pretty generally
distributed in summer, arriving about the middle of
April ; and having nested here, leaves us again in the
autumn. Amongst the many sweet sounds of the early
summer, the notes of this bird may be heard from
the trees in our hedgerows, most frequently from
the upper branches of a lofty elm — as it sings with
all the fervour of the nuptial season; and springmg
up into the air in its extacy, it triUs forth its

TREE PIPIT. MEADOW PIPIT. 167

lay on quivering wings, returning again and again to
the same bough. The eggs of the tree pipit vary greatly
both in colour and markings, some of their rich reddish
tints being very beautiful.

ANTHUS PRATENSIS (Linnfens).

MEADOW PIPIT.

The Meadow Pipit or Titlark is one of the most
common of our resident species, and generally dis-
tributed throughout the county. On heaths and
commons, by the banks of rivers, in meadows and
marshes, on the grassy summits of our lofty cliffs, or
the low marram hills upon the sandy beach, the cheep-
ing note of this familiar bird meets us at every turn, and
in more cultivated districts, it springs at our approach
from the arable land, and, drifting like waste paper
down the wind, is gone with a yhit, yhit, yhit, almost
before we fah-ly see it. In summer it is nowhere
more abundant than in the district of the broads, where
it sings from the top of the small alder and sallow bushes,
which are scattered in many places over the drier marshes,
and cheeping as it ascends from a projecting spray,
utters its simple but pleasing song, with quivering
wings and outspread tail, as it slowly descends to its
station again. I never remember to have found its
nest in these localities, when carefully searching for
the eggs of the sedge-warbler and the black-headed
bunting, but it breeds close by on the grazing lands,
near the marsh dykes that drain the soil ; and here the
cuckoo soon finds it out, and drops its egg, a very
" apple of discord," amongst those of the unconscious
titlark. I know few things more ridiculous than to
watch the great baby cuckoo, helplessly flapping his

168 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

wings and opening his mouth, as lie sits on a bush or
railing, to receive unnumbered delicacies from the
beak of its foster-parent. How bright and fresh is the
plumage of these pipits in the earlj spring when, on a
warm sunny day, we find them in company with the
stonechat and whinchat, amongst the yellow gorse.
Flitting from bush to bush, they rise and fall in the
full tide of song, or chase each other in amorous flight ;
and sad, indeed, must be the heart that at such a time
catches no inspiration from these sights and sounds. In
winter both old and young congregate in flocks, and in
sharp weather frequent the stack-yards with other birds ;
but, as a rule, are not generally found so close to our
towns and cities as their rural companion the sky-lark. In
autumn their numbers are increased by immense flocks
from the north, which keep passing onwards to more
southern counties, and many are picked up at the foot
of our lighthouses, killed by concussion against the
upper windows, as before described of other migratory
species.

ANTHUS RICARDI, VieiU.

EICHAED'S PIPIT.

Three specimens only of this rare pipit are recorded to
have been killed in Norfolk, of which two (Nos. 98 and
98. a) are in the museum collection.* All three were pro-
cured on the Denes between Yarmouth and Caister, the
first on the 22nd of November, 1841 ; the next in the
following April; and the third example on the 24th of
April, 1843. Of this last specimen Mr. Fisher observes

* No. 98 is tlie one killed in April, 1842; and 98.a the specimen
obtained on the 22nd of November, 1841. Whether the thu'd
example is still in existence I am unable to say.

EICHARD's pipit. ROCK-PIPIT. 169

in the " Zoologist/' p. 181 : — " It was shot by the same
person who kiUed the last specimen, he having instantly
recognized its loud note and peculiar manner of walking
and feeding. These birds appear to vary considerably
in size. Mr. Yarrell makes the length of the male bird
six inches and three quarters. The specimen killed here
last AprU was said to measure seven inches and a
quarter, while this bird measured, before it was stuffed,
seven inches and five-eighths in length, and twelve
inches in the extent of its wings. The lower mandible
of the beak, when I first saw it, had a purplish tint,
which has since changed to a dull red. The second
outside tail-feather on each side, described as being in
part dull white, and having the brown colour on the
inner web extending over a larger surface than in the
outside feather, has also in this bird a black shaft,
which, being surrounded with white, forms, when the
tail is spread, a very conspicuous mark on each side.
The base of the outer web of tliis feather is also black,
and the edges of the quill feathers are light brown. I
found it, upon dissection, to be a male. The gizzard
was filled with several species of flies and gnats,
amongst which I noticed the remains of the ladybird
and of a species of ichneumon."

ANTHUS OBSCURUS (Latham).

ROCK-PIPIT.

This species, which, in most maritime counties of Eng-
land seems almost to take the place of the meadow pipit
in the vicinity of the sea-coast, is a rare bird in Norfolk ;
and though I believe a few appear regularly on their
vernal and autumnal migrations, the specimens obtained
are extremely scarce. This may probably in some degree
z

170 BIKDS OF NORFOLK.

be owing to their specific distinctions being but little
known, since, if shot, and mistaken for the common
titlark, they would mvariably be thrown away as of no
value ; but although I have myself sought for this bird
in every likely locahty and at the proper seasons, I have
never met with it here, and indeed have seen but
three specimens at any time in the hands of our bird-
stuffers. In the month of February, 1855, a single
bird was shown to me (killed near Yarmouth during
very severe weather), which corresponded with speci-
mens procured by myself in Devonshire and Sussex ; and
two others in my own collection were secured at one shot,
on the river's bank, near St. Martin's gates, quite close
to the city, on the 7th of March, 1864. These were no
doubt passing over us in their migratory course, and
had paused for awhile to rest and feed, even in a locality
so unusual for the Rock-Pipit, whose haunts are essen-
tially the " rock-girt shore" and the margin of brackish
waters. Messrs. Gurney and Fisher speak of the rock-
pipit as migrating to our coast in autumn; and the
Messrs. Paget also remark that " a few are occasionally
seen about Breydon wall." Mr. Dix however informs
me, that on the brackish margin of the Orwell, near
Ipswich, they are not uncommon in autumn, as he has
killed them there himself, and one would naturally have
expected to find them as plentiful, in similar situations,
in our own county. The great difference observable
in the plumage of some rock -pipits obtained in this
country has, at various times, attracted the attention of
naturalists, and the question whether two or more dis-
tinct races have not been hitherto confounded, is now
occupying the attention of our leading ornithologists.
Mr. Hancock, who has recently examined my two
Norwich specimens, together with many others sub-
mitted for his inspection, decides that one at least of
those birds, having a bright buff or cinnamon coloured

EOCK-PIPIT. SHORE-LARK. 171

breast,^ corresponds with the Anthus rupestris of Nilsson ;
but though this is not, m his opinion, entitled to specific
distinction, his decision, as affecting a Norfolk specimen,
is the more interesting from the fact, that the chief
home of A. rupestris is in Scandinavia, whence, as has
been previously shown in this work, our few examples
of the dipper (Cinclus aquaticus) and the blue-throated
warbler (Plicenicura suecica) — birds which like the pre-
sent do not breed in the county, but only occur here as
occasional visitors — are apparently derived.

ALAUDA ALPESTRIS, Linnseua.

SHOEE-LAEK.

The first recorded specimen of the Shore-Lark in
Norfolk, and probably the first ever recognized in Eng-
land, is the one thus referred to by Yarrell : — ^^In the
year 1831, I learned of my late friend, Mr. John Sims,
then residing at Norwich, that a British killed specimen
of the Shore-Lark, the Alauda alpestris of authors, had
come into his possession. The bird was shot on the
beach at Sherringham, in Norfolk, in March, 1830 ; it
was preserved by Mr. Sims, and is now in the collection
of Edward Lombe, Esq., of Great Melton, near Nor-
wich." This bird, which is also described by Messrs,
Gurney and Fisher as an immature male, is still pre-
served in the above collection, which is now in the pos-
session of Mrs. E. P. Clarke, of Wymondham. A second
example, purchased by Mr. Gurney some few years ago.

* The other bird, though killed in company, exhibits no
indication of this warm colouring. It is probably a female, but
unfortunately I had no opportunity of dissecting these pipits,
before they were stuffed, to determine their respective sexes.
z2

172 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

but in what year I am not certain, was also procured at
Slierringham ; and an adult male, in Mr. Newcome's col-
lection at Feltwell, was shot at Yarmouth in November,
1850. Next in order of date are two fine specimens,
killed on Blakeney beach, near the Preventive station,
about the first week in March, 1855. These were
brought in the flesh to the Eev. E. W. Dowell, of
Dunton, who presented one to the Earl of Leicester,
and retained the other in his own collection. Both, I
believe, were male birds. Lord Leicester's certainly was,
as I examined it at the time when sent to be preserved
in Norwich. A further interval of seven years now
elapsed, without any more examples being observed
in this district, when in the winter of 1861-62,
between the first week in November and the 11th of
January, no less than five were obtained at Yarmouth,
Sherringham, and Blakeney; and about the 24th of
April, a sixth, also on the coast, at Yarmouth. Of these
birds, which, singularly enough proved to be all males,
the first was killed at Yarmouth on the 7th of November;
the second at Sherringham on the 9th; the third near
Yarmouth (belonging to the Eev. C. J. Lucas, of Burgh,)
on the 12th; and two more at Blakeney (I believe in the
possession of Mr.TJpcher, of Sherringham,) on the 11th of
January, 1862. I was unable to ascertain at the time how
many were seen on each occasion, or whether these were
the only ones observed, but most probably there were
others which escaped destruction; and as these birds were
performing a southward migration, it is most probable
that the specimens described by Mr. J. D. Rowley, as
netted at Brighton (three males) on the 15th and 16th
of November (Ibis, 1862, p. 88), were a remnant
of the same flock, thinned on their passage down our
eastern coast. Very severe ga]es had visited us for some
days just previous to the appearance of the three
November birds, and several little auks were picked up

SHOEE-LAEK. 173

at tlie same time in different parts of the county; but
although some of these storm-driven sea-birds showed
symptoms of privation, the shore-larks, both in flesh
and plumage, were in high condition. I was fortunate
enough to examine all the Norfolk shore-larks as soon as
they were sent up to Norwich for preservation, and
found them exhibiting a transition state between winter
and summer plumage ; but in those killed in the month
of November, the bauds of black and yellow on the
throat were very bright, and the horns plainly marked,
more especially in the one from Sherringham, which had
also a richer vinous tint on the wings ; but in each the
band over the crown of the head was but slightly trace-
able. Of the two killed at Blakeney on the 11th of
January, one was evidently a much older bird than
the other, with a perfect black gorget, and bright
yellow tints on the throat and neck ; the horns were well
developed, and the cheeks black. The forehead, how-
ever, was more white than yellow, with a very indis-
tinct black band mixed with yellow ou the upper part of
the head; the points of the shoulders vinous. The
younger specimen had a smaller gorget, each black
feather being tipped with yellow; the black on the
cheeks also blended in the same mannerr The horns
slight, but quite distinguishable ; no perceptible
band across the head; forehead yellowish white; and
several reddish longitudinal spots on the breast, imme-
diately below the gorget. At the time when these
last two birds were obtained, the weather was very
mild ; but a severe frost had broken up about ten days
before. The male shot at Yarmouth in April, 1862, now
in my possession, was brought up to Norwich with several
sky-larks and wagtails killed at the same time, and most
probably formed a remnant of the original flock, once
more returning northwards for the breeding season. This
specimen, as may be supposed fr'om its appearing so late

174 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

in the spring', had very nearly assumed its full summer
plumage. The gorget on the neck and the patches on
the cheeks are pure black, and the yellow portions are
very bright, with the horns clearly developed. It is some-
what remarkable, that almost every one of these birds,
obtained in Norfolk, from 1830 to the present time,
should have proved, on dissection, to be males ; and it is
also worthy of note, that all but two have occurred
during the winter months. On the 26th November,
1862, a male shore-lark, (in the collection of Mr. J. H.
Gurney, junr.), was killed at Lowestoft, in the adjoin-
ing county, and the man who shot it stated that
he had seen lots of snow-buntings, and a few had
yellow throats, which were no doubt shore-larks,
consorting with the more common species. The sub-
joined note in the " Field," by Mr. Fenwick Hele,
of Aldeburgh, (November 19th, 1864,) also shows how
easily these birds may be overlooked, and it is by no
means improbable that they may have visited us far
oftener than is generally supposed: — "On Thursday,
the 10th (November), I obtained a very rare bird at
Thorpe (Suffolk), namely, the shore-lark. It is a very
good male, with beautifully developed ears; it was in
company with another, I suppose its mate. Up to the
time of my picking up the specimen I had killed, I
quite believed them to be the common sky-lark, so
exactly did they resemble that bird both in colour and
gait. I was not sufficiently near to observe the very
pretty and curious markings about the chin and throat.
I was only led to shoot at them at all from a desire to
try my big duck gun at such smaU objects on the
ground ; you may therefore judge of my surprise, when
picking up the dead specimen, at my double stroke of
good luck — firstly, chancing to alight on such a rarity ;
and secondly, firing at it at all. The mate was very badly
hit, as a heap of feathers left on the spot where I had

SHORE-LARK. SKY-LARK. 175

shot at it clearly demonstrated, but it took to wing' and
I could not see where it eventually went down." In a
a further note in the "Field" for the following week,
Mr. Hele announces that this second bird was obtained
on the 16th, having been brought to him by a gentleman
who shot it on the beach at Thorpe. This also proved
to be a male. The latest occurrence of this species in
the Eastern Counties has been very obligingly com-
municated to me by Mr. Baker, of Cambridge, who says
that three specimens, two males and one female, sent to
him for preservation, were killed on the 10th or 12th of
February, 1865, out of a flock of about twenty, by Mr.
Fowler's keeper, at Gunton, near Lowestoft. The con-
tents of their crops, which he also forwarded, appeared
to consist of seeds of Polygonacece and the chrysalis of
some small insect.

ALAUDA ARVENSIS, Linn^us.

SKY-LAEK.

^^Up with the lark" is a very common expression
amongst early risers, yet in reahty the members of the
early rising society, with its guaranteed stock of health,
wealth, and vnsdom, are far less likely to hear the first
notes of the sky-lark, than those whom pleasure or
necessity have caused to be up all night. Late as these
birds are during the light summer evenings in retiring
to rest, their song may be heard again by two o'clock
the next morning, whilst the stars are still shining
brightly in the cold grey sky, and scarce a streak of
light yet indicates the approach of dawn. I have often,
at such times, when out on the broads, heard the sky-
lark's notes high over head, when far too dark to dis-
tinguish the bird J or from the neighbouring fields, not

176 BIKDS OF NOKPOLK.

^^ poised in air," but warbling from tbe ground, several
have simultaneously burst into song. In this position
also they may frequently be heard during the day,
when a person unaware of this habit, would look around
in vain for the songsters. So much, however, does the
soil itself assimilate with the plumage of these birds,
that often on a sunny day the fallows seem alive with
harmony, though scarce a feather can be seen, till a
fluttering wing or a pair amorously chasing each other
disclose the hidden vocalists. It were unnecessary for
me to dwell long upon the ordinary characteristics
of a bird so well known to every lover of nature ;
but I trust there are few wbo have not experienced
a thrill of pleasure, after a long and dreary winter,
when, on the first bright sunny morning, the sky-
lark's note, with all its pleasant associations, first
falls upon the ear. How instinctively one stops
to watch his upward flight, as with outspread quiver-
ing wings he slowly mounts, yet still his notes
come back upon the ear, clear and distinct in
all their rapturous fullness, though our eyes grow
dim with watching that small dark speck in the
clouds. Suddenly, at his greatest height, he makes a
slight detour, then steadying himself again, commences
his descent ; slowly at first and still singing loudly, till,
approaching the earth, he stops an instant, then darts
swiftly down, and skimming for a space above the
ground, alights once more. Besides singing from the
ground, as before stated, the sky-lark occasionally
perches on a wall or fence, and with swelling throat
and fluttering wings, pours forth its song, as from the
floor of a cage, but this is, I behove, more generally in
the breeding season, when its mate is sitting in some
neighbouring corn field; at least, I do not remember
noticing this habit at other seasons. In autumn, the
immense flocks which at times frequent our stubble

SKY-LARK. 177

fields, are composed for the most part of migratory
arrivals j"^ which, after a brief sojourn, continue their
journey southward. Our home-bred birds also perform,
during the winter months, a kind of partial migration,
shifting their ground repeatedly, according to the state
of the weather. Not unfrequently after severe frosts,
when scarcely a sky-lark has been visible for weeks,
we find on the first bright sunny day the stubbles
are fiHed with them, but these soon leave again with
the least indication of returning cold, and thus they
come and go, till spring has fairly commenced, and all
our northern visitants have again passed over us to their
distant homes. Yarrell, referring to the migration
of this species, mentions having received a communica-
tion from the Rev. R. Lubbock, of his having witnessed
from Caister Point, near Yarmouth, " the arrival of
sky-larks from the sea;" and the same has been noticed
on several occasions during the month of October, by
the Eev. E. W. Dowell, at Blakeney. They arrive, he
says, " all day long in small flocks, and I have observed

* The late Mr. St. John, in his notes " On Natural History
and Sport in Moray," thus notices the mie^i-ation of the Sky-
lark (p. 311) : — " During the first days of snow and storm a
constant immigration of larks takes place ; these birds continuing
to arrive from seaward during the whole day, and frequently
they may be heard flying in after it is dark. They come flit-
ting over in a constant straggling stream, not in compact flocks,
and pitching on the first piece of ground which they find un-
covered with snow, immediately begin searching for food, feeding
indiscriminately on insects, small seeds, and even on turnip leaves,
when nothing else can be found." The same author also remarks (p.
45), " The skylark, as Milton knew, is the bird which sings earliest
in the morning. Before the sun is up, I often hear the lark sing-
ing over my head before there is hght enough to distinguish it.
Late in the summer evenings, too, after all is still, and apparently
the birds have aU retired to their roosting places, I have observed
how suddenly every lark rises and sings for a short time as if their
evening hymn, and as suddenly and simultaneously all cease."
2 A

178 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

that these birds, and indeed most of the small land-birds,
reach our shores in greater numbers towards the after-
noon. Larks frequently burst into song when they make
the land." On the Suffolk coast they have been also seen
to arrive in the same manner, and their return in
February, in "innumerable flocks," is remarked by Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear. It would seem moreover that these
flocks are not merely confined to the day time, from the
fact of specimens being frequently picked up dead,
having flown against the windows of the lighthouses on
the coast. Large quantities of sky-larks are netted by
our bird-catchers during the autumn and winter, for the
London markets,"^ the best of the males being reserved
as cage birds, and so expert are some of the old hands,
that I have more than once heard it asserted that they
will tell in the dark the males from the females, as
they take the birds from the net, and that, merely by
handhng them, the former being somewhat the widest
across the shoulders. The females are instantly killed
for the market, and the males reserved for their vocal
powers. So difficult, however, is it to detect, even
by sight, any external difference between the sexes,
that the above seems at first to be scarcely worthy of
credit, but though I cannot actually vouch for it as a
fact, I have so often been struck with the practical
knowledge of these men, in similar cases, as contrasted
with the limited information conveyed in natural history
works, that I feel inchned after all to believe that there
is really some truth in the story. White, buff, and pied
varieties are not uncommon. Of the former, a pure
albino, with pink eyes, and the bill and legs straw

* Dr. Wynter, in his " Curiosities of Civilization," writing
on the " London Commissariat," gives 400,000 Larks as only an
approximate idea of the numbers sent for sale annually into the
London markets alone.

SKY-LARK. ^WOOD-LARK. 179

yellow, was killed in 1862, near North Walsham, and
another example in the museum collection (No. lOO.bj
has only a few brown streaks on a white ground.
No. (100. c) also exhibits the singular effects of extreme
age and confinement on the feathered tribe. This bird
is stated to have lived twenty-one years, and probably
from its artificial food, as is sometimes the case with
cage birds, its plumage became black, as it now appears ;
whilst the beak and claws denote a very advanced stage
of life. The hind-claws in this species occasionally assume
a length amounting almost to a deformity ; in one or two
instances I have known them to measure, in birds killed
in a wild state, considerably over an inch.

ALAUDA ARBOREA, Linnseus.

WOOD-LARK.

This species, by no means numerous in Norfolk, is
now confined almost entirely to the western parts of
the county, and is there found only in certam localities
best adapted to its nesting habits. Mr. Newton, in
a communication to Mr. Hewitson (Eggs Brit. Birds,
3rd ed.), states, that in the neighbourhood of Thetford
these birds '' are most partial to old sheep-walks in the
vicinity of Scotch fir-trees. On places such as thesfe the
herbage is so scanty that they can hardly be said to
choose a tuft of grass as the situation of their nests,
though they generally select a spot where the bents are
the thickest. I have, however, found a nest where the
turf was as short as a well kept lawn, and I have seen
one secluded in a clump of heather. Their nests are
usually more compact than those of the sky-lark, and
will bear being taken up from the hole in which they
are built." In the spring of 1864, at West Harhng, I
2 A 2

180 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

had first tlie pleasure of hearing and seeing this bird in
Norfolk, when crossing just such a locality as that
described by Mr. Newton, and from whence Mr. Dix
has sent me several specimens during the last two or
three years. The note of this lark, so soft and sweet as
the bird circles round and round in its flight, is quite
immistakeable, as is the bird itself, from the peculiar
shortness of the tail when observed on the wing. It is
most probable, I think, that they leave us for a time
during the winter months, though returning again very
early in spring. On the 26tli of February, 1864, writes
Mr. Dix, " I saw a flock of seven ; they rose close to me.
I could scarcely believe I was not mistaken till I heard
their call note. I mentioned it to the keeper a day or
two after, when he said he noticed them about the same
spot a fortnight before, and he knows the birds well,
having shot them for me. I have seen the flock several
times since, and shot one for you. They squat so close,
that though the ground was quite bare I did not see
them till they were up. Mr. R. Reynolds, who used to
live at Thetford, assured me that he had one specimen
of the wood-lark, shot at Rushford, in December ; it was
killed with several sky-larks out of a flock." Messrs.
Gurney and Fisher, in the "Zoologist" (p. 1702), men-
tioning the fact of a pair having been observed on some
hollies, at Easton, in March, 1847, observe — "We are
inclified to suspect that the few birds of this species
which are found in Norfolk, arrive about this time, and
that the opinion which we have expressed as to their
remaining in Norfolk through the winter is incorrect."
To this statement I may add that the only specimen I
have ever seen in this neighbourhood was a female,
shot on the 3rd of March, 1858, near Norwich, whilst
passmg high over head in company with another bird,
but from the extremely dingy appearance of its plumage,
I much question if it had not escaped from confinement.

LAPLAND-BUNTINa. 181

Mr. Hunt, however, writing of the wood-lark in 1829,
says, " It was common at Hetherset previous to the
enclosure of the common lands ;" and no doubt to such
local changes its absence from these parts, at the present
time, is mainly attributable.

PLECTROPHANES LAPPONICA (Linnaeus).

LAPLAND-BUNTING.

On the 26th of January, 1855, during extremely
severe weather, a specimen of this very rare bunting was
taken ahve at Postwick, near Norwich. This bird,
probably the first ever known to have occurred in this
county, was brought to me soon after its capture, and
proved to be a young male in winter plumage. Unlike
most birds, when first confined in a cage, it seemed
perfectly at home, feeding readily on the seed placed for
it, and both in its gait and manner of looking up, with
the neck stretched out, reminded me of the actions of a
quail. In the aviary of Mr. J. H. Gurney this bird
assumed its full summer plmnage in the following
spring, and thrived so well in its new abode, that over-
feeding was probably the cause of its death in May,
1856, when, for the second time, it had acquired the
black head and plumage of the breeding season, and
was certainly a perfect lump of fat when skinned for the
purpose of preservation. The only other Norfolk specimen
of this bunting, I have either seen or heard of, was shown
me on the 14th of April, 1862, by the Eev. E. J. Bell,
then residing at Crostwick, which had been netted alive,
near Norwich, a few weeks before, and was gradually
assuming its summer plumage, having the black on the
head and throat imperfect, with a chesnut bar on the
nape of neck. This bird was shortly afterwards presented

182 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

to tlie Zoological Society by Mr. Bell, but, imfor-
tunately, soon died, the transition from an aiiy out-
door aviary to tlie hot parrot-room in -wkicli it was
placed at the gardens, being scai-cely desirable for this
northern species.

PLECTROPHANES NIVALIS (Linnseus).

SXOW-BILNTIISTG.

The Snow-Bunting is a regular winter visitant, its
niunbers, however, depending much upon the severity
of the season, appearing generally by the middle of
October, and leaving us again towards the end of March.
If the weather becomes very sharp theu' flocks are
increased considerably, and are then found on our open
heaths and warrens as well as by the sea-coast. Captain
Longe assures me that at Yarmouth he has fr'equently
seen them in winter pecking about in the road with the
sparrows, in front of his residence, not far from the
beach, and that when distui'bed they fly up to the
roofs and parapets of the houses with all the tame-
ness of their common allies. In describing their fii'st
arrival on our coast, Mr. Lubbock says, — " They
settle the instant they reach terra fii-ma, and often
remain for some time on the shingle of the beach, flying
a short distance and then aUghting in as close a body as
possible, so as to have, at a distance, the appearance of
a variegated piece of cai-pet;" to which I may add
the following graphic account of this species by Mi'.
Saxby (Zoologist, p. 9484), as observed by himself in
Shetland : — " Seen against a dark hill side or a lowerinsr
sky, a flock of these bii'ds presents an exceedingly
beautiful a^^pearance, and it may then be seen how aptly
the term 'snow-flake' has been applied to the species.

SNOW-BUNTING. 183

I am acquainted with, no more pleasing combination of
sight and sound than that afforded when a number of
these birds, backed by a dark grey sk}-, drop as it were
in a shower to the ground, to the music of their
own sweet tinkling notes." Mr. W. E. Cater, in the
*' Zoologist" (2415), mentions haying met with a flock of
five, at Waxham, near Yarmouth, in 1848, as early as
the 27th of September; and in 1854, on exactly the
same date, a pair were sent me from Blakeney, where
Mr. Dowell has also met with them on one or two occa-
sions in the beginning of that month. At the time,
however, when my own specimens were taken, the
weather was extremely mild. I have never known them
to remain vrith us later than the beginning of April.
In confinement, I have found the snow-buntings very
gentle in disposition and extremely affectionate to one
another, forming an amiable contrast in both respects
to the bramling finches. A pair, which were kindly
sent me for my aviary in 1862, by Mr. Fowler, of
Gunton, near Lowestoft, netted from a very large num-
ber at that time frequenting the Gorton beach, attained
very nearly their full summer plumage, their beaks
also, which are yellow in winter, assuming a dark
leaden tint. Both these birds, unfortunately, suffered
from a diseased state of the feet, which were painfully
swollen, and the scutellse on the anterior portion of the
tarsi and toes were greatly enlarged and ragged. With
this exception, they lived in aj)parently good health till
the autumn of 1863, when the female wasted away and
died, and the male survived his partner only a few
weeks. According to Messrs. Gumey and Fisher, this
species has been known to nest in confinement, but
where, or when this event happened, is not stated.

184 BIKDS OP NORFOLK.

EMBERIZA MILIARIA, Linnaeus.

COMMON BUNTING.

Is resident tlirougliout the year, and pretty gene-
rally distributed, though not particularly plentiftd as
a species. Shy in its habits, and always difficult of
approach, the harsh note of the Corn-Bunting is heard
in spring, whilst perched on a low wall or fence, or the
branches of a small tree, whence a sharp look out is
kept in all directions, and in autumn its numbers are
apparently increased by migratory arrivals, as is un-
doubtedly the case with the yellow ammer. A speci-
men of this bird in my collection, which was netted at
Markshall in 1856, exhibits in the malformation of its
beak the curious and interesting '^ means to an end,"
which nature adopts to obviate the effects of accident.
Of the lower mandible, only a stump remains, having
probably been carried away by a shot, but the upper
mandible being curved downwards, like the bill of a
parrot, still comes in contact with it, and by this
means the bird was still enabled to collect and crush its
food, and when taken was in good condition. Pied
varieties of this bunting occur at times. A specimen
almost white, having only a few brown feathers in the
wings and tail, was killed near Norwich in 1863 ; and
in the previous autumn one, almost entirely cream-
coloured, excepting a few dark feathers on the upper
surface, and another, mottled with white, were also
obtained in this neighbourhood.

BLACK-HEADED BUNTING. 185

EMBERIZA SCHCENICLUS, Linnaeus.

BLACK-HEADED BUNTINa.

Tins most striking looking bird, wMcL. is resident with
us throngliout the year, is confined almost entkely, during
the summer months, to low marshy districts, where it
nests in similar localities to the sedge-warbler; but in
winter, and especially during severe weather, it is more
generally dispersed, frequenting stack-yards and farm
premises in company with its kindred species. Mr. Samuel
Blyth, a very accurate local observer, also tells me that
he has known a pair or two frequent a large patch of
furze, in the centre of a plantation at Framingham,
throughout the winter months, although this locahty
is at a considerable distance from any piece of water.
Like the reed and sedge-warblers, however, the broads
in this county must be looked upon as the chief home of
this species, where they may be met with at all seasons
uttering their somewhat harsh and unvaried notes from
the tops of the bushes, or whilst clinging to the reed
stems ; and in these localities the nests are built on
the ground, frequently at the foot of a small bush,
placed in a hollow amongst the soft moss that forms the
foundation. Mr. Hewitson, moreover, (Eggs Brit. Birds,
3rd ed.) after describing the usual position of the
nests, says, — " I have, though rarely, found them at an
elevation of two feet or more above the water, and sup-
ported by a bunch of the common reed, not fixed hke
the nest of the reed- warbler, attached to the perpendicular
stems, but supported upon a bunch of them which had
been prostrated by the wind." The upper part of the
structure is formed of fine bents, lined with the feathery-
tops of the reed, the whole so carefully concealed amongst
the long grasses, that it is difacult to find until the bird
2b

186 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

rises from tlie spot^ when most frequently it will be
found to flutter away as if wounded, with one wing
trailing on the ground, to decoy the intruder from its
nest. Through the term reed-bunting, frequently applied
to this bird, it seems to have been erroneously con-
founded with the reed-warbler (Salicaria strepera), to
which it has no possible resemblance, and even the
nest of the reed-warbler, suspended on the reeds, has
been assigned to the black-headed bunting. To any one
at all acquainted with the habits and appearance of the
two species ; with the marked difference in the con-
struction and position of their nests, and the perfect
dissimilarity in the colour and markings of their eggs-
it must appear almost incredible that so palpable a
mistake could ever have arisen. There is, however, in
Martin's "Introduction to the Study of Birds,"* (in
many respects a clever little elementary work on general
ornithology,) a very pretty illustration of the reed-
warbler's nest, with a pair of hlacJc-headed huntings in
full possession ! In the aviary this species is both
striking in plumage and extremely inoffensive in disposi-
tion. The change from the mottled head of the winter
season to the rich black of the summer, seems to com-
mence rather early, the brown tips beginning to dis-
appear by the end of January, though some weeks
elapse before the whole is completed. Pied and buff
varieties are occasionally met with, and the eggs vary
considerably.

As before remarked, so intimately connected is the
black-headed bunting with the whole district of the
broads, that I can scarcely find a more appropriate
place in this work, for a slight sketch of one of the
prettiest at least, if not one of the largest, of those
attractive localities. In my notes on the habits of the
reed-warbler (S. strepera) I have attempted to describe

* Published by the Eeligious Tract Society.

BLACK-HEADED BUNTING, 187

a summer's night on Surlingham* broad, and this
would, I feel, be scarcely complete, if I failed to add the
companion picture. But the task is no light one, and
few better than myself know the difficulty of conveying
by any power of words, to those who have never seen
them, a conception of the beauties of the broads in
summer, when the natural flatness of the scene itself is
unheeded in the contemplation of the richest verdure :—

Far, far away, in its rich, display

Of natui'e's wildest flowers,

The marsh resounds with tuneful sounds,

Unknown to upland bowers.

Aloft the bleating snipe is heard,

On trembling pinions soaring,

And the titlark sings as he upward springs,

His song of love outpouring.

The wagtail flits with the bearded tits,

Where the feathery reeds are growing.

Or flirts his tail on the marsh mill sail,

His taste for insects showing.

E/ich babbling notes from sedge-birds' throats.

Enliven the coverts green.

And with hoarser cry the coot hard by.

Is oftener heard than seen.

The hern, too, springs on his lazy wings

From the edge of the shallow waters ;

And wild ducks rise with mingliug cries

To seek more sheltered quarters.

Still here and there, from a distant layer

The skylark's notes are ringing.

Close to her nest is the hen bird's breast.

Her mate in the blue clouds singing.

Whilst all around is the twittering sound

Of the sand-martins flitting by,

As their plumes they lave in the rippling wave.

Or dart at the passing fly.

* This broad diSers from almost all others I have seen, in the
little narrow channels which traverse it in all directions, opening
here and there into wide open waters, instead of presenting, as at
HickUng, Banworth, Barton, &c., a wide sheet of water, occa-
sionally dotted with small islands, and bordered with reeds.
2b2

188 BIRDS OF NOErOLK.

A SUMMER'S DAY ON" THE BROADS.

Clioosing for our excursion a bright sunny day in
June or July, we enter tlie broad by a long narrow dyke
communicating directly with the navigable river, and as
the boatman pidls slowly through the narrow channels,
or rests under the shade of the waving reeds, let us
carefully note the various objects of interest which
at this season present themselves to the eye of the
naturahst. Here, as in all these peculiar locahties,
excepting where the river flows through them, as at
Hickling and Barton, the water is everywhere extremely
shallow, and where the Confervce and other aquatic plants
have not coated the surface, clear enough to show
the myriads of small fry passing in shoals over the
weedy bottom ; these fresh- water lagoons forming
the natural nurseries of the bream, roach, pike,
and other fish found in our Norfolk rivers. As we
traverse the broad from end to end, we pass through
a series of small canals, just wide enough for boats
to go up and down, lined on either side by the
young reeds, in all the richness of their summer green,
with their delicate feathery tops bending to the
slightest movement of the passing breeze. How grateful
to the eye is the bright fresh verdure, after watching
the sand-martms on the glowing stream, or peering up
into the sunny sky to follow the snipe on its airy round.
Here and there the monotony of the green walls is
relieved by the pretty blossom of the flowering-rush
(Butomus umbellatus), the bright yellow of the water-
iris (Iris pseud-acorus), the bloom of the sedge (Carex
riparia), or the lofty stems of the common bullrush
(Scirpus lacustris), with their brown heads looking hke
an artillerist's rammer. On all sides, the chitty, cJdtty,
chit, chit, cha, cha, of the garrulous sedge-bird (Salicaria

A summer's DAT ON THE BEOADS. 189

phragmitisj , and the more finislied notes of tlie reed-
warbler (S. strepera) are heard from the dense coverts,
and occasionally one is seen as it flits over the stream, or
climbs the reeds to commence its song; when, scared
by our presence, it drops again to the ground. At
intervals, also, the black-headed bunting, leaving for
awhile the neighbouring marshes, utters its coarse and
peculiar notes from the reeds as weU ; the rich black
head and russet coat of the male, with its pure white
coUar, forming a marked contrast to the verdant back-
ground.

Quietly and stealthily, with no splashing oars, let

us now take a peep where the next reed bed ends, and a

wider channel bounds the further side — hush! not a

word, and stoop low as if a ^^coil" of teal were just

" marked down" — now look ! Scattered over the open

water, within thirty yards, five or six water-hens are

swimming about, jerking their heads in their own

funny way, with every motion of their paddling feet,

and with tails well elevated above the water, showing

the pure white of their under coverts. Still farther on a

pair of coots, with sooty plumage and white foreheads,

are lazily crossing to the other shore, and several, partly

hidden by the sedges, are picking their way along the

treacherous " hove." Ah ! even now they have either

heard or winded us, see how the water-hens are getting

together. There go the coots, splash, splash, scuttle,

scuttle, into the depths of the reeds, and dip, dip, dip,

go the feet of the others, now fairly alarmed, as they

hurry along to the same retreat. But what is that

smaller bird just sprung from the sedges in the general

" stampede," which dropped again like a woodcock into

the thickest cover? That was a water-rail, with its

long curved bill, of which many are bred in these

impenetrable swamps, but rarely is it possible, with

even a well-trained dog, to obtain a shot in such places.

190 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

and on the marshes their cunning and quickness, on
foot, tries the patience ahke of man and beast. Again,
pulling onwards, the channel suddenly opens upon a
wide expanse of water, also bordered with reed-beds
and low tussucky marshes, and from the very edge of a
small island directly before us rises a noble heron.
Slowly flapping his great wings as he launches himself
into the air, and sails away with outstretched legs, he
utters a hoarse cry of warning to others, and involun-
tarily, almost, one calls to mind Hood's graphic lines —

" The coot was swimming in the reedy pond,
Beside the water-hen so soon affrighted ;
And in the weedy moat the heron, fond
Of solitude alighted.

The moping heron, motionless and stiff.
That on a stone, as sUently and stilly,
Stood, an apparent sentinel, as if
To guard the water lily."

Here, under the lee of these tall rushes, let us moor
the boat for awhile and enjoy the beauties of this quiet
scene. The sun in all its noon-day splendour would be
scarcely bearable at such an hour, but for the cool re-
freshing breeze, which, with a continuous soughing
sound, murmurs amongst the reeds and sedges, rippling
the sluggish waters with its breath, and curling the
broad leaves upon their glistening surface. Strangely
somniferous is that seolian music, like the hum of bees
upon a shady bank ; but readily as one could yield to its
soothing influences, we have come to use our eyes and not
to close them. See where those stately swans are snorting
defiance at our abrupt intrusion ; the female is gathering
her fleet of cygnets, and the male, with head drawn
back between his snowy wings, drives himself towards
us with his " oary feet." Scarcely less white too, in their
spotless beauty, the cups of the water-lily (Nymphcea
alba) rest on their leaves, and here and there the yellow

A summer's DAT ON THE BROADS. 191

species (Nuphar lutea) contrasts with the simple blossom
of the water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis). Innu-
merable insects, everywhere swarming over the rank
vegetation, are beginning and ending their brief exist-
ence ; and twisting and twittering, till the eye tires of
watching their varied flight, sand-martins are feasting
amongst the gnats and midges, or at longer intervals
the skimming swallow snatches a hasty meal, and is
gone again to its mate and young in the chimney of the
broad-man's cottage. Though confusing enough at first,
the ear soon becomes accustomed to these incessant
notes, but like the tunes that escaped from Munchausen's
horn, when thawed by the fire, the merry medley of
those mingling sounds still rings in one's ears, for hours
after quitting the broads themselves.

Thus far then we have taken what may be termed
an interior view of the broad, and have yet to ex-
plore the surrounding marshes. First, having finished
our noon-day meal and that post-prandial pipe,
never sweeter than on such occasions, let us land
on the nearest point likely to afford a tolerably firm
foundation. Be prepared, however, for a wet foot or
an even worse ducking, for the soil is treacherous
enough in places, and though one person may pass safely
over the quacking bog, the next may come to grief."^
Following a beaten path, leading round to the back of
the larger reed-beds, we find the marshes on this side
stretching down to the river, by no means easy walking

* It is strange to observe how by constant habit, and an in-
stinctive knowledge of the thickness of the crust, a marsh-man
will walk ia his heavy boots where a far lighter but inexperienced
man would break through at once. Each foot is carefully and
firmly placed, yet quickly and without hesitation — the great object
being to heep moving, and thus though the swamp heaves like
billows under his feet, the broad-man, with full confidence in his
own powers, gets safely back to his boat.

192 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

from tlie mieven tussucks, around which, the water flows
in the winter. How different now is the whole scene.
No dreary waste, but nature's garden in its gayest
colours. Wild flowers and ferns, in the richest pro-
fusion, cover the marshes with every variety of tint, and
the dwarf bushes of alder, sallow, or birch, are equally
luxuriant in their summer verdure. Mind how you
tread on this sofb rich moss, for many a little life
may unconsciously be sacrificed as we pick our way
over its yielding surface. See ! there, a black-headed
bunting, with trailing wing, as though badly injured,
is tumbling on before us — it is but a ruse to draw
us from the spot. Here's where she rose, and here
is the nest, with four callow young, snugly placed
beneath an overhanging tussuck, so well concealed
with moss and grasses, that we might have searched for
it in vain for hours. The sedge-birds' notes too are
heard from almost every bush, for here either at the
foot of the little trees, or like the buntings on the
open marsh, they chiefly build. That pair so anxiously
calling from the nearest alder, and nervously creepmg
amongst the leaves and branches, have some good
cause to wish us further. Let us stop and look, not in
the bush itself, but close to the stem amongst the coarse
grass and prickly undergrowth. See, there is the nest
with its little sombre-coloured eggs resting, but not sus-
pended, on the broken stems, and carefully hidden by
surrounding herbage. Titlarks on all sides are calling
from the taller bushes, springing into the air, vdth the
yhit, yhit, yhit, of their monotonous notes; or with
outspread wings and quickening song slowly descending
upon an open branch. Here, too, the reehng notes of
the grasshopper- warbler may be heard at day-break, but
rarely, indeed, later in the day, and so wary and mouse-
like are they in their actions, that it is next to impossible
to find their nests in such a locality. High overhead is

A summer's DAT ON THE BROADS. 193

heard the drumming of the snipe^ and a pair of garganey
teal (Anas querc[uedula) circling round, are apparently
too well aware that they are closely watched, to alight
again and betray their eggs or young. Hark ! how loud
and clear is that cry of cuckoo, which all the day has
been heard incessantly, though far in the distance.
The bird must be close at hand amongst these bushes,
hunting for nests. Yes, there it flies, from the top of
an alder, skimming like a hawk over the marsh, with a
little twittering agitated crowd of warblers following
in its wake, and like country beadles, with some idle
tramp, only too glad to " pass him on."

If we now leave this rough country and cross the
broad again to the side nearest the village, we shall
find the marshes much more reclaimed, and those
nearest the arable land already in good grazing order.
Here, in winter, amongst the short green rushes, and
particularly where the stock have been turned out,
a fair day's snipe-shooting may be had at times
as well as off the "hoves," or bare patches by the
water's edge, where the reeds have been cut and
carried. At this season, however, the titlark and the
pied-wagtail are about the only species that we find,
flitting about beside the little drains, or a pair of pee-
wits, now rather scarce in this district in summer, may
attract our attention by their anxious cries and nervous
pitching flight. Having thus traversed the whole circuit
of the land, and watched the marsh-mills with their
busy sails — now revolving quickly with the wind, now
slowly creaking with the slackening breeze, — let us re-
turn once more to the boat to spend the remainder of our
time upon the water. The broad-man knows of a reed-
warbler's nest, not to be passed by without a peep, so
leisurely pulling through the green channels we will
examine this little triumph of bird-architecture. One
might well wonder, amidst that sameness of sedge and
2c

194 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

reed, one patch the very counterpart of the next, that
he should be able to remember the exact spot, but to
him it is easy enough from long habit and atten-
tion to nttle details. The broken head of a bull-
rush stem, in a hne with a small tree still further
back, gives him his " bearings," as surely as the " buoy,"
just '^opening out" the steeple on the nearest head-
land, guides the course of the pilot over the track-
less sea. Eunning the boat close up to the bank, he
carefully parts the foremost reeds with his oar, and
there is the nest, close to the water's edge, but fairly
screened from ordinary observation, and only to be found
by watching the actions of the birds. How neatly and
strongly the withered materials are wound round the
reeds, two green stems and an old one of last year being
used in this case as the props of the structure. The eggs
are deep down in that pretty basket, with little fear of
their rolling out, supported as it is by surrounding reeds,
and the wind, though high, waves the whole mass at once,
bending to the blast and rising again. Listen to that
strange note, not much unHke the croak of the night-
ingale, it is the hen bird anxiously waiting our departure,
and resenting our inspection of her household treasures.
There she is, chmbing stem after stem, flitting from one
to the other, dropping to the ground, and again ascend-
ing in a very fever of maternal trouble; and further,
unseen, her mate is calHng, so let us go, we have seen
enough to wonder at and admire, and may well spare
the result of such wondrous instinct. On once more
to that httle island, far out in the open stream, where
the heron rose on our first arrival. There most pro-
bably we shall find another nest, though very different
in size and structure. Eow gently then, and as we
approach the spot keep a sharp eye upon the fringe of
sedges by the water side. Surely she cannot have left
already ? No ! but see, she is off at last, though only that

A summer's day on the broads. 195

little bead upon the water tells where the water-hen has
dived from her nest. Close as we are, there seems
nothing more unusual to be seen than dwarf bushes,
thickly planted, amidst a luxuriant growth of coarse
vegetation, and a littered heap of dead reeds and
flags, contrasting with the green stems of the tall
rushes. True ! that is all, but if we part those rushes
with the end of the boat-hook, and bring ourselves
nearer to that withered mass, we shall soon find its real
purpose. There are the eggs, so well known to the most
juvenile collector, resting, in a sHght depression, on the
top of that loosely woven mixture of dead flag, rushes,
and broken reed, yet fairly raised above the ordinary
level of the tide; whilst instances are not wanting, of
these birds anticipating a coming flood, by elevatmg
their nests with fresh materials.

So much then for our lesson in practical orni-
thology, as learnt from nature, on a Norfolk broad.
The longest summer's day still has an end, and busy
with our later observations the time has passed un-
heeded. Already the shadows are deepening upon
the waters, and the dark reeds measure their re-
flected lengths on the margins of the sluggish stream.
Here, in the gloaming, the coots and water-hens are
leaving for awhile their green coverts, now seen for an
instant in the open water, bathed in the glories of the
setting sun, now lost to sight in the contrasted darkness
of bordering sedges on either side. Still twittering to
the last, the untiring sand-martins are supping freely on
the swarming insects, and the young starlings hurrying
to their roost, are rustling and tumbling amongst the
reeds. All nature seeks repose with the bright orb of

day—

" But now the fair traveller's come to the west,
His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best ;
He paints the sky gay as he sinks to his rest,
And foretels a bright rising again."

2c 2

196 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

EMBERIZA CITRINELLA, Linnaeus.

YELLOW BUNTING.

But for the timely suppression of tlie use of poisoned
wheat as an indiscriminate and wholesale bird destroyer,
the term common, as applied to this and other allied
species, would soon have become as inapphcable to them
as it is at the present time to the buzzard or kite.
No birds more readily than yellow hammers take the
poisoned bait, when driven by stress of weather to the
farmers' stack-yards, and yet how much have they con-
tributed during the spring and summer to preserve
those crops, of which they are denied a share.* Besides

* The following extract from a note appended to St. John's
"Natural History and Sport in Moray" (p. 19), is but one of the
many evidences published of late in deprecation of the system
above referred to : — " It is calculated, and apparently on very good
authority, that a pair of sparrows, during the season they are
feeding their young ones, kill, in the course of a week, about
3,400 caterpillars. Yet farmers and gardeners are so ignorant of
their true interests, that they annually destroy hundreds and
thousands of these feathered guardians of their crops. One
Sussex sparrow club alone, last year (1863) destroyed no less than
7,261 of those birds, and a prize was awarded to the most whole-
sale murderer. In various parts of England, also, there is a
stuff used called " sparrow and vermin killer," by which large
numbers of our most useful birds are poisoned. One writer
mentions that a man, whose trade it is to kill small birds, showed
him with pride about "2000 sparrows, 700 yellow buntings, 600
common buntings, innumerable goldfinches, and linnets by the
hundred." * * * Almost coincident with this virulent attack
upon the feathered songsters of our woods and hedgerows, there
has been an increase in the insectivorous enemies of the garden and
the farm, and during the past two years especially (in Scotland),
whole fields have been devastated by the grub — a foe against which
the farmer is next to powerless without his tiny winged allies."

YELLOW BUNTING. 197

its useful qualifications also, as an insect eater, we
should, in the present species, have lost one of our most
attractive rural objects. How brilliant is the rich
yellow and bro^vn of this handsome bunting, as we find
it amidst the whins and brakes upon our open heaths,
perching with the sprightly chats and titlarks on the
topmost twigs of the furze bushes, and uttering at inter-
vals that monotonous note, which, besides its true and
well known song, is so often repeated ; whilst the tints
of its plumage vie even with the brightness of the
flowering gorse. Though resident with us at all seasons,
it seems more particularly associated with the recollection
of heat and dust, when, perched on a fence or amongst
the branches of a roadside tree, its long drawn weary
song accords so well with the dry scorching atmosphere,
and, through a strange ventriloquial power (possessed
by this bu-d in an eminent degree), its notes are heard,
from a distance, as though close to the ear of the
listener, and when apparently furthest off, are not unfre-
quently uttered within a few yards. Even in confinement
this vocal peculiarity is equally perceptible, as I have
often Hstened to one m my in-door aviary, and though
watching the bird at the time, have scarcely been able to
persuade myself that its low soft notes did not proceed, as
they seemed to do, from the garden outside. As a cage
bird the yellow hammer, though looking a giant amongst
the smaller finches, is exceedingly gentle in manner,
maintaining his own rights with a quiet dignity that
brooks no insult, though he never interferes with others.
In fact a feathered gentleman, and graceful in action
he floats, rather than flies, from one perch to another,
or amuses himself, by repeatedly, springing into the air,
and with a rapid turn of the wings, alighting again
on the same spot. The numbers of this bunting
are undoubtedly increased in autumn by migi'atory
arrivals, specimens at that season being picked up

198 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

dead, at tlie foot of our liglithoTises, amongst other
species previously mentioned. Varieties in plumage
are not often met with, but a pied specimen, in my
collection, netted near Norwich in February, 1862, has
the secondary quills in one wing, and the primaries in
the other white, slightly tinged with yellow ; and Mr.
T. E. Gunn, of this city, has also recorded in "The
Naturalist" ^Journal of the West Riding Naturalist's
Society), one example, having the back and wings light
reddish brown, with the throat, breast, and belly pale
sulphur yellow, and another entirely white ; both killed
in this neighbourhood.

EMBERIZA CIRLUS, Linnaeus.
CIRL-BUNTING.

This rare species was not included by Messrs. Gurney
and Fisher in their " Birds of Norfolk," but the appear-
ance of a single specimen in this county in November,
1849, was recorded by Mr. J. H. Gurney in the " Zoolo-
gist" (p. 2651), though neither the exact locality nor
sex is mentioned. — ^A correspondent in the ^^ Field"
(May 24, 1856) also states that a pair were killed in
Norfolk in December, 1855, one of which is said to
have come into the possession of the Earl of Leicester.
These are probably the only instances in wliich this
species has been identified as visiting our coast ; it is pro-
bable, however, that other examples may have occurred,
though passing unnoticed from their general resemblance
to the yellow bunting.

Since the publication of my paper on the "Orni-
thology of Norfollc," in the third edition of White's
'^Directory," I have had good reason to doubt the
genuineness, as a local specimen, of the only Ortolan

CIRL-BTJNTING. CHAFFINCH. 199

Bunting (Emberiza hortulana), recorded as killed in this
county. This example, in the possession of Mr. J. H.
Gurney, is the one thus referred to, in very guarded
terms, by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher : — " We have
seen a specimen of this bird, which was said to have
been killed near Norwich." It is also, I have no doubt,
the one thus noticed by the late Mr. Lombe, in his MS.
notes of birds not in his collection ; " Ortolan Bunting,
shot at Earlham in the summer of 1838," as I learn
from Mr. Gurney, that the bird in question was said to
have been killed near Dairy mple's asylum, just on the
borders of Heigham and Earlham. An authentic speci-
men, however, an adult male, also in Mr. Gurney' s
possession, was shot on the 5th of May, 1859, at
Lowestoft, in the adjoining county.

FRINGILLA CCELEBS, LlDnaeus.

CHAFFINCH.

Amongst our common residents, there is none more
striking from its bright and varied plumage than the
male Chaffinch, and if only as scarce, as it is here, every-
where abundant, would be prized alike for its beauty
and sweet though simple song. " Gay as a chaffinch,"
as the old saying goes, is true of this bird at all
seasons, for in winter his pert pink, pinJc, is heard in
the stack-yards, or close to our dwelhngs, as he joins
the robins and sparrows, to feed where the snow has
been swept from our paths. In the early spring, before
the trees and hedges have put forth their leaves, or
the summer migrants have returned to our groves,
his joyous song greets us in our gardens and rural
walks, and the very abandon of his little notes,
imparts a kindred feeling to ourselves, of thankful-

200 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

ness, at tlie close of the dreary whiter. Later still,
when the spring, in all the richness of its bloom
and foliage, has attained its perfection, amidst sunshine
and showers, this " gay gallant," having won the heart
of his more sombre spouse, shares with her the cares
and joys of the nesting season; and, m our orchards
and gardens, we find that marvellously beautiful result
of their joint labours, that dainty compound of moss,
wool, and Hchens, which draws forth an involuntary
Oh ! of admiration, from the lips even, of that thought-
less ^^ do-no-good," the bird-nesting boy. Perched
amidst the blossoms on the apple and pear trees, the
male, in all the brightness of his nuptial plumes, looks
handsomer than ever, and m orchards, plantations, or
extensive woods, his loud rich notes are mingled and
blended with the joyous medley of our summer songsters.
Many are the charges brought, by irate gardeners, against
the entire race, though the injury they will do, to the
young radishes and other garden produce, may be easily
averted with a little trouble ; and if feathers and string,
stretched over the beds, cease to act as a " caution," a
little powder fired, without shot, will scare off the
rogues, and not double the mischief, by cutting the fruit
trees to pieces to kill one victun. Whatever their depre-
dations may be, at least, they are but for a very short
period, for as soon as the young are hatched, there are
no birds so assiduous, in their useful occupation of clear-
ing our gardens from insects and caterpillars, as the
chaffinches, and their incessant labours, in this respect,
throughout the smnmer, well merit a return in winter
grain, or even a salad in spring. In autumn the num-
bers of our resident birds are largely increased by mi-
gratory flocks, which, apparently arrive, for the most
part, on our coast by night, judging in this, as in
many other instances, from the specimens known to be
killed at that season through contact vdth our lighthouse

CHAFFINCH. 201

■windows. These flocks, so noticeable in our stubbles
and beech-groves consist, as has been remarked by
many authors, almost entirely of females and young
birds, and in several instances I have failed to distinguish
a single male, but although these, with most of our own
residents, leave us for the south during severe weather,
I have on more than one occasion observed an influx of
male birds, only, during a prolonged batch of frost and
snow, as though the intense and lasting cold had driven
them also to seek a milder climate. I may further add,
that in February, 1864, Mr. Dix remarked a very
large flock of chaffinches in a plantation at West
HarHng, which consisted entirely of male birds. It
is not, however, unusual to see parties of from thirty
to forty still flocking together up to the middle or
end of March, with the sexes mingled, though in full
breeding plumage. Pied varieties are occasionally,
though not often, met with, and specimens resembling
very light-coloured canaries have also occurred in
Norfolk. Of the latter, a very beautiful example (a
young male), killed at Brooke on the 30th of August,
1847, now in Mr. Gurney's collection, was thus described
at the time in the " Zoologist" : — ^'The ground colour
of its plumage is white, but pervaded throughout with
a delicate canary yellow colour. This tint is strongest
on the back and rump (especially the latter), on the
edges of the quill feathers of the wings, and of the tail
feathers. The eyes are of the natural colour." The speci-
men (No. lll.c) in the Norwich Museum, killed a few
years back at Cossey, so closely resembles the above that
any further description is unnecessary, and a somewhat
similar bird, killed on the 10th of January, 1861, had
the head and neck white, with a delicate yellow tinge on
the neck and back, a few brown feathers mixed with white
in the wings and tail, and the throat, breast, and under
parts generally, pervaded with a delicate rose colour.
2d

202 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

FRINGILLA MONTIFRINGILLA, Linnaeus.

BEAMBLING.

A regular winter visitant, arriving at times in
immense flocks, but their numbers as well as tlie time
of tlieir appearance and departure, depending much
upon tlie severity of the season. In the cold winters
of 1853 and in 1854-55, they were extremely numerous,
a flock being observed in the latter year as early as the
12th of October; and in the still more severe season of
1859-60 and 1861, very large numbers were met with
throughout the county, as usual consorting chiefly with
the chaflinches, and frequenting stack-yards and farm
premises during the frost and snow. Several specimens,
netted towards the end of February, had already acquired
the black head, peculiar to the breeding plumage, and
a few stragglers still remained as late as the 30th of
March. The general time of their leaving, however,
appears to be about the middle of March, although
their appearance as late as the 27th of April is re-
corded by Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear. Mr. Hunt,
referring to the numbers that have at times occurred
in this coimty, states, ^^that one individual, in the winter
of 1825 caught seventeen dozen and a half in the course
of one forenoon, and in the following year a great
number were taken at Criugleford." In the very sharp
VTinter of 1863-64, scarcely any were netted before
Christmas, but in the following February, large flocks
of more than a hundred together were seen at Cossey,
and many beautiful specimens were taken by the bird-
catchers. The late long and severe winter (1864-5)
has been also remarkable for the abundance of this
sprightly and attractive species, whose southward mi-

BKAMBLING. 203

gration, in extraordinary quantities, was witnessed under
the following- singular circumstances. Mr. Samuel Blyth,
whose local observations, as a thoroughly practical
naturahst, I have before referred to, assures me that,
just prior to the very sharp weather that set in about
the middle of Januaiy, he noticed at Framingham, near
Norwich, for several successive days, large flights of
birds passing low over the fields in a southerly direction.
They appeared always at the same time, from about
half-past three till nearly dusk, flying for the most pai-t
level with the fences, occasionally having to rise at them
when higher than usual. After noticing them for
several days, he at last shot into one large flock at about
sixty yards, and dropped one bird which proved to be a
Brambling, and the same result followed on two subse-
quent occasions. In order to ascertain if they were
really making a continuous flight, or merely returning
to some favourite roosting place, after a foraging
expedition during the day; he watched for them, on one
occasion, from the early morning, but not one was seen
to come from the contrary direction. At the usual
time, however, in the afternoon, large flights again
appeared in their accustomed line, keeping straight
on with a sort of settled purpose, so noticeable in other
species on their migratory course."^

* The following equally curious statement, respecting the migra-
tion of this species, appeared in a letter to the " Times" (March
23rd, 1865), from Mr. A. E. Atkins, of Famham Court, Slough :—
" Some of your readers may be interested by the mention of a fact
which in this neighbourhood, at least, is without parallel ' in the
memory of the oldest inhabitant.' A large flock of bramblefinches
have taken up their residence in Stoke-park. Their numbers may
be estimated when I state that the flight, which was seen starting
from their roosting place one morning, continued streaming on
without intermission for thirty-five minutes. The person who
noted this killed forty-five at one shot. I may mention that before
they came to their new quarters thousands of starlings congre-
2 D 2

204 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

The brambling thrives well in confinement, and is a
sprightly handsome bird, though rather incHned to be
spiteful to its fellow captives ; it is also peculiarly
wakeful, and its sharp call note is heard at all hours
of the night on the slightest disturbance. Its migratory
instinct is also strongly marked in sprmg by an in-
creased restlessness during the day, and a constant
searching for any means of escape; whilst the call of
the male bird is repeated night after night (more
particularly at the time of the full moon), from the
beginning of April till about the end of May. This
feverish state of excitement, moreover, recurs periodi-
cally in specimens, which have been kept in confinement
for several years, but I have not remarked the same
symptoms in autumn, the additional infiuences of the
breeding season no longer existing. Mr. Hewitson
(Eggs Brit. Bds., 3rd ed.) gives an interesting account
of the nesting of the brambling, in the aviary of
the late Mr. Dashwood, at Beccles, Suffolk, and
Messrs. Gurney and Fisher have recorded a similar
occurrence near Norwich, in the aviary of Mr. Chas.
Barnard, of this city, who has for many years paid
much attention to the rearing of cage birds, and has
been particularly fortunate with this species. In 1842,
he had a nest and two eggs, both of which were removed
and found to be good ; in 1843, one nest with two eggs,
and subsequently four more in a second nest which was
accidentally destroyed ; and in 1844, the same pair also
laid two eggs, as in all previous instances, during the
month of June. From that time this species did not

gated there nightly, but since this invasion of northerners the
ancient inhabitants have been dispossessed; but they have not
forgotten their former homes, and now that returning spring has
warned our new friends to seek more quiet quarters before pau-ing
and building time comes upon them, the starlings are again
making their appearance in great numbers."

BRAMBLING. 205

again attempt to breed in his aviary tUl 1862, wlien a
pair built one nest and laid four eggs, two of wbicb are
now in the museum collection; and in 1863 and 1864,
the same birds paired as before, and with a like result ;
in the latter season, however, young birds were hatched
for the first time, though subsequently found to have
been thrown from the nest, either by their parents or
some other bird. In June, 1861, a pair of my own
showed evident symptoms of having paired off, and as
the cock bird exhibited a very jealous disposition, I
removed the young couple to a breeding mew, by
themselves, giving them an ordinary nest-box and
building materials. The hen bird began nesting at
once, but made slow progress at first, almost invariably
pulling out with her feet the moss or wool she had
carefully arranged with her beak. As the wooden
sides of the box seemed rather to incommode her,
I filled it up with part of a chafiinch's nest, and
by the 23rd she had completed her own, on this founda-
tion, composed of moss, wool, and grasses. The male
bird did not assist, but was exceedingly amorous and
attentive, and both indulged frequently and freely in a
bath. At this stage of proceedings the hen bird,
unfortunately, was taken ill, and no eggs were laid,
though she seldom quitted the nest except for food. On
the 30th, to my great surprise, I found the whole struc-
ture pulled to pieces, and from that time all advances on
the part of her mate were violently repelled by the hen
bird. On July 2nd, a second nest was built on the old
foundation, and the hen remained sitting at times, but
eventually she abandoned it, when I turned them off
again into my aviary, and though the same pair survived
for two seasons after, they did not again evince any
inclination to breed.

The beak in this species, as in many others, varies
in colour at different seasons, being blue black in

206 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

summer and yellow in winter. A singular variety, in
many points resembling the beautiful specimen of the
chaffinch, obtained at Brooke (p. 201), was killed from
a flock at Melton, near Norwich, in December, 1844,
and is very accurately figured in Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher's " Birds of Norfolk," with the following descrip-
tion (Zoologist, p. 1311) : — "With the exception of a
brown patch on one or two feathers of one side of the
tail, this specimen was entirely white, the greater part
of its plumage being also pervaded with an elegant tint
of yellow, which particularly showed itself on the sides
of the head, and on the edges of the quill feathers of the
wings and tail, as well as on the feathers under the
wings. The colour of these latter, which is usually
yellow, was remarkably bright in this specimen, and
extended over a greater space than usual." It is
particularly remarked of this species, by Messrs. Shep-
pard and Whitear, that Mr. Scales, of Beechamwell,
" used to consider them of service to his land, from their
devouring, in great abundance, the seeds of the knot
grass. Polygonum aviculare.'*

PASSER MONTANUS (LimiEeus).

TREE-SPAEROW.

The extremely wary nature of this species, with
its ahnost mouse-hke habit, of creeping out of sight
upon the least alarm, renders it somewhat difficult to
speak with certainty of its local history; but although
apparently confined to certain districts, and nowhere
plentiful, it is resident throughout the year and breeds
with us. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear state that they
received a specimen " from the Rev. H. Tilney, of Hock-
wold, at which place it breeds," and add, ^^Mr. Scales

TREE-SPARROW. 207

pointed out to us this species at Beechamwell, and
favoured us with, its eggs." I have myself also seen the
eggs of this species on one or two occasions, brought in,
bj lads, to our Norwich bird-stufPers, although unable
to ascertain in what situation the nests were found.
Yarrell describes them as building " in the thatch of a
barn, in company with the house- sparrow, not however
entering the thatch from the inside of the building like
them, but by holes in the outside ;" also in the deserted
nests of magpies and crows, in which they form ^' domed
nests," and my friend, Mr. Alfred Newton, informs me
that they nest frequently in pollard willows, and that
he took a nest, so placed, on the 5th June, 1853, at
Wangford, in Suffolli:, but adjoining this comity, between
Brandon and Lakenheath. In winter, and particularly
in sharp weather, they appear to disperse themselves
more freely in search of food, and a few stragglers are
then netted in the stack-yards by our bird-catchers, or are
shot with other birds in a common flock. Mr. Dix informs
me, that at such times, he has observed them frequently
at West Harling, some eight or ten coming to feed at
once, but he has never succeeded in finding a nest in that
neighbourhood. In January, 1862, a pair were killed
by Mr. J. H. Gurney, junr., in Catton Park, by a chance
shot into a thick bush, the birds being heard but not
seen. I have long imagined that some, at least, of our
winter specimens, particularly in localities where they
are never seen at other seasons, might be migratory
arrivals, but it was not tiU very recently that I met with
the following proof, as it were, of my former impression
in the same paper, by Mr. Ed. Blyth, in the "Field
Naturahst" (vol. i., p. 467), to which I before alluded
in my remarks on the migration of the redbreast and
the golden-crested wren. Mr. Blyth's informant, who
at that time (Oct. 8th, 1833), had just returned in
a coasting vessel from Aberdeen to London, says, —

208 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

"A flock of tree-sparrows settled on the ship, and
others of this species continued to arrive during the
whole day, as the vessel passed the Norfolk and Suffolk
coast, particularly when ofiP Hasboro', Yarmouth,
and Harwich. Their numbers increased at length to
upwards of a hundred, and they remained on board
until the vessel almost entered the Thames. The exact
direction from which they came could not be very well
ascertained, as they descended from an invisible height
in the air, to the call of those which were in the ship ;
and after wheeling two or three times round the vessel
to reconnoitre, joined their companions on board. They
appeared to arrive from the English coast, and there can
be little or no doubt but that they did so." I do not,
however, consider this latter remark against the proba-
bility of these birds visiting us at that season, since these
flights, in pursuing a southerly course, not far from land,
would appear to be coming /rom the English coast, when
merely seeking the rigging of a passing vessel, to rest
for awhile, or attracted towards it by the *^call" notes
of others. With regard to the authenticity of the above
statement, Mr. Blyth adds — " The number and variety of
the species, which my informant observed, are, indeed,
so extraordinary, that if I did not know my source of
information to be respectable, I should have felt great
hesitation in thus making it pubHc. I have seen, how-
ever, several of the birds which were taken on board,
and can quite safely vouch for the accuracy of all that is
above stated." In further corroboration also of the
migratory habits of this species, I extract the following
note, by Mr. E. H. Rodd, of Penzance, from the
"Field" (November, 1860): — "A Norwegian brig put
into Penzance a few days since, and among other inci-
dents of the voyage between Norway and England, the
master of the vessel mentioned that midway between the
two countries thousands of small sparrows passed and

TREE-SPAEROW. HOUSE-SPARROW. 209

alighted on the ship, covering the deck, &c. The birds
were exhausted, and soon died, and some half-dozen
were kept from mere curiosity to show to friends.
These were brought for my inspection, a day or two
since, by a person who begged them of the captain to
show me. The six specimens were all Passer montanus,
the tree sparrow; the mountain sparrow of Bewick."
In confinement the tree-sparrows are certainly the
shyest and most untameable of any birds I have ever
introduced into my aviary, .and even time seems to work
but little change in their wild nature, as on the approach
of any person, whether a stranger or not, they dash
about the cage in a reckless manner, and when ex-
hausted and panting with fright, will creep into any
corner, or dark spot, to escape notice. The beak in
this species, as in the common sparrow, becomes darker
in summer, being of a blueish lead-colour during the
nesting season, and according to my own observations,
whether frightened or not, these birds have, at times,
a singular habit of keeping their mouths open. I
can discover no external difference in the sexes, ex-
cepting that the white and bla,ck tints, on the throat
and sides of the head, are somewhat less vivid in the
female.

PASSER DOMESTICUS (Linnaeus).

HOUSE-SPAEEOW.

Whilst no one rejoices more than myself that the
wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter of our grain-
eating birds, by means of poisoned wheat, has been at
length prohibited by law, I cannot, even in defence
of my feathered favourites, ignore the fact, that the
almost total extermination of the Eaptorial tribes,
2 E

210 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

together with the raven, crow, and magpie, in these
game-preserving districts, necessitates the destruction
by %ome means or other of our too abundant finches.
That wonderful balance observable in the annual king-
dom, by which the necessities of each particular class
are made available to keep down the excess of others^
has been utterly disregarded, and in the same manner
that the undue slaughter of our insect-eating birds,
results in a plague of flies and caterpillars, so also the
persecution of hawks and owls occasions an undue
proportion of small birds, whose ravages, by some means
or other, must be kept within bounds. Let the net,
the gun, and above aU means the " clappers" be used as
of old, to scare the feathered marauders from the farmer's
corn, whose patience I admit is sorely tried, when he
sees whole rows of empty ears, extending some yards
into his fields, from the side of each fence; but before
he empties the full vials of his wrath upon those " brutes
of sparrows," let him pause and consider, for one mo-
ment, where would have been those crops, of which a
tithe is taken, had those very birds been wanting during
the spring and summer. All grain-eating birds feed their
young on insects. Those flocks of sparrows, greenfinches,
linnets, buntings, &c., so busy pilfering the ripening
grain, will pair again in spring, and hmidreds and
thousands of Httle mouths wiU open, every minute in the
day, to receive some insect atom from their parents'
beaks. Flies, caterpillars, grubs, and worms, of every
imaginable description, will then support these little
creatures in their earlier stages, and man, with all his
powers of thought and skill, would fight in vain against
those insect myriads, which none but the microscopic
eye of the bird perceives, none but our " feathered
friends" can keep in check. Amongst other noxious
insects destroyed, in immense quantities, by the common
sparrow is that destructive Melolontha, commonly

HOUSE-SPAEEOW. 211

called " chovies"* in both Norfolk and Suffolk. (Mr.
Alfred Newton informs me lie has seen the mouths
of these birds literally crammed with these pests of the
garden, the orchard, and the plantation). It is
also throughout the breeding season, a veritable fly-
catcher, as even the least observant j)ersons must have
noticed in their walks. Flitting amongst the thick
foliage of the trees, it searches the leaves with most
assiduous care, or perched on the house-top or an open
branch, springs suddenly into the air after the passing
insect, and turns and twists about upon the wing,
should it fail at first to secure its prey. As I now
sit writing, a pair of young sparrows, reared in the
eaves of the house, are revelling in the enjoyment
of their newly acquired powers, as they flutter along
the garden walks with their anxious parents. The
old birds, alternately, after their brief excursions,
bring back fresh dainties for those gaping beaks, of
which the fluttering, trailing wings of the nestlings,
bespeak then- full enjoyment. And this remember, with
untiring energy, goes on from the earliest dawn of our
long summer days, till late in the evening, and as has
been estimated, on good authority, a single pair of
sparrows, in one week, in thus feeding their young,
destroy about 3,400 caterpillars; yet, in spite of all

* The following description of the beetle to which this local
name applies, is from " Forby's Vocabulary of East Anglia," and
speaks volumes for the benefits conferred upon mankind by the
sparrow in checking the ravages of such insect plagues : —
" Chovy, s. a small coleopterous iusect, which invades gardens and
orchards in hot summers, in our sandy districts, and the imme-
diate neighbourhoods of them, in such swarms as to be nearly
equal to a plague of locusts ; devouring every green thing before
them. It is common to drive ducks into a garden, or swine into
an orchard, and shake the insects from the trees to be devoured.
But their numbers, constantly renewed, are often found insu-
perable."
2 E 2

212 BIKDS OF NORFOLK.

this, sparrow clubs, for the wholesale destruction of
these very birds, still exist in the country."^

Too common to need much description of their
habits, there is one in particular which annually
excites my warmest indignation, and that is the manner
in which the sparrows i)ersecute the house-martins, and
endeavour to take possession of their nests when built.
I am often obliged to come to the rescue and shoot the
intruders, even at the risk of disturbing the martins. In
the whiter the sparrows invariably roost in the martins'
nests, carrying in additional straws and other warm
materials. Their great fondness for dusting them-
selves is another troublesome habit, our newly raked
flower borders being constantly defaced by a succession
of little pit holes, where these birds have half buried
themselves in the enjoyment of a dust bath ; and in the
early spring they attack the crocuses, eating some small
portions of the flower and leaving the rest on the ground,
whilst in summer the tender shoots of the pinks and
carnations are equally attractive morsels. As a citizen,
the house-sparrow has certain habits and customs of its
own, but little noticed by ordinary observers. When
formerly residing in Surrey-street, I remember noticing
the invariable absence of these birds, from the garden,
during certain hours of the day. In the early morning,
and till nearly noon, we had always plenty in the apple
and pear trees, but from that time till late in the after-

* Under the appropriate heading of " The Geese and the
Sparrows," the following paragraph was recently inserted in the
" Sussex Express" : — " The thirteenth anniversary of the Sparrow
Club, Eudgwick, was celebrated with a dinner at the Cricketers'
Inn, on Tuesday last. On reference to the books, it was ascer-
tained that 6,313 birds' heads had been sent in by the members
during the year, 1,363 being contributed by Mr. W. Wooberry, to
whom was awarded the first prize. Mr. W. Botting, with 912,
claimed second honoiu's."

HOUSE-SPAREOW. 213

noon, not a bird could be seen, as I have proved over
and over again, when wanting to slioot one for a tame
kestrel. During- this interval, I have no doubt that
they regularly visited the fields and roads in close
vicinity to the city, as they were always back again
towards evening ; in autumn appearing just before dark,
to roost in the ivied walls, or the clematis and creeper,
by the side of the summer-house.

The late Bishop Stanley, in his ^^ Familiar History
of Birds" (p. 89), alluding to the range of the
sparrow, in all countries, extending with ^'^the tillage
of the soil," says, " From certain entries in the Hun-
stanton Household Book, from 1519 to 1578, in which
sparrows (or as they are there written spowes or
sparrouse) are frequently recorded, it would appear
that these birds took their place in the larders of the
nobility as delicacies with other game, from which we
may infer that they were at that time as rare in Norfolk
as they still are in some parts of Eussia, owing probably
to the same cause, viz., the limited state of tillage and
growth of corn." That the sparrow was jDrobably scarce
in that part of Norfolk (Hunstanton, near Lynn) in
those days is most probable, and for the causes alleged
by our late worthy Diocesan, but at the same time he was
in error in supposing that the term spowes, so frequently
met with in the L'Estrange " accounts," referred to our
Passer domesticus. The term spowe invariably occurs in
connection with knots, ring-dotterels, redshanks, and
other grallatorial species, common enough then, as indeed
they still are, upon the Hunstanton beach, and under
this name, as I shall hereafter be able to show, the
WJiimhrel was invariably designated in those old records.
Once only, in the same " accounts," is the word sparrouse
used, as "Itm xij. sparrouse of gyste" (articles given in
lieu of rent), and these being thus entered alone, were
in all probability real sparrows, brought as a delicacy by

214 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

some poor retainer. The colour of tlie beak in this
species, as in some others, changes with the season,
being' horn-colonred in winter, and jet black in summer.
White and pied varieties are not nnfrequentlj met with,
as shown by the specimens in the l^orwich Museum.

COCCOTHRAUSTES VULGARIS, Stephens.

HAWFINCH.

With a bird so difficult of observation as the Haw-
finch, from its excessive shyness, it is not easy to
determine whether the frequent discovery of its nests,
of late years, in this and other counties in England, is
owing to a change in its habits, or the more careful
researches of modern naturalists. Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher, in 1846, describe it as " a rare bird in Norfolk,
and, we believe, only occurs as an irregular migrant."
Yet Sir Thomas Browne, evidently referring to this
species, speaks of it as " a kind of coccothraustes, called
a coble bird, bigger than a thrush, finely coloiu'ed, and
shaped like a bunting. It is chiefly seen in summer
about cherry time ;" from which it would seem that, in
those days at least, it was not uncommon, and from the
season in which it was chiefly observed probably bred in
the county. That it does so now there is no doubt, and
with sufficient regularity to be classed as a resident,
whilst, as certainly, migratory specimens visit us during
the winter months, in some seasons appearing in con-
siderable numbers. For the last ten years I have never
known an autumn or winter pass without some examples
being brought in to our bird-stufiers for preservation,
the dates of their appearance extending from the middle
of November to the beginning of the following April.-
A large flight which visited Yarmouth during severe

HAWFINCH. 215

weather in January, 1823, is noticed by the Messrs.
Paget, and is also referred to in Sir Wm. Hooker's
MS., and in 1855 a considerable number aj^peared in
tliis neig'libourliood ; but probably the largest quantity
ever known to have visited this coast, occurred during
the long and severe winter of 1859-60. Between the
first week in December and the first week in April
of the ensuing year, upwards of forty specimens were
brought to one bird-j^reserver in this city, of which
nearly half were obtained in the neighboui'hood of East
Carlton and Ketteringham. A large flight also alighted,
about the same time, in a very exhausted state, in the
gardens near the denes at Yarmouth.

In 1856, a single bird was shot near Yarmouth,
on the 28th of April, which there is little doubt had
remained to breed in that neighbourhood, and in the
latter end of June of the same year, Mr. King, bailiff to
Lord Wodehouse, at Kimberley, observed an old bird
and three young ones on a greengage tree in his garden,
which adjoins the park. On fetching his gun, he suc-
ceeded in shooting one of the young birds, and the
others never returned again. This was the first time he
had observed them in summer, but in sharp weather he
had frequently seen them on some whitethorn trees in
the park, a not unusual resort of the hawfinch. These
particulars were very kindly sent me at the time by Mr.
King, and the young bird, the first Norfolk bred haw-
finch I had ever seen, is now in my possession. In this
specimen the head, neck, and upper parts are yellowish
oHve brown, and the throat yellow, but with no apparent
indication of the black patch common to both sexes in an
adult state. From that time till the summer of 1860, I
could learn nothing further as to their nesting in Norfolk,
but on the 2nd and 8th of May in that year two birds
were shot having the dark blue beak of the breeding
season, and one of them, a female, had evidently been

216 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

sitting. Besides these, on the 20tli of July a young bird,
exactly resembling my own specimen, was taken near
Attleborongh, and is in the jDossession of the Rev. W. J.
Partridge, of Caston rectory. In the following year
(1861) another female showing symptoms of nesting-
was shot on the 14th of June, and on the 29th a very
perfect nest in my possession was taken at Weston.
The man who found it stated that there were young in
it, but these had since died from over feeding. The
old bu'ds had been seen devouring the green peas in
the garden, and were beheved to have nested there
in the previous summer, as young lookmg birds were
observed, with the old ones, early in the autumn. In
April, 1863, a female was shot in the same locality at
Weston, and others were observed there throughout
the summer ; and on the 18th of June an old male was
shot at Tibbenham ; a female at Weston, on the 26tli ;
and about the same time a young bird was sent up
to Norwich for preservation from some other part of the
county. Again, in 1864, a magnificent pair in full
summer plumage were, I regret to say, shot on the
22nd of June, at Weston, and a nest was said to have
been found in a thick hawthorn hedge. They had
frequented a neighbourmg garden for the sake of the
green peas, remains of which were discovered on dissec-
tion. To the above evidences of their residence amongst
us I can now add, on the authority of Mr. Samuel Blyth,
that they have been observed to frequent the garden of
Mr. G. B. L. Knight, and an adjoining plantation, at
Tramingham, for the last three or four years, during the
summer months ; old and young appearing together ; and
a nestling, too helpless to take care of itself, was picked
up alive amongst the pea-sticks, where no doubt it had
been brought by its parents to feast on their favoui'ite
food.

That they also breed in the adjoining county of

HAWFINCH. 217

Suffolk will be seen fi'om the following extracts from
the " Bu7"y Post" : — ^About the first week in June, 1857,
a paragraph appeared in that journal, stating that a
nest of the hawfinch had been found in Ickworth Park,
containing five young ones. This statement drew, the
next week, some further information from another corres-
pondent, who says, " Some 24 or 25 years since, I saw
in the garden of Great Tinborough Hall, a nest of
young ones, and some had been reared in the garden at
least one year preceding. In the following June, Mr.
NichoUs, the then gardener, and a most enthusistic
naturalist, wrote me to pay him a visit, and in his
note he says, ^^we have two nests of the hawfinch
in the kitchen garden at this time, and one is on the
same tree you saw them last year. It is but a few days
since I saw a nest, full of young ones, in a garden in
the neighbourhood of Bury. It is perhaps rather sin-
gular that in aU cases the birds selected apple trees as
their abode. In addition to these we may add, that
last year a nest of young were reared in the pleasure
grounds of either Ampton or Livermere, at the moment
I forget which, but I believe the former place."

A very favourite resort of the hawfinch in winter
seems to be in the thick foliage of old yew-trees, afford-
ing both close concealment and food in the shape of
berries. In December, 1852, and January, 1853, I was
shown four of these birds which had been killed at
Taverham, near Norwich, as they passed in rapid flight
to and from the yew-trees near the haU. The gardener,
who shot them with much difficulty, described them as
the shyest birds he ever met with. Again, in the winter
of 1855, six or eight specimens were procured, at different
times, in the village of Blofield, where, as at Taverhamj
the great attraction appears to have been some yew-trees
in a garden. The man who shot them also spoke of the
great difficulty he had in approaching them, observing,
2 P

218 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

'^ They come with a very rapid flight, and pitch into the
yew-trees like sparrows into the ivy." Once there it was
almost impossible to catch sight of them, as they kept
amongst the thickest foliage, and it was only by con-
cealing himself that he obtained a chance shot, as they
rarely exposed themselves on an open branch, and on
leaving the trees they again flew with great swiftness.
Messrs. Gurney and Fisher refer to a specimen taken
some years back at Taverham, which, singularly enough
for so shy a bird, was captured alive in a pigeon-house.
The fact of the beak, in this species a most prominent
feature, having a seasonal change of colour, is thus
referred to by Mr. Doubleday* in the " Zoologist"
(p. 5098j : — " In the autumn and winter the bill, in both
sexes, is always flesh-coloured ; in March it begins to
change, and by the early part of April is of a deep
leaden blue colour, and continues so during the breeding
season." I have observed, however, in such birds as are
killed here, with the dark bill of the summer months,
the under surface of the lower mandible is not blue but
pink, becoming yellow in stuffed specimens.

COCCOTHRAUSTES CHLORIS (Linnseus).

GEEENFINCH.

This well-known and handsome species is stiU, I am
happy to say, a common resident in Norfolk, although
in some districts its numbers have been sadly thinned, of
late years, through the agents of the great " Caterpillars*

* I am sorry to say that Mr. Doubleday, wlio has for many
years studied the habits of these birds in Epping Forest, and
was the first to discover their nests in that locality, informs
me, in a recent letter, that they are now comparatively rare. " A
large portion of the forest (he writes), where this species used to

GREENFINCH. 219

Friends Society." The male Greenfinch, with the rich
olive green and yellow of its nuptial plumage, and the
flesh-colonred tints of its beak and legs has a very
striking appearance, and his varied notes, though some-
what harsh, are far from unpleasing, when heard amidst
the dense foliage of the trees in summer. It is a hardy
bird, as its stout thick-set figure would seem to indicate,
and frequenting the vicinity of stacks and farm-pre-
mises, remains with us, in flocks, throughout the winter,
while migratory individuals also occur in autumn on our
coast, passing southward with other allied and equally
famihar species.^ A singular double nest of this bird
is thus described by Mr. Gurney, in the " Zoologist"
for 1852 (p. 3577) : — "During the spring of this year,
in a thick bushy plant of an ornamental heath, growing
in a garden a few miles distant from Norwich, were
found two nests of the common greenfinch, which not
only were completely interwoven at the adjoining sides,
but were built on one common platform, a foundation of
fibrous roots and moss. Both nests were complete,

breed in considerable numbers, has been cut down, and I am afraid
what is left wUl soon be enclosed. The London bird-catchers have
also, for the last few years, hunted the forest over in May for the
nests of the hawfinch, finding a ready sale for the eggs, and have
caught the old birds with bu'd-lime when the nests contained
young ones."

* Mr. H. L. Saxby, in his " Ornithological notes from Shet-
land (Zoologist for 1865, p. 9488), thus alludes to the migratory habits
of this species, as observed, though apparently as an unusual circum-
stance, in that island : — " During the early part of ISTovember, green-
finches arrived in immense flocks, which were chiefly composed
of females and young birds, although there were many fine old
males among them. Up to the 28th of last October, only one
individual of this species had been known to occur in Unst. Veiy
large numbers roosted in the garden even a few nights ago, and
many were captured as they flew against the windows after dark.
None of the inhabitants to whom I have spoken upon the subject
have seen this bird before."
2r2

220 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

except tliat one of them was deficient in interior lining.
Wlien found, I understand there was one egg in each
nest, but it was not ascertained whether the nests
belonged to two pairs of birds or only to one pair."
In the same volume of the "Zoologist" (p. 3388), Mr.
Gurney has also recorded the singular fact of a hybrid,
between the greenfinch and the common linnet (Linota
cannahina), having been captured in a wild state in this
county. This remarkable specimen was netted at Easton,
near Norwich, in 1851, by Mr. Edward Fountaine, and
was afterwards kept in confinement. An exactly similar
bird, now in my possession, was netted near this city by
a bird-catcher named Carr, in February, 1865, and ex-
hibits, in the most striking manner, the chief character-
istics, in plumage, of the greenfinch and coramon hnnet,
whilst the beak and general form of the bird is inter-
mediate between the two. So marked indeed are these
double features, that I felt certain, from the moment
I first saw it, that it could only be a hybrid between
the above named species; and Mr. Fountaine, who
examined it subsequently, recog-nised in it at once
the /etc simile of his own specimen. The following is as
accurate a description of its present appearance (May,
1865), as I am able to give in writing, and I am par-
ticularly anxious to keep it alive, to observe, if any,
and what changes may occur in its plumage. Its voice
even partakes of its double origin, the shrill call note of
the greenfinch being combined with the soft trill of the
linnet, as I have been able, satisfactorily, to determine,
the hybrid being kept, in a cage, close to my aviary,
in which both greenfinches and linnets are in full song.
Beak, bluish flesh-colour on the upper mandible, light
pink on the lower. Head, neck, and back hau'-brown,
with a greyish tinge on the sides of the neck and around
the eyes, Irides hazel. The colour of the back want-
ing the rich chesnut of the linnet in summer, but less

GREENFINCH. 221

mottled than iii the same bird in winter, with the shaft
of each feather very dark. Wing-coverts dull chesnut.
Primary qnills nearly black, the outer margins, which
in the linnet are white, being in this bird yellow as in
the greenfinch. Secondaries blackish brown, broadly
edged with rufous. Upper tail-coverts sulphur yellow.
TaU feathers very dark brown, the two middle ones,
slightly tinged with yellow on the outer edge, the re-
mainder considerably forked, and having their narrow
outer edges bright yellow, and the inner webs broadly
margined with white as in the common linnet ; the
yellow occupying the same proportion as in the green-
finch. Throat, chin, and breast brownish white, strongly
tinged with yellow, becoming nearly pure white on the
lower parts of the body and vent. Legs and toes
brownish pink, claws black.

Our Norwich fanciers occasionally cross this species
with the canary, of which I saw a young brood in the
autumn of 1864, very odd looking birds, but retaining the
distinguishing characteristics of the greenfinch, in the
beak and general stoutness of figure. Being of no repute,
however, as songsters, this breed is but seldom attempted.
Varieties are but rarely met with. A curious speci-
men, in my own collection, netted at Hellesdon, in
February, 1862, has the ground colour of the plumage
light grey, changing to brown on the quill feathers of
the tail and wings. The back, wing-coverts, sides of
the head and breast, in this bird (a male) are also more
or less tinged with yellow, the outer edges of the
primaries and tail-feathers, with the upper tail-coverts,
being bright yellow. " Green Olf," as given by Forby, is
the more common name for this bird in Norfolk, and it
is also called the green linnet, to distinguish it from
the common grey or brown linnet.

222 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

CARDUELIS ELEGANS, Stephens.

GOLDFINCH.

This beautifal species is by no means uncommon
tliroughont the year, and though a large proportion of
our native birds apparently leave us for a time in the
depth of winter, some few still remain, and, like the
pied wagtails before referred to, shift for themselves
during the sharpest weather. The migratory habits of
the Goldfinch are well known to our bird-catchers,
although the flights that visit us in spring or autumn,
are small indeed in comparison with those observed in
more southern counties.^ From my own observation
of the birds netted in this neighbourhood, by far the
larger number are procured in the autumn, and a more
vivid colouring, as in many other continental visitants,
marks the plumage of adult birds. Messrs. Gurney

* Mr. Knox, in his "Ornithological Eambles," gives a most
interesting account of the migration of the goldfinch, as observed
on the Sussex coast both in spring and autumn, where, at either
season, its arrival is anxiously watched for by the resident bird-
catchers. Mr. Newman, in a recent paper on the "Migration of
birds in Great Britain" (" Field," AprU 22nd, 1866), has also given
the following remarkable statistics with reference to the same
species : — " Mr. Robert Gray, of Worthing, asserts that the bird-
catchers net, within a walk of Worthing, four or five hundred
dozen of goldfinches every October. The cocks fetch four or five
or sometimes six shillings a dozen, the hens about two shillings.
During one particular year, as many as eight hundred dozen were
taken." The Rev. Arthur Hussey has also ascertained by careful
enquiry, in the same locality, that "none are taken in January,
February, March, June, and July, about fourteen dozen of the
immigrants in April and May, the astounding number of seven
hundred and fifty dozen of the emigrants in October, and three
hundred dozen in the beginning of November."

GOLDFINCH. 223

and Fislier have alluded to a belief existing amongst our
Norfolk bird-catchers, "that both this species and the
bullfinch are polygamous to the extent of three or four
females to one male." I am quite unable to substan-
tiate this supposition in either case ; but even if
considered probable as regards the bullfinch, I think the
many little affectionate traits exhibited, in confinement,
by the present species opposed to any such impression.
Although the improvements in agriculture and the in-
creased cultivation of waste lands have deprived them
of many a " breezy common," locahties are not wanting,
rich in the attractions of groundsel and plantain, or
white with the down of the seeding thistle. In
summer, their beautiful little nests excite our wonder
and admiration in garden and orchard, whilst here and
there on the foul pasture or rough weed-covered bank,
we find them in busy groups, fluttering round the
thistle-heads, or passing from stem to stem with sweet
musical notes, as the bright red and yellow of their
lovely plumage glistens in the sun of an autumn
morning. Our Norwich weavers, so celebrated for
their breed of canaries, known far and wide as the
'* Norwich yellows," also cross the goldfinch with the
canary, which, in many instances, produces a very
handsome ^*mule," and though but Kttle esteemed for
song, it is still a lively cage bird, more endurable in
a room than the canary itself, whose powerful, and
sustained notes, jar upon the nerves with their thrilling
vehemence. Many of these birds, bred from a male
goldfinch and an extremely light-coloured hen canary,
exhibit the most exquisite variations of plumage, and
being hardy in constitution, are by no means difiicult
to rear. The linnet and siskin are, also, occasionally
crossed with the canary, in the same way. Sir Thos.
Browne thus refers to the capture and training of this
species in Norfolk, some two hundred years ago, on

224 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

precisely the same plan as that adopted by our
fanciers at the present day : — " A kind of antJms,
goldfinch, or fool's-coat, commonly called a draw-
water, finely marked with red and yellow, and a
white bill, which they take with trap cages in Norwich
gardens, and fastening a chain about them, tied to a
box of water, it makes shift with bill and leg to draw
up the water into it from the little pot hanging by
the chain about a foot below." I once saw a goldfinch
which, as is not unfrequently the case with the bull-
finch, had become quite black in confinement from
feeding too freely on hempseed.^ The head was darker
than the rest of the plumage, and had a deep bluish-
black tinge, the general shape of the bird, and the beak,
alone affording any clue to its identity. Tliis is the only
instance of the kind in this species I have ever met
with, although a bird so generally kept in confinement.
A common name for this bird in Norfolk and Suffolk
is ^'King Harry," or King Harry Redcap, in contra-
distinction to King Harry Blackcap, applied to the
blackcap warbler (Curruca atricapilla).

CARDUELIS SPINUS (Linn^us).

SISKIN.

The pretty little Siskins visit us regularly towards
the end of autumn, and again on their return north-
wards about the end of January, but their numbers vary
considerably in different seasons, and are not always
dependent upon the severity of the weather. I have
met with parties of ten or twelve in a flight, in planta-

* Mr. Newman has recorded in tlae " Zoologist" (p. 4994) the
fact of a hawfinch, kept in confinement for six years, having
become almost entirely black from the same cause.

SISKIN. 225

tions, as late as the 27tli of January, twittering amongst
the top branches of ash and fir trees, but except in
solitary cases have never known them to be observed
later. A Norwich bird-catcher assured me that on one
occasion he caught a hen siskin in May, which appeared
to have been nesting, but this in all probability had
escaped from confinement, as some of my ovm birds
have done occasionally. As cage pets, I know none
which so soon become tame and contented with their
new existence, but, like the redpoles, they are liable to
grow too fat, from over feeding, with but little exercise.
A very interesting account of the nesting of a pair of
siskins, in confinement, at Yarmouth, was inserted in
the "Zoologist" for 1845 (p. 1065), by Mr. John Smith,
of that town. The nest is described as very neat and
substantial, composed of moss, and a little cotton wool,
mixed with other materials from old nests supplied, and
was principally the work of the female. It was built on
some soft green moss, placed at one corner of the bottom
of the cage, and the first egg was laid on the 6th of
June, and six were deposited by the 12th, when the
whole were removed, being required for Mr. Smith's
collection. I have at the present time a live pair, of
which the male by some accident has lost the use of one
wing, but, in spite of this drawback, he seems perfectly
happy, climbs about the wires with his bill and feet, and
nimbly follows my hand to feed on the proffered
groundsel. Unable, from his injury, to fly up from the
bottom of the aviary, a slanting perch is always placed
against one side, up which he climbs to the lowest wire
work, and then ascends to his usual roosting place, the
whole proceeding being accomplished in the most
methodical manner, and with evident appreciation of
the ladder supplied to him.

It is very amusing to study the different tempera-
ments, or individualities, if one may use the term,
2 G

226 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

of birds in confinement. I often supply my own pets
with a feast of green food, to observe tbe various
traits and passions excited by tlie sudden treat —
greediness and generosity, anger and gentleness, dignity
and impudence, alternately marking the character of
each feathered inhabitant. The cock brambling ill-
treats his wife, and pecks at the chafl&nches, the hen
brambling revenges herself on a hen linnet, and though
in full possession of a dainty morsel prefers fighting to
eating. Presently a male greenfinch drives her in turn
from the illgotten store, and conscious of superior
strength, finishes it undisturbed. In another quarter a
larger piece of groundsel is causing all sorts of unplea-
santness amongst goldfinches, siskins, and redpoles. The
hen bullfinch snaps at her mate, and insists on satisfy-
ing her wants before him, whilst he, in bodily fear of his
spouse, looks the very image of a hen-pecked husband.
Tired of watching her, he now dashes amongst the
redpoles and other smaller fry, and taking their share to
himself, plays bully to perfection. What a burlesque on
man ! Wlio does not know the pompous wordy tyrant,
who, having found his match at home, revenges himself,
for his domestic littleness, by hectoring all he dares
amongst his fellows ? Great, greedy bullfinch ! Bunt-
ings, chafiinches, linnets, all give way before him, as
he flits from sprig to sprig, not so much enjoying the
feast as upsetting those who do. But now comes a
little champion, a very David to that proud Goliath ! and
in an instant the tiny siskin male, with open beak
and angry notes, drives at his ruddy breast, and bully
fairly scared, makes an abrupt retreat. Generous as
brave however, the little hero feeds with the redpoles,
and others of his size, in perfect harmony, though
ever ready to assert his rights. Yet all siskins are not
equally plucky, nor all bullfinches and br amblings
spiteful and pugnacious, so varied are the individual

SISKIN. COMMON LINNET. 227

peculiarities observable iii the same species. The great
snow-buntings caring little for this green food, keep by
themselves upon an upper perch, and gTavely watch the
noisy crowd ; too gentle to resent the spiteful snappings
of the passing birds, whilst treating with contempt such
Kttle foes. And thus, amongst the feathered race, we find
the semblance of our human faihngs, with here and there
our virtues copied too. Studying each little trait, the
mind reverts to scenes in which as strange a diversity of
character has presented itself amongst the members of
a public school. Who that has seen some fresh caught
bird, panting and frightened from its recent capture,
turned loose amongst its future mates, but has felt some
sympathy for that little stranger; remembering, only
too well, the awful day when he himself was " the new
boy ?"

LINOTA CANNABINA (Linnaeus).

COMMON LINNET.

Common throughout the year and breeds with us,
migratory arrivals in very considerable numbers adding
to the flocks in autumn. Old males of this species,
netted, with the rose-coloured breast, at the close of the
breeding season, will retain the same in confinement
throughout the winter, but once lost through moulting,
it is not re-assumed. The general effect, however, of
cage life upon the linnets and redpoles, appears to be, to
change their red tints into dull yellow, and on one
occasion I shot a male linnet in summer, out of a small
flock, which had a yellow instead of a rose-coloured
breast, even in a wild state. Varieties of this species
are not often met with, but Mr. T. E. Gunn, in "The
Journal of the West Riding Naturalists' Society," (p.
148), describes one, netted at Costessey, near Norwich,
2 g2

228 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

in the winter of 1863^ as "a male bii'd, with, a band
of white feathers extending quite round its neck,
having the appearance of a collar at a distance." I
once found a nest of the brown or grey linnet, as this
bird is respectively called in its summer and winter
plumage, in a small bush on Smiingham broad, com-
posed entirely, inside and out, of moss gathered from
the surrounding marshes. Nothing but the eggs could
have identified it as belonging to the common linnet,
the bhd having in this instance so entirely discarded
its usual style of nesting, and contented itself simply
with the materials nearest at hand.

LINOTA CANESCENS (Gould).
MEALY EEDPOLE.

The Mealy Eedpole can scarcely be called an annual
winter visitant, although flocks of more or less extent
may be met with in several consecutive seasons; but
now and then, from some cause not easily explainable,
their total absence is remarked upon by our bird-
catchers, and as I have frequently experienced when
most wanting a specimen to supply some loss in my
aviary, not a bird has been netted the whole winter
through. Their appearance and numbers also, as with
the more common species, cannot always be accounted
for by the severity of the weather (in this country
at least), either at the time of, or subsequent to, their
arrival on our coasts. In 1847 and 1855, the latter
a very sharp winter, they were extremely plentiful ;
and in 1861, from the middle of October to the
close of the year, probably the largest flocks ever
noticed in this district, were distributed through-
out the county. Hundreds of them were netted by

MEALY REDPOLE. 229

the bird-catcliers, being- far more plentiful tlian the
lesser species, and many still retained the rich flame-
coloured tints of the breeding season. Yet the weather
throughout this period was not unusually severe ; and in
the previous winter of 1860-1, hardly a bird was taken,
though remarkable for its intense frosts; and again in

1863 and 64 they were equally scarce, with an almost
equal degree of cold. I am not aware that the nest of
this species has ever been found in Norfolk; but Mr.
Alfred Newton has recorded in the "Zoologist" (p.
2382) the occurrence of a male specimen, in full
breeding plumage, at Eiddlesworth, in July, 1848,
which he had '^ no doubt had bred there" ; I was also
assured by one of our Norwich bird-catchers, that in
the spring of 1862, after the large influx of the previous
autumn, he observed a flock of twenty or thirty as late
as the middle of April. Both the mealy and lesser
redpoles, from their tameness and engaging actions,
are most desirable additions to the cage or aviary, but
from their happy contented natures are liable to grow
too fat, and like ortolans, when over fed, drop off the
perch in a fit of apoplexy. Mr. Charles Barnard, of
this city, before mentioned as so successful in breeding
the bramblings in confinement, had a brood of young
mealy redpoles, hatched off in his aviary at Stoke, in
July, 1860, a very uncommon circumstance with this
species. A pied variety of this bird, also an unusual
occurrence, is recorded by Mr. T. E. Gunn in the
" Journal of the West Riding NaturaHsts' Society" for

1864 (p. 148), which was killed at Heigham, near Nor-
wich, in the winter of 1857.

230 BIRDS 0¥ NOKFOLK.

LINOTA LINARIA (Temminck) «

LESSEE EEDPOLE.

The Lesser Redpole may be classed as a resident in
Norfolk, as well as a regular and, in some seasons, very
numerous winter visitant, its nests being found year
after year in certain favourite localities. I have known
as many as four taken in one summer from a garden at
Bramerton, which has been a favourite resort of these
little creatures for a considerable time, and they also
breed regularly at Eaton, near Norwich, from whence
I have had the young birds in August, as well as their
delicate blue and speckled eggs, and the exquisite Httle
structure in which they are laid. In these locahties,
the nests have been mostly found in the apple and
cherry trees, but Mr. Alfred Newton, in a communica-
tion to Mr. Hewitson (Eggs Brit. Birds, 3rd ed.), re-
marks that near Thetford, where it also breeds yearly,
the nests are placed " close to the trunk of the tree in
plantations of young larch firs of no great height,'*
though he once found one at least sixty feet from the
ground, and placed near the outer end of a branch.
In Suffolk, several nests have been found by Mr.
Dashwood in the neighbourhood of Beccles. Like
the two preceding species, the lesser redpole often re-
tains in confinement, throughout the winter, the rosy

* As this species is almost entirely replaced in Scandinavia by
the preceding one, it is clearly the mealy redpole which Linn^us
described under the name of Fringilla linaria; but as I have
endeavoured in this work to follow the nomenclature of Yarrell's
" British Birds," I retain the specific name " linaria," with that of
Temminck as the authority for it — he having been the first orni-
thologist who mis-applied it in this sense.

LESSEE KEDPOLE. TWITE. 231

tints on tlie head and breast, which properly denote
their breeding pkmiage. A male m my aviary netted
in November, 1863, and chosen from many for the
beauty of its plumage, did not lose its pinky hue until
the autumnal moult of 1864. Once lost, however, by the
actual shedding of the feathers, the red breast is not
re-assumed, and even the red poll changes to a dull yellow,
the effect no doubt of an artificial state of existence.
Like the mealy-redpole and the little siskins, this species
becomes a most engaging pet in confinement; indeed,
can hardly be said to be otherwise than tame, from the
moment of its capture, so fearless and contented does it
appear under any circumstances. I have frequently seen
these little creatures, like the true ^' draw- waters,"
fastened to an open perch by one leg, and with a little
bucket and chain attached to the drinking glass, raising
their own supplies of water to a level with their beaks.

LINOTA MONTIUM (Temminck).

TWITE.

The Twite is, I believe, only an occasional visitant
to Norfolk, on its migratory course, passing southwards
in autumn, and again re-appearing for a brief space in
the spring. In this neighbourhood, at least, judging
from the few birds in any season netted by our bird-
catchers, it rarely appears in any numbers, and is
decidedly scarce in comparison with the siskin or either
species of redpole. A few were taken near Norwich
during the extremely severe weather that prevailed in
January, 1861, and from that time until the middle of
October, 1864, when some four or five pairs were also
captured close to the city, I had neither seen nor heard
of them hereabouts. A smaU flock observed at Eaton in

232 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

December, 1864, preceded, by a few days only, tlie heavy
snow which set in during the following week, and I
think generally their appearance amongst us is indi-
cative of approaching sharp weather. Mr. Dowell has
found them in several instances frequenting the Blakeney
harbour in winter, feeding on the samj)hire in small
flocks, and a male killed there on the 4th of March, 1847,
had assumed the red feathers on the rump, peculiar to
the breeding season, and others had slight traces of the
same colour. A small flock, which consorted with a few
of the common linnets, were also seen throughout the
autumn and winter of 1852-3, in one favourite locality,
near the pilot's house at Blakeney. Messrs. Sheppard
and Whitear* likewise allude to the partiality of this
species for '^the seeds of the marsh samphire (SaUcornia
herhacea) and sea starwort (Aster tripolium) ,'' and state
that they are found in the salt-marshes near Yarmouth,
so that it is not improbable that those which visit us
in winter may remain in the vicinity of the sea coast
until driven inland by stress of weather. The above
authors were also informed, by the late Mr. Scales,

* A very remarkable confirmation of the migratory habits of
certain birds of the finch tribe, is also recorded by Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear in the following terms:— "At half-past
five o'clock in the morning of March 20th, 1820, a very extraordi-
nary migration of small birds was witnessed at Little Oakley, in
Essex. The attention of the observer was arrested by an un-
common chattering of birds, and looking up he beheld an in-
credible number of small bnds, fljT.ng a-breast in a line extending
as far as the eye could distinguish them, and three or four yards
deep. Their direction was towards the south-east, the wind
favouring them ; their height only a few yards from the ground.
The flock was supposed to consist principally of chaffinches,
linnets, twites, and bramblings. None of the two latter species
were seen in the neighbourhood after that time ; and there is on
those shores in the winter season an immense quantity of linnets,
more than can be bred in the neighbourhood."

TWITE. BULLFINCH. 233

'* that this species of finch visits Beechamwell very early
in the spring, and feeds upon the seeds of the alder as
they drop from the cones," and one example is said to
have been killed as late as the 23rd of May.

PYRRHULA VULGARIS, Temminck.

BULLFINCH.

This handsome bird is met with throughout the
year frequenting our gardens and orchards in spring,
and retiring into the smaller woods and plantations
during the nesting season, but it is by no means so
plentiful in Norfolk as in some other counties, and is
also somewhat local in its habits. So much has been
written upon the destruction of buds in our gardens and
orchards, by this species in particular, that I could
wish to introduce the following remarks by no less
an authority, on entomological subjects, than the
Editor of the "Zoologist," to the notice of every gar-
dener in the united kingdom. Writing on the larva of
Cheimatohia hrumata (Zoologist, p. 8699), he says, — •
**The apterous female of this very common species lays
its eggs in the crevices of the bark of various trees and
shrubs during November and December ; the larvae make
their appearance early in the spring, and commence
their destructive career, by eating into the young unex-
panded buds. At this time of the year, the bullfinches
and titmice render the most important service to the
gardener by their activity in devouring this little garden
pest." If to this essential benefit to man we add also
the consumption of innumerable seeds of thistles, and
other noxious weeds, to which they are particularly
partial; one individual, in confinement, having been
known (Zoologist, p. 9360) to eat two hundred and
2h

234 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

thirty-eight seeds of the spear-plume thistle (Cnicus
lanceolatus) in about twenty minutes, though plentifully
supplied with hempseed as well, I think we may ask for
this much maligned species some little consideration,
not only for its natural beauty but for those better
traits, which in fairness must be set off against any fail-
ings. I have before alluded to the plumage of this
bird not unfrequently becoming black, when in confine-
ment, from the effects of hempseed; but a curious instance
of this strange variation occurring in a wild specimen,
is thus recorded by Mr. J. H. Gurney in the " Zoolo-
gist" for 1854 (p. 4252) : — " Last autumn a gentleman
presented me with a bullfinch entirely black, which had
been found of that colour in a nest containing three
other young birds, all of the ordinary colour. This bird
has subsequently moulted, and in doing so has totally
lost its black colouring, and has assumed the ordinary
plumage of the female bullfinch." I know of no direct
proof of the migration of this species, but the extreme
brilliancy of tint in some males netted by our bird-
catchers in autumn, suggests rather a continental than
an insular origin, like the goldfinches before referred to,
which are undoubtedly foreigners. These may, however,
be only much older birds, which have acquired, through
age, a richer and deeper colouring. The provincial name
of "Blood Olph" is commonly applied to the bullfinch
in Norfolk, in the same way that " Green Olph" is used
to denote the greenfinch, as before stated.

PYRRHULA ENUCLEATOR (Linnseus).

PINE GEOSBEAK.

This rare species has occurred but in very few
instances in Norfolk, and the brief records respecting

PINE GROSBEAK. COMMON CROSSBILL. 235

it seem to consist of a statement by Messrs. Paget,
in their " Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth,'*
''That a flight of these birds were observed on Yar-
mouth Denes in November, 1822 ;" and the fact of a
pair having been shot at Raveningham, in the act of
building, as noticed by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher,
in their "Birds of Norfolk" (Zoologist, p. 1313).
Mention is also made by the latter authors of a pair
which were said to have built and laid four eggs in a
fir-tree, near Bungay (Suffolk) ; but in a subsequent
note, a doubt is expressed as to the accuracy of this last
account, from a comparison of the eggs then taken
with foreign specimens. Mr. Lubbock also in his
'' Fauna" remarks — "A pair are now preserved in Yar-
mouth, shot near that place, and which are said to
have had a nest, which was mifortunately destroyed."
This latter record, as I have recently ascertained from
Mr. Lubbock, was communicated to him by the late Mr.
Girdle stone, of Yarmouth, and he is also inclined to
believe, with me, that the pair of birds here alluded to,
are those entered in the sale catalogue of Mr. Miller's
collection, but which, with other rarities dispersed at
the same time, are probably no longer in existence.

LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, Linnffius.

COMMON CEOSSBILL.

This singular and most interesting species is a
frequent but very uncertain visitant, appearing gene-
rally in severe weather, and occasionally in considerable
numbers. Of late years I have notes of their appear-
ance in 1853-4-5 and 6, and again in 1860-1 and 2 ;
but with the exception of the winters of 1853-4, and
1861, the specimens obtained were very few, and those
2 h2

236 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

invariably during the spring months. One might have
imagined that the considerable increase in our fir-planta-
tions of late years, throughout the county, would have
caused these birds to visit us, not only more regularly,
but in far larger numbers than formerly ; but this does
not appear to be the case, nor am I aware of any
authentic instance of the nest or young of the Crossbill
having been found in Norfolk. It is still by no means
improbable that theyi^^may nest here, at times, though
passing wholly unnoticed amongst the dense foliage of
the Scotch and other firs, and the localities they frequent
being for the most part strictly preserved, few oppor-
tunities are obtainable for a careful search. The real
time of their breeding, however, is by no means gene-
rally understood, since their occasional appearance here
during the summer months, — as in May, 1856, when
three pairs were shot near Yarmouth; in 1862, when
several were procured in the same month ; and in 1855,
when a single pair were shot at Blickling on the 17th of
July, — is usually looked upon as an indication that in such
instances the birds had remained for nesting purposes;
whilst the observations of most modern naturahsts prove
that the crossbill nests rather in winter than summer, and
amidst the snows of more northern regions in January,
February, and March. So that our occasional visitants
in May, June, and July are not improbably stragglers on
their way southward, consisting of old birds with their
attendant broods. Mr. Wheelwright, so well-known to
the readers of the "Field" as the "Old Bushman,"
and whose admirable notes, founded on personal ex-
plorations, have done much to advance the science
of ornithology, thus speaks of the crossbill in Sweden
(Gould's Birds of Great Britain) — " The pairing season
begins about the middle of January, when both sexes
utter a very pretty song, -s^- -J?- -J^- They commence
nesting often in the end of January, always by the

COMMON CROSSBILL. 237

middle of February ; we have generally taken the first
eggs in March, and in the end of April we have shot
young flyers. They then appeared to leave us for the
summer, and we rarely saw them again till autumn.
That their periods of breeding are regulated by the
weather I do not believe, for a bird that can sit when
the snow lies deep on the forest, and the fir-trees are
covered (which is the usual case), would care little
whether the cold was a few degrees more intense than
usual." The same writer has also published in his
^' Spring and Summer iii Lapland," a very full and
apparently most satisfactory account of the various
changes of plumage in this species. Macgillivray, in
the appendix to his " British Birds" (vol. iii., p. 704),
gives a description of the habits of these birds as
observed by Mr. J. M. Brown, in Scotland, in which the
following passage occurs as to their early nesting : — " I
was attracted one day in the end of February, during a
heavy snow-storm, by the peculiar chirping of nestlings
in the act of feeding ; and on ascending the tree found
five or six crossbills almost fully feathered and quite
vigorous, notwithstanding the severity of the weather,
snugly huddled together in a nest composed of small
twigs externally, and lined with matted wool. In mild
seasons I suppose they breed even in this country in the
month of January." Two other instances are also given
by the same author, in which nests were discovered in
March and the beginning of April. St. John, Yarrell, and
Hewitson in like manner refer to the same peculiarity, the
latter remarking that, "their early period of breeding may
account for what puzzled us at the time — our seeing the
crossbills whilst in Norway, during the months of May
and June, always in flocks, most likely accompanied by
their young ones." I have more particularly drawn
attention to this subject, and given the above extracts in
the hope that individuals who take an interest in such

238 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

matters and may have the opportunity of searching our
fir-plantations, may do so at the season most likely to
afford a favourable result, and thus with care and
patience I have little doubt that, at least, the occasional
nesting of the crossbill in Norfolk, will become an
ascertained fact. Sir Thos. Browne^ from the following
note, evidently regarded this species, in his time, as
rather a summer than a winter visitant to Norfolk : —
" Loxias or curvirostra, a, bird a little bigger than a
thrush, of fine colours and pretty note, differently from
other birds, the upper and lower bill crossing each other ;
of a very tame nature, comes about the beginning of
summer. I have known them kept in cages ; but not to
outlive the winter." According to Messrs. Sheppard and
Whitear, nests have been found in Suffolk in two
authentic instances, in one case completed by the 26th of
March, and a notice of the appearance of the crossbill
in the same county during the winter of 1821-2, in
considerable numbers, was communicated by the late
Mr. J. D. Hoy, of Stoke Nayland, to " Loudon's
Magazine of Natural History" (January, 1834), and
will be found repeated also in Macgillivray's "British
Birds," vol. i., p. 426. Amongst other observations on
their singular habits, Mr. Hoy alludes particularly to
their tameness, both in a wild state and in confinement,
and speaks of catching numbers of them with a horse-
hair noose fixed to the end of a fishing rod, which he
slipped over their heads whilst busily feeding, and others
were secured with a limed twig. The cones of the larch
were cut off with the beak, and held firmly in both
claws, but to the Scotch fir and other larger cones they
would cling with their feet, whilst they extracted the
seeds with their bills in the most dexterous manner.
In 1853, when as before stated, crossbills were unusually
plentiful, as many as five pairs were shot at one time,
in a plantation at Bowthorpe, near Norwich, a very

COMMON CROSSBILL. PARROT-CROSSBILL. 239

favourite locality. In this instance, they exhibited a
remarkable indifference to the sound of a gun, merely
flying off to the next tree after each report, and
apparently unmindful of the loss of their comrades
till the whole flock was destroyed. They are ex-
tremely amusing in confinement, from their quaint
parrot-like actions, and are very tame and sociable. I
once saw an unfortunate specimen, which had literally
been starved to death through a malformation of the
beak, the upper mandible, instead of merely crossing
the lower, growing straight downwards to more than
half its natural length.

LOXIA PITYOPSITTACUS, Bechstein.

PAEEOT-CEOSSBILL.

This rare species, by no means easily distinguished
from large varieties of the common crossbill, has not
hitherto been included amongst the birds of Norfolk,
but since the publication of Messrs. Gumey and Fisher's
" List," in 1846, one authentic example, at least, has
occurred in this county, and entitles it to a place in the
present work. This specimen, identified by Mr. Alfred
Newton, was described by him in the "Zoologist" for
1851 (p. 3145), as killed near Riddlesworth Hall, where
it is still preserved in Mr. Thornhill's collection; and
the same gentleman also mentions a " fine red male,"
in his own possession, which was shot at Saxham, in
Suffolk, in November, 1850, and was purchased by him in
the following March from Mr. Head, a bird-preserver, at
Bury St. Edmund's. From that time I know of no
further record of the appearance of this bird in either of
the above counties until the following note was inserted
in the " Zoologist" for 1863 (p. 8845), by Mr. Thomas

240 BIBDS OF NORFOLK.

Huckett : — " Seven specimens of the Parrot Cross-
bill, five of them males and two females, were received
bj Mr. J. A. Clarke for preservation, having been killed
near Brandon, in Suffolk, on the 24th of October, 1863."
On communicating with Mr. Clarke, a bird preserver,
at Homerton, near London, he most obligingly fur-
nished me with the following particulars : — " They
were killed (he writes) on the Norfolk side of Brandon,
on some trees near the railway station, but are not in
very good pliunage, as they were shot when moulting.
My friend has three in a case, two males and one
female ; the other four he gave to me, and I preserved
two of them, the other two were so battered about that
I did not stuff them, but being rare birds I skinned
them, as I wanted some feathers from them to mend
one of the others." I am indebted to Mr. Clarke for
the two latter now before me ; but from the size and
form of their beaks, as compared with Mr. Newton's
(Saxham) bird, and a foreign specimen in the Norwich
museum (No. 126), there is no doubt that these are
merely fine examples of the common crossbill, wanting
the abrupt curvature and depth of the upper mandible,
peculiar to the larger species, also particularly wide
across the back of the head, indicative of increased
power in its stoutly built and compressed form of beak.
If, therefore, these two skins are identical, as they most
probably are, with the stuffed specimens, Mr. Huckett
has somewhat too hastily announced the appearance of
parrot-crossbills so plentifully in Norfolk. On the 2nd
of March, 1864, two more crossbills, both red males,
were also shot near Brandon, which, from their size,
were at first supposed to belong to the larger species,
and as such they are described by Mr. Gould, in his
^' Birds of Great Britain ;" but it is only right to add,
that he had not himself seen the specimens, but relied
upon the information sent him. One of these is now in

PAEROT-CROSSBILL. 241

the collection of Mr. Newcome, of Feltwell, who kindly
presented me with the other, and having recently sub-
mitted my own bird to the inspection of Mr. Alfred
I^ewton, and one or two other well-known authorities in
such matters, I feel perfectly satisfied with their de-
cision, that it can be considered only as one of the large
and very puzzling forms of the common crossbill. Mr.
Newton, in communicating the verdict as above, adds,
"Your specimen appears to me to belong to Brehm's
" Crucirostra montana/' which is the most parrot-like of
the sub-species, into which he divides Loxia curvirostra
of Linneeus. Its beak is almost exactly represented in the
plate, illustrating his paper, in "Naumannia" (1853,
fig. 9), and it is described by liim at length in the same
volume, pp. 188-190. Brehm makes six sub-species of
parrot-crossbill, and five of common crossbill, besides
distinguishing a lesser crossbill and a red-winged one,
the latter of which he divides into two sub-species."
This is indeed carrying to the very verge of absurdity
the too great tendency of certain modern naturalists,
to invent specific differences. Mr. Wheelwright thus
writes of the nidification of this rare species as observed
by himself in Sweden : — " The parrot-crossbill gene-
rally goes to nest a little later than the common
one. By the middle or end of April the young birds
are strong flyers, and we never find a nest with eggs
after that month. The nests of both species are very
much alike, but that of the parrot-crossbill is thicker
and larger than the other. It is built outwardly of
dried sticks, and with moss of two kinds, and lined with
shreds of the inner bark of the fir-tree, with here and
there a feather or two. The eggs of the parrot-crossbill
are often scarcely larger than those of the common
species, but they are usually shorter, and their markings
are of a bolder character. Their full number appears
to be three, for we very rarely find four in a nest."
2i

242 BIRDS OP NOKFOLK.

LOXIA BIFASCIATA, Nilsson.

EUEOPEAN WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.

Until within the last few years, it would seem that
under the name of the " White-winged Crossbill," two
distinct species had been hitherto confounded, and to
M. de Selys-Longchamps, the Belgian naturalist, belongs
the credit of j)ointing out and establishing the real
points of difference between the two forms — one, strictly
American, the other confined to the northern parts of
Europe. Under the original name of the white- winged
crossbill, the occurrence of various specimens in different
parts of England have from time to time been recorded ;
but the difficulty now presents itself of determining
which were American and which European, or whether
indeed individuals of both species have really occurred
in this country. Yarrell, in the third and last edition
of his *'^ British Birds," has devoted much space and
labour to the identification of these two birds, and
whilst admitting the difficulty above expressed, states
that five white-winged crossbills submitted to him for in-
spection, all killed in England, undoubtedly belonged to
the European species, and that of these one was killed
at Thetford."^ I am aware of but one bird of this
kind having been killed in Norfolk, and as that was
obtained in the neighbourhood of Thetford, I think
there can be little doubt that the one mentioned by
Yarrell, and that described below, are identical, and
that therefore the European species, the Loxia hifasciata
of Nilsson, may be fairly placed amongst the " Birds of

* This bird, formerly in Mr. Doiibleday's collection, was pre-
sented by him to Mr. Dix, of West Harling, who still preserves
the specimen.

ETJEOPEAN WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. 243

Norfolk." Witli reference to this Thetford specimen,
tlie following communication was made by Mr. C. B.
Hunter to the " Zoologist" (p. 1498) :— " Four or five of
these birds were observed on some fir-trees near Thet-
ford, in Norfolk, on the 10th of May last (1846), one of
which was shot, and came into the possession of Mr.
Robert Reynolds, bird-fancier, of Thetford. About a
week before this, Mr. Reynolds purchased a specimen
of a bird-stuffer at Bury St. Edmund's, which had but
just been set up, and was obtained in that neighbour-
hood." This latter example from Bury is now in the
possession of Mr. J. H. Gurney, and belongs most un-
doubtedly to the European species. Another white-
winged crossbill is also recorded by Yarrell, on the
authority of the late Mr. Hoy, but of which species is
not stated, to have been shot in Suffolk some years
since, from a flock of five or six, by Mr. Seaman, of
Ijpswich. The Norwich museum does not at present
possess an example of the European species, but the
following are the most marked distinctions, as shown
by M. de Selys-Longchamps, between it and the
American bird, the Loxia leucoijtera of Gmelin. — L.
hifasciata, larger in size generally, the beak almost as
large as that of the common crossbill and less com-
pressed, and the points less crossed over and less
elongated than in L. leucoptera. The plumage of a
duller red, and the tail feathers less forked and more
obviously bordered with yellow. To which may also be
added that the claw of the hind toe is shorter and not
so stout. One authentic instance of the American
species having occurred in England is mentioned by
Yarrell ; a specimen picked up dead on the shore at
Exmouth on the 17th of September, 1845, from which
the figure in the 3rd edition of his '^British Birds" was
taken.

2i2

244 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

AGELAIUS PHCENICEUS (Linn^us).

RED- WINGED STAELING.

There is no record of the occurrence of this American
StarHng, in a wild state, in England, until the 2nd of
June, 1843, when a specimen now in the possession of
Mr. J. H. Gurney, and purchased by him in the flesh,
was shot near Barton broad,^ The figure in Yarrell's
" British Birds" was taken from this bird, which is thus
described by Mr. Gurney in the " Zoologist" (p. 317), " a
male, in the plumage of the second year, and appa-
rently approaching the period of another moult. It was
in good condition ; its stomach filled with the remains
of coleopterous insects, and its plumage free from any
marks of having been kept in confinement." It was
also said to have been in company with another bird of
the same kind, and the locality in which it was found
is exactly in accordance with the habits of this species,
which, as remarked by Wilson, is called in America the
marsh blackbird or swamp bird. A second example is
recorded by Yarrell to have been killed "amongst the
reeds at Shepherd's Bush, a swamj)y situation, about
three miles west of London," in the autumn of 1844 ;
and very recently a notice appeared in the ^' Zoologist"
(p. 8951) of anothe? having been shot on the 25th of
December, 1863, at Sidlesham, Sussex. This bird was
purchased in the flesh by Mr. W. Jefiery, jun., of
Eatham, Chichester, who described it as in good con-
dition, and showing no signs of having been in con-
finement. It had some round black seeds in the
gizzard, and was killed out of a hedgerow.

* Not at Rollesby, as erroneously stated by Yarrell in quoting
a oommunication from the Rev. R. Lubbock.

AMERICAN MEADOW-STARLING. 245

STURNELLA LUDOVICIANA (Linnteus).

AMEEICAN MEADOW-STARLING.

The first example of tliis handsome species known
to have been killed in the British isles (or, I believe, in
Europe), was obtained in Suffolk in the spring of 1860,
as recorded in the " Ibis" for the following year (vol. iii.,
p. 177) by Mr. Sclater, the indefatigable secretary of
the Zoological Society. In the interesting paper in
which the above fact is communicated, the same gentle-
man also refers to the appearance, on several occasions
in 1854, at South Walsham, in this county, of a similar
bird, and from the authority on which tliis further
evidence is given, I feel justified in placing it also in the
Norfolk " List." The following are the particulars given
by Mr. Sclater of the occurrence of this rarity in both this
and the adjoining county : — " A short time ago the Rev.
Henry Temple Frere, of Burston rectory, near Diss, in
Norfolk, forwarded for my inspection a specimen of the
Meadow- Starling of North America (Sturnella ludovi-
ciana), stated to have been killed in this country in the
course of last year. Its plumage was in fine condition,
and did not show the slightest traces of the bird having
been in captivity. Indeed, though living examples of
this species have been occasionally brought to this
country, the meadow-starling is certainly not an ordi-
nary cage bird. I may mention that the aviaries of
the Zoological Society of London do not at present
contain a specimen of it. Being convinced, therefore,
that if the bird had really been killed in England it
might be regarded as a fresh addition to the already
numerous list of "accidental visitors" to these shores
from the New World, I requested Mr. Frere kindly to

246 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

ascertain all tlie particulars he could respecting the
time and place of its occurrence. In reply, Mr. Frere
informed me that the specimen in question was killed in
March, I860, by Robert Baker, servant to the Eev. T.
L. French. It was shot close to the railroad in a rough
meadow at Thrandeston, in Suffolk. At this time it
was picking about among the knots of earth, and would
not allow Baker to approach within thirty yards. Mr.
Frere also told me that he had good grounds for sup-
posing that this was not the only instance in which this
species had been observed in England, his brother-in-
law, Captain Jary, having on several occasions watched,
for some time, a bird of similar appearance at Walsham,
in Norfolk, in October, 1854. Caj)tain Jary, who
though not a scientific ornithologist, has a very good
knowledge of English birds, in answer to inquiries on
this subject, wi'ites as follows : — ' Having referred to
Sturnella ludoviciana in Audubon's plates, I am quite
sure it is the bird that I saw at Walsham, in the month
of October, 1854. I have it in my diary. I thought
when I first saw it that it might be a golden oriole.
The first time I observed it was in front of the house,
near a plantation. I had no gun with me or could have
shot it. I watched it for some time on the soft ground,
but heard no note. I saw it again next day in a
field among some larks; it flew away with a quick and
hurried flight. Two days afterwards I saw it a third
time, but I could not get a shot at it, as it flew away
when I was about seventy yards off.' After a subse-
quent examination of Mr. Frere's specimen, Capt. Jary
repeated his conviction of the bird observed by him
having been of the same species."

In some further remarks on the genus Sturnella and
its geographical distribution, Mr. Sclater describes the
American meadow-starling as *^a well known bird in
the United States of America and Canada, where it

AMEKICAN MEADOW-STARLING, 247

commonly goes by the name, of tlie meadow-lark, from
the strong- resemblance of its habits and flight to the
members of the genus Alauda. It has, however, in
reality nothing to do with the lark family, being strictly
a member of the American Icteridce or hang-nests.
This group takes the place of the starlings in the New
World, and is closely allied to them in structure ; but
besides other difierences its members have only nine
primaries in the wing, whereas in the starlings
(8turnicloe) of the Old World the tenth outer primary
is always present."^ A foreign specimen of this very
striking looking bird will be found (No. 129*) amongst
the '^ British Birds" in the Norwich museum.

STURNUS VULGARIS, Linnaeus.

COMMON STAELING.

The pert, lively, noisy starling, is one of my special
favourites ; everywhere frequenting our homes like the
sparrow, yet never absent from our walks, whether,
singly, hurrying to its nest in spring, or wheeling
in dark masses at the close of the breeding season. I
love to listen to its strange whistle, one of the earliest
indications of returning spring, when, on the first bright
sunny days in February, perched on the parapet or

* Mr. Sclater also gives the following references to the works
of American Ornithologists, in which accurate descriptions are
given of the appearance and habits of this well-known trans-
atlantic species : — Wilson's " American Ornithology," vol. iii., p. 20,
pi. 19, fig. 2 (where the bird is called Alauda magna) ; Jardine's
Ed. of Wilson (1832), vol. i., p. 311 ; Audubon's " Ornithological
Biography," ii., p. 216, and v. p. 4?2 (Sturmis ludoviciamisj ;
Audubon's " Synopsis of the Birds of North America," p. 148 ;
" Birds of America," pi. 136 ; Baird's " Birds of JNorth America,"
p. 635.

248 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

cliimney of the house, it utters a confused song, now
low, now shrill, and like the bafSing sounds of the
ventriloquist apparently coming from any point but the
right one. How statelily the old pair that nest in the
gable end of the house, pace up and down the fresh
mown grass-plot with no little runs, or hasty actions,
like the thrush and blackbird, but each foot firmly
placed ; and as with rapid movements of the head and
beak, they pick the insect atoms from the turf, the
sun glistens on their shiny plumes, whose rich metallic
tints show mingled shades of green and purple. In the
choice of localities for nesting purposes no little nook
about our homes escapes them. An open space beneath
the tiles or slates, the cap of the water pipe, if the
wood work is broken, some chance aperture in the eaves
or gable, are all made available for their young broods,
and none but the pert sparrow, who sometunes pays
dear for his impudence, attempts to disturb them.
Apart from our dwellings, the ivied wall, the hollow
.tree, the church tower with its many openings, or
venerable ruins, rich in the accommodation afforded by
the crumbling stonework, have all attractions for these
social birds, and though our sandy clift's are unsuited to
their purpose, they nest in large numbers in that re-
markable chalk formation, which crops out by itself on
the Hunstanton beach. Here they may be seen, in
summer, constantly passing in and out of the various
fissiu^es, where, far out of reach even of the most
venturous climber, they rear their young in the dark
recesses, and the whole cliff resounds with the cries of
the nestlings, awaiting the return of their respective
parents. In the more yielding surface of the brown
Carstone which adjoins the chalk, they either perforate
their own nest-holes, or enlarge for their use the pre-
vious borings of the little sand-martins; whilst here
and there, projecting straws and feathers show where

COMMON STARLING. 240

the lazy sparrow has taken possession, though the
starling is anything but exempt from the charge of
intruding in like manner uj)on the homes of others.
Being an early breeder, the young of the year in
their sombre brown may be seen in small flocks by
the middle of May, and later still, in June and July,
young and old together combine to form those enormous
masses which have at all times excited the atten-
tion of naturalists as they gather to their roosts in
the evening. By day one sees them scattered about in
smaller parties, in meadows and pastures, or in the rich
grazing marshes near the rivers and broads, and it is in
the neighbourhood of these last named waters, that in
Norfolk the cliief bulk of these birds may be seen
during summer and autumn. Sometimes when enjoy-
ing the delights of a cruise, one comes upon a flock of
many hundreds together, rising with one accord in
indescribable numbers, now lengthened out into an
immense grey line, now massed together in a dense
black cloud, as they turn and twist with a marvellous pre-
cision of movement. Sir Thomas Browne, far too good
an observer to pass unnoticed so interesting a sight, thus
writes of their collecting amongst the reeds at night —
*'l went to the marshes about sunset, where, standing
by their usual place of resort, I observed very many
flocks flying from all quarters, which, in less than an
hour's space, came all in and settled in innumerable
numbers in a small compass." Any traveller from Nor-
wich on the Yarmouth line, when looking towards the
river near the Brundall station, may see them between
seven and eight o'clock during the summer evenings,
making for the reed-beds on Surlingham broad ; and here
in some places, as I have had frequent opportunities of
witnessing, so great are the numbers thai nightly
assemble, that the reeds are literally trampled down
with their weight. To those at all interested in the
2k

250 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

habits of birds, I know few sights more likely to excite
wonder and admiration than the regular arrival of the
starlings from all quarters to any particular broad. As
long as ever daylight remains, the different flights may
be seen arriving and blending with the earher masses ;
now skimming over the reed- stems in their rapid
movements, now lost amongst the deepening shades
upon the marshes, and again appearing for a moment in
the last gleam of daylight on the water, and thus they
contmue their varied evolutions with no little noise and
bustle, till all are at length settled in their accustomed
resting places. To have any conception, however, of
the numbers thus collected together in no very large
amount of space, it is necessary to row quietly about
the broad some few hours later, when no sound but the
deep notes of the coots and water-hens, or the cry of the
dabchick, is heard m the stillness of the night. Pre-
sently, in passing the side of a reed-bed, a confused
rustling noise bespeaks the roost of the starlings. The
least splash of the oars, or the sound of the voice, sends
confusion amongst their ranks, whilst a shout or the
knocking of an oar on the boat-side causes an uproar so
loud and simultaneous, that I can liken it to nothing
but waves in a storm breaking heavily on a pebbly
beach. With the earliest appearance of daybreak,
these birds may be seen again departing, at first singly
or in detached parties, followed later by the main
bodies, and dispersing in all directions for their morn-
ing's meal. As soon, however, as sharp weather sets
in, and the reeds are no longer available for their roost,
the starlings leave the broads and seek more sheltered
quarters in the big woods, or ivied walls and shrubs
of our houses and gardens. That these immense flocks
are not altogether composed of our resident birds, is
evident from their being more frequently picked up at
the foot of our lighthouses than almost any other of

COMMON STARLING. 251

those common species whicli receive migratory additions
in autumn ; indeed, the late Bishop Stanley, in his
" Familiar History of Birds," states that in 1836 the
astonishing number of seventeen dozen starlings were
picked up near the hghthouse at Flamboro' head,
"killed, maimed, or stupefied," by flying against the
glass. A most extraordinary instance, however, of the ap-
pearance of these birds, in enormous masses, was kindly
communicated to me in the following graphic terms, by
Mr. J. G. Davey, of the Manor House, Horningtoft, about
five miles from Fakenham. Under date of September
4th, 1864, he wi-ites, — " One night last week I watched
a single flock, which appeared to extend over about Jive
acres as they were wheeling around, when another mass
came from the south-west ; I can form no estimate of the
number; the former flock I considered large till these
came, they also circled round and the smaller lot joined
this immense flock, and it seemed as if it was putting
twenty people into a London crowd, it appeared no
larger than before. They settled down in the wood in
two parties, and occupied about thirty acres. Having
been told that they killed the bushes and underwood, I
went the next evenmg to shoot at them and frighten
them away. There were not half so many as the pre-
vious evening. I got quite up to them and threw a
stone into the bushes, when they rose about fifteen
yards off, and I shot into them both barrels. They flcAV
round and alighted again; this I did shooting seven
times, and killing so many, that as I found I could not
drive them away I was disgusted at such wholesale
slaughter, and came away intending to be there earlier
and keep shooting to prevent their settling another
night ; but though a great many came, there were not
near so many as before. From whence so many come I
cannot conceive; in the day they go off" in smaU
parties to feed, and at an hour before sundown begin to
2 k2

252 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

return. I cannot think they were all English hatched
birds. Starlings build in churches and buildings.
Portion them off, therefore, so many to a church ; if you
like let a few go to chapel. But that is a question for
the mathematically minded naturalist or ornithologist to
determine." It would be impossible to account for such
an influx as this, otherwise than as caused by arrivals
from a distance, and this view is quite borne out by the
observations of naturalists in other parts of the king-
dom."^ The late Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, gives much
valuable information on this point in his " Birds of
Ireland," remarking from his own observations, " In
that portion of the north of the island with which I am
myself best acquainted, there is nothing irregular in the
migration of starlmgs ; they do not await any severity
of weather ; and although they may occasionally change
their quarters when within the island, yet of all our
birds they present the clearest evidence of migration, as
they are annually observed for several weeks to pour
into Ireland from the north, and wing their way south-
ward." As residents, also, the starlings are spoken of by
the same author, as by no means " generally spread
over Ireland as they are over England in the breeding
season ; but are confined to comparatively few favourite
localities, which are chiefly in pasture districts." Very
recently a notice appeared in the "Zoologist" (p. 9211)
of ^'an extraordinary arrival of starlings in Ireland"
during the month of June, 1864 ; more particularly re-
markable for their appearance, in large flocks, at so early a
season. In this instance they were seen to arrive " across
the sea as if from the Welch coast, due east, and pass
over the island in a westerly direction." Being an ex-
tremely sociable species, starlings may be seen con-

* In Professor Ansted's interesting work on the " Channel
Islands," the starling is described as a winter visitant only."

EOSE-COLOUEED PASTOE. 253

sorting together in small parties during every month
of the year^ and whilst some are feeding their first
brood, others in parties of eight or ten may be seen still
roving about, free from and apparently indiiferent to
parental duties. The same thing is however observable
in many other gregarious species. Flocks of sparrows
still frequent our farm premises, whilst others are busy
nesting, and even in the middle of May I have found
skylarks congregated together, and paired couples, at the
same time, tending their recently hatched young ones.
From these, and other observations on the habits of sea-
birds as well, to which I shall hereafter refer in treating
of the gull tribe, I have come to the conclusion, that
amongst birds as in the human race, there are some
individuals for whom an independent existence has
greater charms than a wedded life, and whether the
summer flocks I have just alluded to, are composed
indiscriminately of spinsters and bachelors, or consist,
with more propriety, of but one sex, there is little doubt
that a portion at least of the feathered tribe are exempt
from the obligation to " increase and multiply." Pure
white and other varieties are occasionally met with.

PASTOR ROSEUS (Linn^us).

EOSE-COLOUEED PASTOE.

This beautiful species, as will be seen by the follow-
ing list of specimens, has occurred in many instances
in this county, but although appearing with a strange
regularity between 1853 and 1856, 1 know of no examples,
either seen or procured during the last nine years. It is
noticeable, also, from the subjoined records, that these
birds usually visit us in autumn, appearing singly and in
various stages of plumage ; but occasionally a straggler

254 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

is met witli during the summer months, at which time
thej are more frequently observed in the southern
counties.

1853, August 23. A nearly adult male, nearWymond-
ham, now in the collection of Mr. Newcome, of Felt-
well. This is no doubt the same bird, recorded by Mr.
Gurney in the " Zoologist" (p. 4053), as killed " near
Norwich," about the same date.

1855, August 14. An adult male was killed at Heving-
ham, and came into the possession of Mr. Alfred
Master, of Norwich, whose brother, Mr. Geo. Master,
of Duke-street, Grosvenor-square, London, has another
Norfolk specimen, which, strangely enough, some three
or four years before, was shot in the same locality, and,
I believe, from the same tree, during the cherry season,
the man who killed it being engaged on his cherry-
tree"^ at the time. On the 23rd of the same month, a
male was also killed at Sherringham, which is, I believe,
in Mr. XJpcher's possession.

1856, September. A female, near Yarmouth ; and on
October 7th, an adult male at Hunstanton.

The admirable figure in Yarrell's " British Birds" was
taken from one shot at Brooke, near Norwich, in July,
1838, which was sent to London for that purpose
by the Rev. J. Holmes, of Brooke Hall, on whose estate
it was killed. Of earlier specimens, Messrs. Paget
mention two killed at Yarmouth in August, 1815, and
April, 1820 ; and Messrs. Shepherd and Whitear one near
Yarmouth in the summer of 1818. Several specimens

* These birds appear to be particularly partial to this kind of
fruit, since Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear, in recording the
occurrence of four specimens in Suffolk, remark, — " One was shot
upon a cherry-tree at Chelmondiston, and being only winged, was
fed with raw meat, and kept alive three months ; another was also
feeding upon cherries at the time it was killed at Polstead, in the
summer of 1818."

KOSE-COLOURED PASTOR. ZOO

obtained also in tlie adjoining county are recorded by
both the above authors ; and the occurrence of a fine
adult male at Lound, near Lowestoft, in June 1851, is
noticed by Mr. J. H. Gurney in the " Zoologist"
(p. 3233).

With this family must also be mentioned the Indian
MiNO bird or Minor Grakle (Gractila religiosa), an
example of which, said to have been shot at Hickling
in 1848, was subsequently presented to the Nor-
wich museum by Mr. W. E. Cater. ^ From the fact
of this species being frequently brought over to this
country as an amusing cage bird, our English orni-
thologists have been loath to include it in the " British
series" without further evidence of voluntary migration,
and its appearance near the coast in the present instance
may be easily accounted for on the sujDposition that it
had escaped from some passing vessel. The above, how-
ever, being probably the only specimen observed in a
wild state in England, and being included by Mr. G. R.
Gray in his " Catalogue of British Birds," (though classed
amongst the doubtful species,) the particulars of its
capture in this county should, I think, find a place
in the present work. Mr. Cater thus writes to the
"Zoologist" (p. 2391) respecting it in 1849:— "In the
latter end of March, 1848, I was informed by a game-
keeper and others, that two very curious birds had been
seen by them, at Waxham, near Yarmouth, resembling
the blackbird, but with a white bar on the wing. I con-
cluded a mistake had been made, and that the birds
were ring-ouzels ; but a week after the above mentioned
time unfolded the mystery, for a bird, to a distant
observer, answering the same description, was shot at

* The specimen above referred to will be found in tlie ' British
Bird' room, but in a separate case, near the entrance from the
Fossil room.

256 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Hickling, two miles from Waxham. I have examined
it, and find it to be a beautiful male specimen of the
minor grakle (Gracula religiosa, Lewin), the only one,
I believe, ever killed in England. ^ * ^ From
the appearance of its plumage when shot, from the
look of its feet, claws, and beak, it seems never to
have been a caged bird." In a subsequent note in the
same journal ('p. 2496), Mr. Cater adds a few other,
but immaterial, remarks, on the appearance of this
grakle, in answer to doubts expressed by one or two
correspondents as to its being a genuine wild specimen.

CORVUS CORAX, Linnaeus.

RAVEN.

It is strange to observe the changes effected by local
causes in the habits of certain species, some as suddenly
and rapidly increasing in numbers, as others, yielding to
an inevitable fate, become scarce by degrees and finally
extinct. The Raven in its past and present history
exhibits a remarkable illustration of this law of nature.
Sir Thos. Browne, about two hundred years ago, describes
this species as *'in great plenty near Norwich, and on
this account it is there are so few kites seen hereabouts."
From that time till the commencement of the present
century, probably but little alteration in its numbers
occurred, as, in 1829, Mr. Hunt remarks, in his Norfolk
" List," — " This bird is found in woods, &c., m every
part of the county.^' Our next records, however, tell a
far different story — Messrs. Gurney and Fisher, in 1846,
speaking of it " as still breeding in Norfolk, but in small
and decreasing numbers ;" and Mr. Lubbock, in the pre-
vious year, remarks, "It is seldom found breeding
here ; when it does so, its nest is sure to be plundered.

EAVEN. 257

In winter, especially if severe, their mimbers increase."
Already the fiat of extermination had gone forth against
all '' feathered vermin," and the modern system of
wholesale game-preserving signed the death warrant
of many of our indigenous species. At the present
time, so great a change has been effected by the above
and other causes, in the local history of this fine bird,
that after many enquiries I have been unable to ascer-
tain the existence of more than a pair or two of ravens
in any part of the county as actual residents in a wild
state. On the 11th of February, 1847, a single bird was
killed on the Narford road, near Swaffham, as I learn
from the Rev. E. W. Do-^^ell ; and in March of the same
year, Mr. Spalding,^ of Westleton, took three eggs
from a nest in a wood at Stockton; but the most re-
cent instance, to my knowledge, of their breeding in
Norfolk, is thus described by Mr. F. S. Dugmore in the
"Field," of April 30th, 1859 :—" A raven's nest was
taken in one of the Beachamwell plantations on the
14th of April ; it contained five young ones about two-
thu'ds fledged. I myself saw one of the old birds soar-
ing in circles high over the fir-trees in which the nest
was found, and have one of the brood still in my pos-
session." The following interesting account of a pair
which annually breed near Elveden, in Suffolk, but on
the borders of the two counties, is thus given by Mr.
Hewitson (Eggs Brit. Birds, 3rd ed.), fg)m the pen of

* The sa,me practical ornithologist also informs me that a pair
of Ravens, which bred for many years in Highgrove, near Gel-
destoue, Suffolk, raised their nest annually with fresh materials,
till at length this structm-e, which was placed in the fork of a tree,
became so high that in standing on the supporting branch he could
barely see into it. The hobbies always used it after the young
ravens had flown ; and in one year a pair of kestrels laid, but
were probably driven away, as he found their eggs amongst the
loose lining, when he subsequently took those of the hobbies for
his collection.
2l

258 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

Mr. Alfred Newton : — " When undisturbed, tliey have
usually re-furnished their last year's nest, always lining
it neatly with rabbits' down. It is built on one of some
lofty Scotch fir-trees standing far out on a heath. The
number of eggs laid is generally five, but I have known
them to be content with four ; while, on the other hand,
six were once dejjosited. While the hen is sitting, the
actions of the male bird are well worth watching : he
dashes indiscriminately at any bird that approaches, be
it stock-dove or peregrine falcon, and when the intruder
has been utterly routed, he shoots back to the nest,
celebrating his victory by a sonorous croak, turning, as
he utters it, completely over* on his back, an action
which does not, however, in the least degree impede his
onward career. He then resumes his look-out station on
one of the highest boughs ; perhaps leaving it again
at the expiration of a few minutes to repel another
invasion." It is probable that migratory stragglers still
visit us occasionally in winter, more particularly in
sharp weather, as Mr. Dix assures me that, a year or two
back, he saw seven in a body passing high overhead at
West Harling, and was attracted by their harsh notes
and quarrelling amongst themselves ; but for the last
eight or ten years, at least, I have seen but one specimen
in our bird-stuffers' hands, undoubtedly obtained in a
wild state.

CORVUS CORONE, Linnaeus.

CAREION-CROW.

It is scarcely to be wondered at that in one of the
largest game preserving counties in England, the
Carrion-crow should have become yearly more and more
scarce, in fact its existence amongst us at all, at the

CARRION-CROW. 259

present time, is probably owing to the difficulty of dis-
tinguishing it, at any distance, from its more reputable
kinsman the rook. In spite, however, of constant
persecutions, a few pairs are still met with in different
portions of the county, for the most part frequenting the
big woods ; and in winter they are known to roost with the
rooks and jackdaws, as they are thus occasionally shot
by the gamekeepers, who fire up into the " lumj)" with
the hope of shooting a crow or two amongst their ill-fated
companions. Mr. Lambert, gamekeeper to Lord Wode-
house, at Kimberley, tells me that he has not un-
frequently killed them in this manner. For the last
two or three years a pair have attempted to nest in
Keswick rookery, near Norwich, and on one occasion, I
believe, brought off their young, but it is strange to
observe how the rooks forsake the trees near the haunts
of these birds, which renders them anything but desirable
intruders, to say nothing of their egg-stealing habits
and carnivorous tastes. Having observed, at different
times, during severe weather, several carrion crows
upon the Breydon '^' flats," I cannot help thinking that
migratory specimens visit us at such seasons ; and game-
keepers, also, in the neighbourhood of the broads, have
told me that they see most of them in the early spring,
when apparently inclined to remain and breed, but even
in these districts, where, formerly, they were very plen-
tiful, a carrion crow in summer would be pointed out
as a rarity by any resident marshman. Towards the
western end of the county, Mr. Newton informs me they
are regular spring or summer visitants ; and they still
breed yearly in the Bedford Level district. Messrs. Shep-
pard and Whitear give the following interesting note on
this species, from their own observations : — " We have
often been much amused with the sagacious instinct of
this bird, and of others of the same genus, in getting at
their prey. In the winter season they frequent the sea
2l2

260 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

shore during- the ebb tide, in search of muscles and
other shell fish. As soon as the bird has found one, it
flies up almost perpendicularly into the air, with the fish
in its beak, and lets it fall on the stones in order to
break its shell. The bhd quickly follows the falling
booty, and devours it." The same habit has also been
observed in the Danish or Royston crows. An immature
pied variety was killed near Kimberley towards the
end of July, 1861.

CORVUS CORNIX, Linn^us.

HOODED CROW.

The Royston or Grey-backed Crow, as this species is
also called, visits ^s in autumn in large numbers,
arriving about the first week in October, though occa-
sionally earlier, and leaves again by the end of March
or beginning of April. They frequent for the most part
the broads and marshes near the rivers, particularly
the mouths of tidal streams, and are extremely numer-
ous on the sea coast, where they also gradually collect
together towards the tune of their departure in
spring. It is fortunate for Norfolk that this destructive
species leaves us so regularly in the breeding season, as
no greater enemy to the gamekeeper probably exists,
neither eggs nor young birds, nor indeed, in some cases,
old ones either, being safe from its prying eyes and
carnivorous propensities.* There are, however, one or

* Mr. St. Jolin tlius sums up the iniquities of this species as
observed by himself in Scotland : — " It kills newly-born lambs,
picking out the eyes and tongue while the poor creature is still
alive. It preys on young grouse, partridges, hares, &c., and is
very destructive to eggs of all sorts. In certain feeding spots in
the woods I have seen the remains of eggs of the most extra-

HOODED CROW. 261

two instances on record of its having remained to nest
in tliis neig-libourliood, but not of late years. Mr.
Hunt, of Norwich, in a note to his " British Orni-
thology," says, " We are informed that a pair of these
birds built a nest and reared their young- during the
season of 1816, in the neighbourhood of King's Lynn ;"
and Mr. W. E. Fisher has noticed, in the " Zoologist"
(p. 315), having observed three of these crows in some
marshes near Yarmouth, in July, 1843, one of which
from its small size and apparently imperfect plumage,
he believed to have been a young bird, and, if so, in all
probability bred in that district. I learn also from the
Eev. E. W. Dowell, of Dunton, a most accurate observer,
that he saw three grey crows at Blakeney, with some
rooks on the 18th of May, 1857, and, in 1853^ several
of these birds kept about Blakeney throughout the
smnmer. He also witnessed on one occasion, in the
autumn of 1847, when shooting on the Blakeney sand-
meals, " as many as two or three hundred hooded crows,
all flying from east to west, in small parties of from two
to ten, flying high till out of sight." In the spring of
1853, being at Cromer for some weeks, I was greatly
amused, watching the habits of these birds by the sea-
side, and with the help of a glass could observe their
actions very accurately from day to day. I was parti-
cularly struck with the instinct they displayed with

ordinary variety and number. No sooner does a wild duck,
pheasant, or any bird leave its nest, than the hooded crow is on
the look-out, and I have no doubt that a single pair often destroys
many hundred eggs in the course of a season. All birds seem
aware of this, and peewits, gulls, redshanks, &c., attack most
furiously any crow which they see hunting near their nests. The
" hoody" is also very fond of young wild ducks, and destroys
gi-eat numbers. In the mountains it is bold enough to make prize
of the eggs of the eagle, peregrine falcon, or osprey, if the parent
birds happen to he driven off their nests. [" Nat. Hist, and Sport
in Moray," p. 59.]

262 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

regard to tlie tide, arriving as regularly every morning or
afternoon on the beacli, when the waves began to recede,
as if the time of high and low water was as well known
to them as to the oldest fisherman on the coast. On
these occasions, they collected in groups of two or three,
by the water's edge, busily picking the large red sand-
worms from the wet sands, and pulling at them with all
the vigour of a thrush extracting its prey from a grass-
plot. Now and then a worm resisted stoutly for some
moments, when suddenly giving in, the crow would all
but topple over on his back from his own unexpected
success ; to see him then gather himself up, shake his
feathers, and walk off with a firm indignant step was
particularly ludicrous. These birds have usually a
stately manner of walking, but the effect is considerably
impaired by a little hop or jump, close feet, which they
frequently indulge in, particularly when overtaken by a
wave in their search for food. If a fresh clump of sea-
weed is thrown up by the sea, a number of them at
once collect round it, pecking at it and turning it over
and over to collect any small moUusks, or other marine
substances that adhere to the fibres ; they also carefully
examine the rocks for shell fish, and are particularly
partial to small crabs or "kitty-witches," as they are com-
monly termed in Norfolk, On one occasion I observed
a single individual on the beach, whose curious antics
attracted my attention. At first he merely paced up and
down, though evidently very uneasy and without attempt-
ing to feed, when suddenly he began puffing out his feathers
and bowing in the most absurd manner with his mouth
wide open. It struck me that he must have swallowed
too large a worm and was trying to disgorge it, but on
opening the window where I was sitting, I soon found
my mistake, as with every elevation of his tail in the
air I could hear his loud hoarse notes, given at their
highest pitch, apparently calling on his friends to come

HOODED CROW. 263

and join him. This amnsement he continued for a con-
siderable time, but as none of his kindred seemed to
answer his call he at last gave it up, and flew slowly
towards the fields, probably with the same philosophic
conclusion that led Mahomet to visit the mountain.
As the usual time for departure approached their
numbers on the beach gradually diminished, but
although I watched, them very closely, I was not
fortunate enough to witness any decided migratory
movement,^ and from observing them latterly more
inland than by the sea, I imagine they may have pro-
ceeded in small bodies to some other part of the coast
preparatory to leaving. On the Hunstanton beach, I
have counted over a score under the sandhills, at one
time, towards the end of March. Mr. J. H. Gurney
informs me that when residing at Easton, some years
back, a few of these crows, with an amount of instinct
approaching very nearly to reason, invariably remained
until the geese and some other fowls on his fancy water
had laid their eggs, unwilling to lose the chance of
such a feast, and having once gratified their oological
tastes, soon quitted the scene of their pilferings.
The following are a few characteristic anecdotes of
the carnivorous tastes of this species. Mr. Robert
Birkbeck, in the "Zoologist" (p. 4124) writes, "as
a friend of mine was walking on the sands, near
Cromer, on the 24th ult. (October), he observed a
solitary hooded crow flying over from the sea, evidently
fatigued with a long passage. He fired at it, and
saw it immediately drop a small bird from its beak,
which proved to be a chaffinch, with the skull

* From Mr. Dowell's MS. notes, amongst other interesting par-
ticulars of this species, I find that on the 28th of March, 1848, he
" witnessed the return of many of these birds to their breeding
places, a long string of scattered birds flying high, with much
noise, towards the IST.E., wind blowifig from S. and S.S.W."

264 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

fractured. Would not this seem to show that the crow
had fallen in with a flock of chafiinches on the passage,
and had secured one of his fellow travellers for a meal
on his arrival?" In the same journal, Mr. J. H.
Gurney has recorded a similar instance in 1857, where a
hooded crow was observed at Pakefield, near Lowestoft,
during severe weather, " flying in chase of a small bird,
which, after repeatedly darting at it, the crow succeeded
in capturing with its bill, whilst both birds were on the
wing. The crow subsequently alighted to devour its
prey, but on the approach of the observer, again picked
it up in his bill and flew away with it." Mr. Dowell
on one occasion, in 1847, when driving between Holt
and Blakeney, saw two hooded crows chasing a lark
across a stubble, one taking up the chase when the
other was tired, and thus pursuing their prey till out
of sight. My friend, Mr. Frederick Mills, also informs
me that whilst snipe-shooting on Surlingham broad
in the winter of 1862, he came suddenly upon a
hooded crow devouring a little grebe (P. minor),
by the side of the water. On shooting the crow and
examining its victim, it was evident that the latter
had been only just killed, and had probably been
pounced upon at the edge of the reed-bed. Sir Thos.
Browne alludes to this species as the " Corvus variegatus
or pied crow, with dun and black interchangeable.
They come in the winter and depart in the summer;
and seem to be the same which Clucius describeth in the
Faro islands, from whence perhaps these come."

CORVUS FRUGILEGUS, LinniEus.

EOOK.

There are strange anomalies in the habits of certain
species, which are hard to be accounted for even by

ROOK. 265

the most observing naturalists, and this is particularly
the case with the common Rook, whose extreme shy-
ness, so noticeable at all other times, seems almost
entirely laid aside during the breeding season. Sus-
picious beyond most birds when feeding alone, and
warned by sentinels when congregating in flocks,
no sooner does the time of reproduction arrive than,
with a nature apparently wholly changed, this species
seeks, voluntarily, the haunts of man, and, for a time
at least, appears indifierent to his presence, or the
sights and sounds of the busy homestead. There are
one or two other points also in connection with the
habits of this bird, for which it is equally difficult to
find a satisfactory ^' why or wherefore." Do rooks know
Sundays from week-days? and if not actually capable
of smelling gunpowder, do they, or do they not, know
a gun from a walking stick ? Often have I been led to
ask myself these two questions, and though scarcely
prepared to allow them an instinct equalled only by
man's reasoning powers, yet the very actions of these
birds, in both the instances I have cited, leads irre-
sistibly to the conclusion that by some means or other
they can and do discriminate in either case.

There are probably few counties in England where
rookeries are more generally distributed than in Nor-
folk, this finely timbered district affording every
attraction from the nobleman's mansion, with its park
and pleasure grounds, to the snug manor-house with
its lofty elms or dark avenue of limes.* In the

* Sir Tlios. Browne has the following strange note on these birds,
showing their equal abundance in his time, and the fact of the young
being esteemed in those days for medicinal as well as edible proper-
ties. " Spermelegous rooks, which, by reason of the great quantity
of corn-fields and rook-groves, are in great plenty. The young
ones are commonly eaten ; sometimes sold in Norwich market ; and
many are killed for their livers, in order to the cure of rickets."
2 M

266 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

vicinity of Norwich these colonies are scattered in
all directions, and rookeries, more or less extensive,
have been formed for years at Cossey, Earlliam,
Keswick, Bowthorpe, Shottesham, Caister, Crown-
Point, Bixley, Spixworth, &c., all within a few miles
of the city, whilst smaller communities within the
walls attest the social habits of these birds, and their
indifference even to the busy traffic of our streets. Though
born and brought up as a citizen myself, the ^* mellow
cawing" of the rooks in spring has been a sound as
familiar to my ears from childhood as to any denizen
of the country, my father's residence, in Surrey-street,
being immediately opposite the trees in Sir Samuel
Bignold's garden and coach-yard, where, for many years,
a small party of rooks have regularly reared their young.
In the season of 1865, I counted upwards of twenty
nests, all visible from the street, besides others at the
back of Stanley-house, immediately adjoining. Whether
off-shoots or not from this long- established colony, I have
discovered stray nests, during the last few years, in
several other parts of the city. For some time two or
three pairs have built regularly on the ehns at the back of
St. Faith's-lane, and others have located themselves on
some trees near Pottergate-street. A single nest was also
tenanted for at least two seasons on one of the lofty ehns
in Chapel Field ; and the clamorous cries of the young
brood drew my attention to another solitary nest, on
a tree at the back of Mr. Firth's residence, abutting
on Bethel-street. The late Bishop Stanley, in his
" Familiar History of Birds," mentions a small rookery
as having existed formerly in the Palace garden, and
thus describes its sudden and unaccountable abandon-
ment— " For several years the birds had confined their
nests to a few trees immediately in front of the house,
when one season, without any assignable cause, they
took up a new position on some trees also in the garden.

KOOK. 267

but about two liundred yards distant, where tbey re-
mained till the spring of 1847, when, before their nests
were completed or young hatched, they disappeared
altogether, and the heretofore frequented trees are only
now and then resorted to by a few stray casual visitors."*
Of the rookeries above named in the vicinity of Nor-
wich, those at Cossey and Spixworth are the most ex-
tensive at the present time ; but my friend Mr. Edwards
informs me, that some twenty or thirty years ago, that
at Keswick was probably the largest in Norfolk, and in
autumn and winter formed the chief roosting place of
the rooks in this district, whose immense flocks, of an
evening, quite blackened the adjacent meadows whilst
feeding up to the last moment before settling for the
night. The Cossey woods are now, I believe, their chief
rendezvous, and a most extraordinary and interesting
sight is the assembly of these dark masses, with their
circlings, pitchings, and noisy manoeuvrings, until each
individual is fairly accommodated, and their babel of
voices hushed for the night. It is very difficult to
account for the changeable habits of these birds, sud-
denly and apparently from no particular motive leaving
their accustomed trees for others close by on the same
domain, or gTadually decreasing in numbers, as noticed
at Keswick. There, although still nesting in con-
siderable quantities, large portions of the rookery, once
most densely populated, are entirely deserted, more
particularly on the side nearest the railroad ; the noise
of which and the glare of the lamps at night, may
possibly, in some degree, account for their leaving,
although, at Brandon, the railroad passes through the

* There are no rooks building in the Palace gardens at the
present time, and, as far as I can learn, they have ceased to do so
for the last sixteen years. Jackdaws are plentiful enough in the
old ruins.

2 M 2

268 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

midst of a rookery, as may be seen by any traveller
on tlie line, without materially decreasing tlie number
of nests on either side. It is not improbable, I think,
that birds possessed of such known sagacity may
be also forewarned of the instability of old timbers,
as rats are said to leave a falling house; and the
thinning out of some of their favourite trees by any
heavy gale, may determine them to seek fresh quarters,
or to leave those trees most affected by the wind. But
though often shifting their quarters of their own accord,
it is by no means easy to drive them from some long
accustomed haunt. The common practice of shooting
the young birds with rifles and air-canes, when pursued
in moderation, has by no means a tendency to diminish
a rookery, whose sm^plus population if spared by man,
would only be driven to a distance to found new settle-
ments. The noisy use of shot guns is, of course,
objectionable as well as unsportsmanhke, but I believe
the only effectual plan of exterminating these birds, if
desired — and I can scarcely imagine any one so devoid
of all appreciation of rural sights and sounds as to
attempt such vandalism — is the constant disturbance of
the old ones whilst sitting, by which means the eggs
are destroyed from frequent exposure to the cold. The
difficulty also of inducing them to build in some fresh
locality is well known, the placing of old nests in
the desired trees, or where possible, the substitution of
rooks' eggs, for those of cari-ion-crows or magpies
having often failed after repeated trials. Mr. Newcome
has, however, succeeded in establishing a very respect-
able rookery in the trees round Hockwold Hall, which
he effected by first of all substituting rooks' eggs for
those of the jackdaws in the nests of the latter. Though
for the most part selecting the tallest trees, and placing
their nests near the upper branches, they will build also
on low Scotch firs^ in the most exposed situations. A

KOOK. 269

still more novel site has also been chosen by a few
pairs at Spixworth. Park, where, for the last two or
three seasons, thej have built in the tops of some fine
laurestinus bushes, about twelve or fourteen feet from
the ground, and others in a dwarf ilex, close to a
flight of stone steps, connecting one part of the garden
with the other, yet so low down that the feeding of the
young was plainly visible from the windows of the hall.
Whether or not any portion of our Norfolk rooks
leave us in autumn for more southern districts I am,
at present, unable to say positively. Mr. Gould alludes
(Birds of Great Britain) to the enormous flocks of these
birds which in winter frequent the large woods in
Cornwall ; Tregothnan, the seat of Viscount Falmouth,
being their most favourite resort. Here their numbers
during the winter months so far exceed any probable
quantity reared in that district, that he likens their
nightly swarms at roosting time to the masses of
starlings on our Norfolk broads. Lieutenant Sperling
also, in his " Ornithology of the Mediterranean," (Ibis,
vol. vi., p. 275), speaking of their abundance in Greece
during the winter, says, " all that I shot were young of
the year, which leads me to beheve that it is only
the young rooks that move to the southward during
winter. Some of them cross the Mediten-anean, as my
friend, Mr. C. A. Wright, records it as a bird of passage
through Malta." It would be exceedingly interesting,
therefore, to ascertain whether our own rooks per-
ceptibly decrease during severe winters, for I believe
there is no part of British ornithology which would so
well repay the persevering and careful study of the
naturalist as the partial migrations of our resident
species, properly so called, inasmuch as some individuals
are always stationary, though a large proportion of
them may frequently shift their ground under the
influence of inclement weather.

270 BIRDS OP NOKFOLK.

The question as to tlie predominance of good or
bad qualities in the rook is one which has attracted
the attention of most naturalists, and certainly the
verdict of more recent observers is decidedly in favour
of the utility of the species. If one examines the
evidence, for and against, of such trust-worthy author-
ities as Macgillivray, Yarrell, St. John, Stanley, Knapp,
and others, the conclusion undoubtedly arrived at is,
that a maximum of good is effected for a minimum
of mischief, and no stronger evidence can be offered as
to the benefits conferred by the rook upon agriculturists
than the necessity which has arisen in some places for
re-establishing their colonies where the ignorant pre-
judices of their persecutors had rendered them extinct.
Though easy enough to destroy the birds, man finds
himself powerless to arrest the inroads of those insect
swarms, which his feathered allies have had no credit
for suppressing. Amongst the chief delinquencies laid
to their charge are the pilferings of the fresh-sown
grain and the soft ears of the ripening corn ; attacking
the freshly planted potatoes, sucking the eggs of game
and poultry, and robbing the herons' nests if near the
rookery ; occasionally also destroying young birds, and a
general partiality for dessert, including cherries, straw-
berries, apples, walnuts, &c., &c.. This looks perhaps,
at first sight, rather a black list, but there is much to be
said in palliation, and still more as a set-off against
WlSLHj jpeccadilloes; whilst nothing can justify the cruel
system, of late years adopted, of using poisoned wheat in
the breeding season, whereby the old birds in dozens
have returned home to die, and their young thus de-
prived of parental care, have suffered the horrors of
starvation. With regard to their attacks upon the
growing corn, the farmer, who knows the temptation
afforded by his waving crops, must take the ordinary
jjrecautions to drive off the depredators, and if thus a

ROOK. 271

tithe still falls to their share, have they not fairly earned
it P"^ I have rarely myself seen them committing havoc
amongst the stacks, except during severe frosts in the
depth of winter, when the iron-bound soil has stayed
their useful labours, and deprived them of their accus-
tomed food. "We often (says Bishop Stanley) hear
persons congratulating themselves on a deep snow, a
hard frost, or dry weather, as the surest means of
destroying insects, whereas it is just the reverse. A
hard frost, or a deep snow, or a dry summer, are the very
best protection they can have, and for this reason : the
rooks and other birds cannot reach that innumerable
host which pass the greatest part of their existence
underground. In vain the hungry rook, in a hard frost,
looks over a fine fallow, or a field of new-sown wheat.
He may be seen sitting on a bare bough like Tantalus,
in the midst of plenty beyond his reach, with his
feathers ruffled up, casting every now and then an
anxious glance over the frozen surface, beyond the
power even of his strong beak to penetrate." As an egg
stealer undoubtedly he shows himself a true member of
the corvine race ; but again, as some palliation, let me
add that I have invariably noticed, when most abused
for such pilferings, the spring has been an unusually
dry one, and the poor birds have been hard put to it to
supply food for themselves and their clamorous young.
This was particularly the case in 1864,t when a long
drought set in just at the time when the nestlings were

* Mr. Jesse, an accurate observer and true friend of the rook,
remarks (IsTat. Hist. Gleanings, vol. ii.)— " In order to be convinced
that these birds are beneficial to the farmer, let him observe the
same field in which his ploughman and his sower are at work.
He will see the former followed by a train of rooks, while the
sower will be unattended and his grain remain untouched."

f See also some most interesting remarks on the same point,
by Knapp, in his " Journal of a JSTaturalist," p. 177.

272 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

being hatclied. At Keswick, the old birds were observed
returning- to their nests, long after their usual time in
the evening, and most probably, like the herons, they en-
deavoured to supply the wants of their young during the
night as well. Many were the comj)laints that reached
me of their depredations upon the nests of pheasants
and partridges, and dire the threats of the keepers, in
one case resulting even in an order for the destruction
of a rookery ; yet where game preserving is carried to so
great an extent, and dozens of nests are scattered about
in accessible situations, surely the rook errs in ignorance
of the hemousness of his crime, whilst, may be, a jury of
tenant farmers would scarcely find him guilty. With
regard to those essentially useful qualities, however,
which must be duly considered in discussing this subject,
I will content myself with quoting an admirable passage
from St, John's " Sport in Moray" (p. 62) : — " For many
months of the year, the rooks live wholly on grubs,
caterpillars, &c., in this way doing an amount of service
to the farmer which is quite incalculable, destroying his
greatest and most insidious enemy. In districts where
rooks have been completely expelled — this has been seen
by whole crops of wheat and clover — being destroyed at
the root by the wireworm and other enemies, which can
only be effectually attacked by birds. When we consider
the short trine during which rooks feed on grain, and
the far longer season during which they live wholly on
grubs and such like food, it will be believed by all
imj)artial lookers on that the rook may be set down
rather as the farmers' friend than his enemy. On
close observation, when the rook appears to be following
the harrows for the purpose of feeding on the newly-
sown wheat, it will be found that it is picking up a great
quantity of large white grubs, leaving the grain un-
touched." To this testimony of a thoroughly practical
out-door naturalist, I may add that in the autumn of

ROOK. 273

1864, when such portions of the turnip crop in this
county as sui'vived the long continued drought, seemed
as likely to be wholly destroyed by the thick white
grubs,"*^ which in autumn burrow down to the very base
of the roots, I observed unusually large numbers of
rooks settling in the turnip fields, busily turning up
with their strong bills these destructive creatures, which
formed at that time the chief topic of conversation and
complaint amongst our farmers.

Much has been written, also, of late in the " Zoolo-
gist," and other journals, on the supposed carnivorous
tastes of the rook. It is perfectly certain that they
will at times devour the young nestlings of other
birds, more particularly of the missel-thrush; and
I know an instance of a rook being shot with a young
song-thrush in its bill, but these, it must be remembered,
are exceptional cases, and individual peculiarities by no
means estabhsh the rook as a carnivorous species. When
occasionally seen on dead carcases, I believe that the
maggots engendered by putrefaction are the objects of
their search, without any relish for carrion. In common
also with their near relatives, the black and the hooded
crows, rooks are particularly partial to a fish diet, fre-
quenting the shores of brackish waters, mussel-scawps
on the beach or adjacent salt marshes. Large numbers
in autumn and winter, and, indeed, a few at all seasons,
may be seen at low water, examining the wet sands and
rocks for any fishy substances left by the waves ; and
the late Rev. G. Glover, of Southrepps, in a com-
munication to Mr. Hunt (British Ornithology), thus
refers to the extreme regularity with which these
visits are made to the sea-shore as observed by

* See an admirable paper on " The Turnip Grrub," by Edward
Newman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., in the "Field," of December 24th,
1864, p. 442. This grub is the offspring of a moth, Agrotis segetum,

2n

274 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

himself during several years : — " A very mimerous colony
of rooks, inhabiting the woods at Gunton, which is
about four miles distant from the sea, I have carefully
marked for twelve years, uniformly returning home a
few minutes before sun -set, from the same point of
destination — namely, the coast, and making the church
of Southrepps the land mark by which they steered.
What has surprised me is, that this course has been
continued through the very height of the breeding
season, as well as at other times, though in diminished
numbers ; and that the only interruption to it has been
during the severe days of winter, when they were driven
by that necessity which acknowledges neither rule nor
law, to seek their subsistence in farm yards, or to
plunder the corn stacks in the fields."

The singular scurfy looking white skin, which in
old rooks surrounds the base of the bill, and is com-
monly looked upon as the chief specific difference
between the rook and the crow, has long formed a
subject of discussion amongst naturalists, some contend-
ing that it is the result of abrasion, from boring in the
ground after worms and grubs, others that it is simply
a natural effect, or, in other words, a specific peculiarity
for which even the most learned ornithologist may find
no better reason than that it pleased God to make it
so. I have long held the latter opinion, and have of
late been more than ever confirmed in that impression
from the number of instances I have known of rooks,
from eight to twelve months old, at least, in full
plumage and perfect health, retaining in a wild state
the nasal bristles, observable in young birds, without
the slightest abrasion of the feathers, either above or
below the beak. The great scarcity of carrion-crows in
these parts, has led to my observing more particularly
these black-faced rooks, which, in my search for a
specimen of the rarer bird, have more than once

KOOK. 275

deceived me till examined more closely. From tliese
exceptional cases, it is quite evident that the naked skin
around the bill can by no means be relied upon as a
certain distinction between the rook and the crow,
and at the same time, as these bii'ds have been pro-
curing their food in the open country during many
months, after the manner of their kindred, without
producing the slightest abrasion, there is but little
reason for attributmg that peculiarity to the friction of
the soil. During the past winter (1864-5) I have met
with three examples of these black-faced rooks. One
killed on the 15th of December; a pied variety (having
a white patch under the chin, and several primaries
in each wing pure white) on the 24th of January,
and another in the normal colouring of the species
on the 23rd of February. This bird, which I still pre-
serve, has evidently completed its autumn moult, and,
excepting the bristles and the absence of any white skin,
is in full adult plumage, distinguishable from the carrion-
crow by the silky feathers on the nape of the neck, and
the generally glossy apj)earance of its feathers, though
the stoutness of the beak and the dark colour of the
head render it, at first sight, very liable to be mis-
taken for its more sombre relative. In the Eev. Mi'.
Dowell's note-book, I also find two records of similar
examples, one killed on the 21st of January, the other on
the 7th of March, and being desirous of ascertaining if
rooks, in this state of plumage, paired with others of the
ordinary type, I solicited several individuals to watch
for their appearance in different rookeries. Subsequently
I learnt from Mr. Samuel Blyth that, out of six rooks
killed by himself in the act of collecting sticks for
nesting purposes (all of which proved to be males), one
exhibited a pure black face, with stout bristles, like
young birds in their first summer. Singular deformities
in the beaks of this species are occasionally noticed, of
2 N 2

276 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

which a singular example is figured in the "Field"
of May 20th, 1865 (p. 360), from a bird killed at
Buckenham, near Norwich, in the previous April. In
this specimen,"^ the lower mandible projects considerably
beyond the upper, which is of about the usual size, and
the bare skm above and below the beak occupies the
usual space. The editor of the Natural History
department of the "Field," commenting on this fact,
remarks, ^^It seems scarcely credible that the bird
in question could have been in the habit of plunging
this deformed beak so far into the ground as to have
worn off the feathers of the head, as is alleged by some
naturalists, nor do we think that even the most strenu-
ous supporters of this view could unagine that the bare
space behind the eyes could have been caused in this
manner." Though perfectly in accordance with my own
impressions, yet on the other hand, as has been shrewdly
remarked by Yarrell, in describing a similar abnormity
of beak, combined with a white face, " it is possible that
this nakedness might have been produced before the
alteration in the form of the beak had taken place, and
the bulbs from which the feathers arise having been once
injured might afterwards remain unproductive." A very
fair argument, indeed, for those who still hold to the
abrasion theory ; but in maintaining, myself, the specific
nature of this peculiarity, I would rely mainly on the
fact of certain year-old rooks occurring with perfect
beaks, and, in a wild state, still retaining the feathers
surrounding their bills, thus making "the exception
prove the rule." In the Norwich museum (No. 136.d)
there is also a specimen, which has not only a formidable

* I have also a rook, killed in this county, having both the upper
and lower mandibles elongated, and crossing each other in ex-
tended curves, so as apparently to exclude the possibiUty of the
bird procuring food for itself, but this bird also has the white skia
around the beak, as in most old bu-ds.

ROOK. JACKDAW. 277

projection of the upper mandible, but a perfectly black
face and bristly forehead. The museum collection also
contains several interesting varieties of this bird which
occur at times. No. 136. a is the more usual pied
variety. No. 136.b, a singularly brown specimen, and
No. 136. c is, or rather has been, pure white. A young
bird, also killed in this county, in 1851, had the
throat and beak white, the feathers of the wings patched
with white, and the claws and first joint of each toe a
delicate flesh colour. The following anecdote as to a
strange transition in plumage in this species is given by
the late Mr. Hunt : — " A gentleman of my acquaintance
had, in 1816, a young rook of a light ash colour, most
beautifully mottled over vdth black, and the quill and
tail-feathers elegantly barred. This curiosity he was
naturally anxious to keep ; when, upon the bird moult-
ing, all its mottled plumage vanished entirely, and it
became a jet black rook."

CORVUS MONEDULA, Linnaeus.

JACKDAW.

The large number of churches in Norwich afford
ample accommodation in their various steeples for
these noisy denizens, whose nests are for the most
part inaccessible to the most daring climbers ; and
every weather-cock serves as a "place of call," every
crocket and finial as a temporary resting place. The
immense amount of material collected by these birds
at the commencement of the breeding season can
scarcely be credited by those who have not witnessed
the state of the belfry stairs in some of our churches,
littered from top to bottom with the debris of their
nests. In St. Peter's Mancroft especially, the ascent

278 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

by a narrow winding staircase, at no time easy, to the
summit of the tower, is rendered anything but safe by
the number of sticks and other rubbish dropped by the
jackdaws through the different apertures. Besides the
towers of our churches in town or country, and other
venerable edifices, lay or ecclesiastical, these birds fre-
quent the holes of decayed trees for nesting purposes,
and at Hunstanton the crevices in the chalk-cliff facing
the sea. In autumn and winter they collect together in
flocks, and are seen feeding with the rooks in fields and
marshes, and like them are extremely partial to the
margins of brackish waters and other localities affording
a supply of shell-fish and such like marine sustenance.
With the rooks also they roost at night in the big
woods. On one occasion during severe weather, in
January, 1862, I observed an immense flock, late in the
afternoon, coming direct from the city, and making
apparently for Earlham or Cossey, as though all the
jackdaws in Norwich had simultaneously left their
steeples, after foraging for the day, and were together
hastening to some accustomed roosting place.

This species, like others of its class, is by no
means particular in its diet, and it occasionally
exhibits carnivorous tastes worthy of the grey-backed
crow. The following instances of the latter in this
district are recorded by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher in
the " Zoologist" for 1847 : — " One of these birds was
shot by a gamekeeper, from the nest of a missel-thrush,
whilst in the act of devouring one of the young birds.
Another was observed in pursuit of a young pheasant ;
the latter soon squatted, when the jackdaw hopped
upon, and immediately began to peck it, but was shot
before it had done any further mischief.*' Mr. Hunt
also brings a further charge against them in his
" British Ornithology" (vol. ii., p. 47), where he says —
''They sometimes do much mischief in dove-houses.

JACKDAW. 279

and we are informed by the Rev. Mr. Wliitear that an
instance lately occurred at Ringstead, in which a
jackdaw killed, and partly devoured, an old pigeon, and
then deliberately laid its own egg close to the two on
which the pigeon was sitting." A very decided case,
I must say, of adding "insult to injury." As pets,
in confinement, they are extremely docile and affec-
tionate, and with their quaint actions and knowing
looks afford much amusement. The following curious
anecdote of one taken from a nest at Rackheath and
brought up at Catton Park, was related to me by Mr.
Gurney's gardener. This bird being perfectly tame was
allowed, with one or two others, to fly about in the
garden, and would come at a call to feed from the hand
or shoTilder. Suddenly, from some freak or fright, they
all left, and were last seen flying in the direction of their
former home. Nearly twelve months afterwards, no
more having been seen of them in the meantime, a
single jackdaw was observed flying about the hall, and
apparently inclined to settle, by a carpenter's lad, who
had been in the habit of feeding the lost birds ; on his
whistling, in the usual manner, to this new arrival, the
jackdaw hovered round him and, at last, settled on his
shoulder, and, by his familiar habits and actions, showed
plainly that he was one of the missing pets. He allowed
himself to be caught, with perfect indifference, and is
now living very happily in a cage with a companion of
the same species. Sir Thomas Browne, referring to this
species, remarks, '' among the many monedidas or jack-
daws, I could never in these parts observe the pyrrJiocorax
or Cornish chough, with red legs and bill, to be com-
monly seen in Cornwall." A perfectly white specimen
was shot at Smallburgh, in 1854, and a pied example,
near Norwich, in June, 1861 ; but varieties in this species
are not very often met with.

280 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

PICA CAUDATA, Fleming.

MAGPIE.

The Magpie, although classed with the carrion-crow
in the same proscribed list, is still met with in some
parts of the county, where it breeds regularly, but
besides the fatality of a '^ bad name," the improved state
of agriculture, resulting in the thinning of hedgerows
and such dense tangled coverts as they love to frequent,
has rendered magpies, in Norfolk, extremely scarce, as
compared with many of the midland and southern
counties. At the present time their chief stronghold
would seem to be the thickly wooded districts in the
north-eastern part of the county. They are scarce in
West Norfolk, and around Norwich extremely so — the
few met with from time to time in this neighbour-
hood, being invariably obtained during severe weather,
either stragglers dispersed in search of food or, more
probably still, migratory specimens from the north. Mr.
Alfred Newton, in the " Zoologist" (p. 1694), mentions
the occurrence of many magpies and jays in the county
during the severe season of 1846-7, evidently strangers,
arriving with other winter migrants. An unusual
number were also observed in the early part of 1857.

GARRULUS GLANDARIUS (Linnseus).

JAY.

Common throughout the year, breeding in Norfolk,
and, like the last species, would seem to receive, at
times at least, considerable accessions to its numbers in
autumn. Every sportsman knows the small flocks of

JAT. NUTCEACKEE. 281

these birds, which, occasionally, present themselves
during a day's covert shooting, and many a gamekeeper,
who prides himself on the extinction of *^ vermin," is
suddenly disgusted, on his rounds, by finding more
noisy jays, during one day's round, than he has had a
chance of shooting in a twelvemonth. Yet these, most
probably, are but native bred birds, which, forming
themselves into companies, as is their custom late in
the season, rove from one plantation to another in
search of acorns and berries as food becomes scarce
during sharp weather. The far larger bodies, however,
occasionally observed, can scarcely be accounted for in
the same manner, of which a very memorable instance,
occurring near the coast in the adjoining county, is
thus given by Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear : — " Some
years since as two gentlemen were sporting at Tunstal,
in Suffolk, distant about five miles from the sea, they
observed an extraordinary flight of jays, passing in a
single line from seaward towards the interior. This
line extended further than the eye could reach, and
must have consisted of some thousands. Several of
them were killed as they passed. But the firing at
them did not occasion the rest to deviate from their
line of flight." I have also observed these birds in some
years to be extremely plentiful in spring, and have
known many pairs killed as late as the beginning of
April, when they may be supposed to pass us again on
their return northwards.

NUCIFRACA CARYOCATACTES (Linnaeus).

NUTCEACKEE.

Three specimens of this rare and most accidental
visitant to our shores have been killed in Norfolk up to
2o

282 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

the present time, of wliicli the first was obtained at
Rollesbj, near Yarmouth, on the 30th of October,
1844. This bird, in the possession of Mr. J. H. Gurney,
was described in the " Zoologist" for 1845'^ (p. 824), by-
Mr. W. R. Fisher, as having a long pointed beak, the
upper mandible slightly projecting, with the tip horn
coloured and the rest black. It had been seen about the
same spot for a week before it was shot, and the contents
of the stomach consisted entirely of Coleopterous insects.
During the same autumn, the appearance of these birds
in considerable numbers attracted the attention of con-
tinental naturalists, and, according to Yarrell, *^they
were particularly noticed in Germany and Belgium, and
many appeared in the southern parts of Sweden." From
an examination of various specimens procured at that
time, a paper was read before the Royal Academy of
Sciences at Brussels,t by M. Edm. De Selys-Longchamps,
on a supposed specific difference between the nut-
crackers of Central Europe and those of Scandinavia,
the former having, it was affirmed, sharp pointed beaks,
the latter shorter and stouter bills, from which
peculiarity the specific term of hrachyrhynchus had been
previously applied to them by M. Brehm, in contra-
distinction to the thin-billed examples (caryocatactes) .
The next occurrence of this bird in Norfolk is recorded
in the " Zoologist" for 1853 (p. 4097),t by Mr. James
Green, of City Road, London, who says, " I have a fine

* In this notice the year 1843 is mentioned, but this is
evidently a mistake, as in Messrs. Gurney and Fisher's " List" the
bird is said to have been killed in 1844, the same year in which
so many appeared in Belgium and other parts of the continent.

f Printed, with illustrations, in the Bulletin of the Academy,
torn, xi.. No. 10.

J This is also recorded in the same journal by Mr. J. H.
Grurney (p. 4124).

NUTCRACKER. 283

specimen of the nutcracker, whicli was shot by a fisher-
man off Yarmouth on the 7 th of this month (October,
1853); it is in a beautiful state of preservation;" to
which the editor, Mr. Edward Newman, appended the
following note : — '' This bird was brought to me in the
flesh." I have been unable to ascertain if this specimen
had a pointed or blunt beak, as Mr. Newman cannot
remember at this distance of time, nor can I now
ascertain to whom the bird belongs. The third and last
Norfolk example was shot off a tree in a garden at
Gorleston, also near Yarmouth, on the 8th of October,
1864, and is now in the collection of the Rev. C. J.
Lucas, of Burgh. I had the opportunity of examining
this bird in the flesh, which has a narrow-pointed bill,
and proved on dissection to be a male. The stomach,
which was very muscular in texture, was filled with the
remains of a large dung beetle (Geotrwpes stercorarius) .
The plimiage may be thus described: — Upper parts of
the head pure hair brown; all the under surface, with
the sides of the head and upper portions of the back,
mottled with white on a chocolate ground, the patches
of white occupying the centre of each feather; a few
small white spots on the tail- coverts ; lower part of the
back plain hair brown ; tail feathers, twelve in number,
the two centre ones black, all the rest with white tips,
deepest on the outside ones, and graduating to the
centre ; secondary wing-coverts slightly edged with
white, showing more on one side than the other. In
comparing this specimen with two thick-billed nut-
crackers in the museum collection, I found the white
margins of the tail feathers somewhat deeper in the
thin-billed bird, which is generally darker in its plumage
and less inclined to any reddish tinge. The length of
the quill feathers in the wings about the same in either
case. Tarsi, the same length in both the thick and thin-
billed birds, but the legs and feet of the former the
2 o2

284 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

stoutest. In measuring tlieir respective beaks along
the upper mandible, the thin-bill was the longest by the
amount of its projection beyond the lower mandible, but
measuring round the base of each beak the thin-billed
example was about three-eighths of an inch less than
the others. In appearance the thick-billed bird has a
decidedly corvine character, whilst the thin-billed
more nearly resembles the sturnidce. Whether or
not this marked difference in the form of the beak
may be considered as establishing a specific differ-
ence, the fact of examples of both varieties having
occurred in this country renders it, as Mr. Fisher
remarks in the " Zoologist " (p. 1074),"^ a subject of
considerable interest to the British ornithologist. The
figure in Bewick is apparently taken from a thin-
billed bird, and that in Yarrell from a thick-billed
specimen formerly in his collection, whilst two at least
out of the three Norfolk examples have thin bills, as
had also a fourth killed at Wisbech, November 8th,
1859, as recorded in the " Zoologist" (p. 6809), by Mr.
F. W. Foster, of the Wisbech museum. The question
has been raised, however, whether this strange differ-
ence in the beaks of our European nutcrackers may not
be, as is the case with the AustraHan Neomorpha
gouldi, a sexual and not a specific peculiarity. That'
singular and very interesting New Zealand species, as
figured by Mr. Gould in his "Birds of AustraKa,"
exhibits even a greater variation in the size and shape
of the beak, in different examples, than is found even
in the nutcrackers ; but the researches of modern
naturalists have established beyond a doubt that these
birds are but the sexes of one species. " The natives (says

* " On the two British species or varieties of the nutcracker,"
by W. R. Fisher, with a figure of the Rollesby bird and illustrations,
showing the difference in form of the thick and thin beaks, &c.

NUTCEACKEE. GREEN WOODPECKEK. 285

Mr. Gould) regard the bird with the straight and stout
beak as the male, and the other as the female. In three
specimens I shot this was the case, and both birds are
always together." The same point, as regards the
nutcrackers, could be easily established by dissection,
and will not be, I hope, lost sight of by those who may
have the opportunity of examining fresh killed speci-
mens of either kind. The Gorleston bird with the
narrow pointed beak was certainly a male, and so also
was the Wisbech specimen, but the sex of the EoUesby
and Yarmouth birds was, unfortunately, not recorded.
A nutcracker is stated by Messrs. Sheppard and
Whitear to have occurred some years ago at South-
wold, in Suffolk.

PICUS VIRIDIS, LinBffius.

GEEEN WOODPECKEE.

This handsome species is by no means uncommon
throughout the year, and but for the attractions of its
brilliant plumage would, no doubt, be more generally
met with ; the stuffed specimens, however, so often seen
in keepers' cottages, and the numbers that pass into
the hands of our bird preservers to make " show" cases
for casual customers, will in some degree account for
their limited increase. The sharp winter of 1860-1 was
remarkable for the very large quantity killed in different
parts of the county, one bird-stuffer in Norwich having
between twenty and thirty brought in for preservation
during a short period of severe frost ; but with this
single exception, I have never known these birds to
suffer much from the severity of the weather, or to
present themselves, even at such seasons, in more than
their ordinary numbers. Their simultaneous appearance

286 BIKDS OF NORFOLK.

in sucli extremely unusual numbers, seemed almost
to suggest a migratory movement, yet I know of no
trustworthy facts which would justify me in classing this
woodpecker with such resident species as receive foreign
additions in autumn. A very singular and beautiful
variety was killed at Hedenham, in December, 1852,
which is now in the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, who
thus described its peculiar plumage in the " Zoologist"
(p. 3801). "It exhibits some remarkable variations
from the usual colouring of this species, especially on
the rump, the feathers of which (including the upper
tail-coverts) are in this specimen all margined and
tipped with a beautiful flame-coloured red, instead of
with the usual edging of yellow. The feathers at the
lower part of the back of the neck are also similarly
tipped with red, while those on the back are pointed
with the beautiful golden yellow edgings which usually
characterise the feathers of the rump ; and a similar
yellow pointing is to be observed on the ends of the
feathers forming the three lower rows of the wing-
coverts. The other parts of the plumage do not differ
from ordinary specimens." That this strange intensity
of colouring, however unique in a British specimen,
is occasionally met with in other countries, is shown
by the following interesting remarks of Mr. Robert
Birkbeck, in the "Zoologist" for 1854 (p. 4209),
under the title of "Notes on the birds of Italy and
Sicily." Speaking of the green woodpecker, he says —
*^In the museum at Pisa I observed three or four
specimens with the feathers on the rump and neck
quite flame-coloured, and those on the back of a bright
yellow, similar to the specimen noticed by Mr. Gurney
in the ^Zoologist.' Some were brighter in colour
than others. I think that they were distinguished as
varieties of P. viridis." In the "Zoologist" for 1848
(p. 2229), Mr. Alfred Newton described some eggs of the

GREEN WOODPECKER. 287

green woodpecker found in the neighbourhood of Elveden
(Sufiblk) during the previous spring, as abnormal in
their colouring as the plumage of the bird just referred
to. After stating that " the hen bird was in the hole
when it was cut open," lest any doubt should arise as
to the species these eggs belonged to, he says — " Except
in size, shape, and high polish, they do not at all
resemble the eggs commonly laid by this bird, being
blotched and spotted with reddish brown and tawny
yellow, so as to be something like those of the common
quail or that of the Baillon's crake as figured in
Hewitson's illustrations." Again, in the *^ Zoologist"
for 1850 (p. 2923), Mr. Newton writes— "I have
again, this year, obtained some eggs of the green
woodpecker, coloured like those of which I sent you
an account two years since; they were taken from
a nest in an elm tree. ^ ■» -^ ^ -^ From their
having been taken near the place where the coloured
eggs were found in 1848, they are all probably the
produce of the same bird." From a correspondence
which ensued upon these notices, it will be seen that Mr.
Newton at first, judging from the localities in which
they were taken, had great doubts whether the colouring
matter on these eggs could be owing to any fungoid
juices or the stain of rotten wood, but he now, I know,
fuiUy concurs with Mr. Hewitson's opinion thus given
in the 3rd edition of his " British Birds' Eggs" : — " Mr.
Newton has kindly sent me a drawing of the coloured
eggs of this species, mentioned by himself and others in
the 'Zoologist.' It is smeared over in the same
manner as the eggs of the grebes, and I have no doubt
at all arises from a vegetable stain." Having also had
the opportunity of examining some of these pecuhar
specimens in the cabinets of Mr. Newton at Cambridge,
and Mr. Newcome at Feltwell, I can only say that,
whatever may have been the cause of their unusual

288 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

colouring, they suggest at once tlie idea of some
external stain, and remind one of those strange-looking
swans' eggs occasionally met with in a marshman's
cottage, which owe their rich unnatural tints to the
*'gude wife's" patience and an onion peeling. Mr. T.
E. Gunn, of this city, assures me that on one occasion
he discovered small fragments of acorns in the stomach
of a green woodpecker, which agrees with the statement
of Naumann that, besides insects and their eggs, acorns
also form an occasional article of diet. Bechstein
moreover asserts that they will crack nuts.

PICUS MAJOR, Linnaeus.

GEEAT-SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

The Pied Woodpecker, as it is also called, though by
no means numerous and somewhat local in its distribu-
tion, is found in certain localities throughout the year,
and nests in our woods and plantations ; but, like the
previous species, probably owes its scarcity, in no small
degree, to the attractions of its plumage. During the
last few years, I have known both old and young birds,
and in one or two instances the eggs as well, obtained
during the summer months, at Earlham, Hellesdon,
Costessey, Melton, Eackheath, Bramerton, Eramingham,
Kirby Cane, and Horstead, which shows them to be
pretty well distributed in the vicinity of Norwich, and
they have also been noticed during the breeding season
at West Harling and Attleborough ; and an old female,
with three young ones, was shot at Salthouse, near
Cromer, in June, 1863. Mr. Selby, writing of this
species in the north of England says — " In Northumber-
land scarcely a year passes without some of these birds
being observed in the months of October and November,

GREAT-SPOTTED WOODPECKEE. 289

This induces me to suppose that they are migratory in
some of the more northern parts of Europe, perhaps in
Norway and Sweden. They arrive about the same
time as the woodcock and other equinoctial migrants,
and generally after stormy weather from the north and
north-east." There is no doubt that the same remarks
apply to Norfolk, since I find, on referring to my notes
for the last few years, that more than half the specimens
which have come under my notice have been killed in
the months of October and November, and for the most
part in the vicinity of the coast.* The strongest
evidence, however, of the migratory nature of this
woodpecker occurred in the severe winter of 1861
when, between the 5th of November and the following
February, between twenty and thirty specimens (old
and young) were killed in different parts of the county,
and some fourteen or fifteen of them in the neighbour-
hood of Lynn. About the same time an equally unusual
number ajDpeared in Cambridgeshire, as recorded in the
" Zoologist" (p. 7847) by Mr. S. P. Saville ; and Mr.
Henry L. Saxby, in the same journal (p. 7932), gives
a most interesting account of their visit to the Shetland
Isles during September and October of the same year,
a still more remarkable direction for any migratory
movement. The wind, says Mr. Saxby, was steadily
blowing from the south-east at the time, and he was
also informed that several were killed in Orkney. Of
those examined by himself he says — " Strange to say,
not one female was to be found among them, and, with
one single exception, all were first year's birds. The
first two presented nothing unusual in their appear-
ance, but on taking the third one into my hand, I at

* The Eev. E. W. Dowell had a bird of this species brought to
him in the month of ISTovember, 1848, which had been taken in a
poacher's net, at Salthouse, close to the sea.
2p

290 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

once remarked tlie worn look of the bill, tail, and claws.
I immediately suspected that this was caused by the
scarcity of trees having driven the bird to seek its food
among stones and rocks, and upon opening the stomach,
my suspicions were confirmed by the discovery, among
other insects, of several small beetles, which are found
only upon the hills. I may mention that these beetles
are very abundant in Shetland, although I do not
remember having seen any of the kind in England;
they are about the size and shape of one half of a spHt
pea, black, edged with scarlet. I afterwards saw
spotted woodpeckers in various parts of the hills and
walls, and even in high sea-cliffs ; I also saw them
on roofs of houses and upon dung-hills, and, although
several were killed upon corn-stacks I never found any
grain in the stomach. They were frequently to be met
with upon the ground among heather, where at all
times they were easily approached, but more particularly
in rainy or misty weather, when, their plumage becom-
ing saturated with moisture and rendering them too
heavy for a long flight, many were stoned to death by
boys. Those in the garden fed largely upon seeds of
the mountain-ash, which they broke open the berries
to procure, sometimes dropping a whole cluster upon
the ground and descending to feed, but more frequently
breaking, the berries to pieces as they hung upon ihe
trees. But even in the garden they did not confine
themselves to the trees; at one time they might be
seen busily searching among moss and dead leaves, at
another in the midst of a tuft of coarse weeds, and
again intently examining the spiders' webs upon the
walls. It was quite a common occurrence to see them
in the open meadows, scattering aside the horse-dung
with their bills, and thus procuring abundant supplies
of worms and grubs." This woodpecker, though an
unusual cage-bird, thrives well in confinement, and

GREAT-SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 291

becomes as amusing a pet as tlie nutliatcli, and about
as active and mischievous. One wbicli was kept alive
for some time by a person in this city, in 1857, fed
upon barley-meal and insects. The latter were extracted
from pieces of old bark supplied fresh every day or
two, and fastened to the inside of the cage.

With an avi-fauna so rich as that of Norfolk, one
may well afford to exclude a doubtful species, and
for reasons, therefore, which I will briefly explain,
I have considered it desirable to omit from the present
work the Gkeat-Black Woodpecker (Pieus martius),
believing that it has been too hastily and erroneously
classed amongst the accidental visitants to this county.
Its introduction at all into our Norfolk "list" rests
entirely upon the following passage in YarreU's " British
Birds''"^ (1st ed., vol. ii., p. 129), where, in enumerating
the various instances in which the black woodpecker is
said to have appeared in England, he states that " a few
years since a communication was made to the Zoological
Society of London, that two examples of the great-
black woodpecker had been at that time kiUed in a small
wood, near Scole Inn, in Norfolk." This note, on Mr.
YarreU's authority, has been since copied by Mac-
gillivray and Morris ; and amongst local authors by
the Eev. R. Lubbock in his "Fauna," Messrs. Gurney
and Fisher in the "Zoologist" (1846, p. 1315), and
still more recently by myself, in a paper on "the
Ornithology of Norfolk," written in 1863 for the 3rd
edition of " White's Gazetteer" of this county.f I had
long had the impression that, in this instance, a mistake
might have arisen between the great-spotted and the
great-black woodpecker, when my idea was accidentally

* The fourteenth part of this work, in which the statement
occurs, was pubhshed in September, 1839.

t See also " Zoologist," 1864 (p. 9025).
2p2

292 BIRDS OP NOEFOLK.

confirmed by circumstances, originating in a con-
versation with Mr. Spaldingj of Westleton. Whilst
inspecting that gentleman's collection in the summer
of 1864, I happened to mention the Scole woodpeckers,
with some expressions of doubt as to the identity of
those specimens, when he referred me to Mr. Francis
Drake, of Billingford, as an individual most likely to be
able to afford information. At once taking the hint, I
shortly received, in reply to my enquiries, the following
letter from Mr. Drake, dated June 29th, 1864, who, to
my great surprise, proved to be the very person who had
shot the birds in question : — " Being equally interested
with yourself and Mr. Sj^alding in birds, I feel now inclined
to think the birds I shot many years since at BilUngford,
near Scole, were the large spotted woodpecker, although
I was told at the time they were the black." In a
subsequent letter, in answer to further questions, Mr.
Drake says — "It must have been more than thirty
years since I shot the birds. They were evidently
larger than the wryneck, with red heads. I was not
aware they were in print until I saw them mentioned
in Mr. Lubbock's work on the 'Fauna of Norfolk.'
They were not ^preserved. I cannot remember if they
had white about them." Having pursued the enquiry
thus far, I was desirous of finding the notice referred to
by Yarrell in the Zoological Society's '^'Proceedings,"
but failing in this, I wrote to the secretary, Mr. Sclater,
to know if he could in any way assist me in discovering
by whom the " communication" had been originally
made. In a few days I received the following reply,
assuring me of that gentleman's persevering though
fruitless efforts to comply with my request: — "I have
searched in vain in our 'proceedings,' and also in our
written remarks, for any traces of the paper you
mention. I cannot find anything like it. I fear it was
only mentioned in the way of conversation at the

LESSER-SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 293

meeting, or perhaps a specimen exhibited, and was
never entered in our minutes." Here, therefore,
my researches ended, but I think enough has been
elicited to render it more than doubtful whether the
birds, above referred to, were really specimens of the
great-black woodpecker, and that until some more
authentic instance of the occurrence of that species
should entitle it to be replaced, it will be best removed
altogether from the Norfolk "List." Mr. Drake par-
ticularly remarks that the birds were not preserved,
which would undoubtedly have been the case had they
been exhibited before the society in London, and Mr.
Yarrell speaks only of a "communication" made, without
any reference to specimens. Supposing also, as Mr.
Sclater suggests, that the matter was only " mentioned
in the way of conversation," without any entry being
subsequently made in the minutes, it is most probable
that Yarrell was himself present at the meeting, or was
informed of the circumstance by some other member of
the society.

PICUS MINOR, Linn^us.

LESSEE-SPOTTED WOODPECKEE.

This species, though undoubtedly scarce, probably
appears even more so than it really is, its small size and
wary nature rendering it easily overlooked. It remains
with us throughout the year, and breeds in the county,
but is extremely local. Mr. Gurney informs me that
within his recollection they were killed occasionally in
Cossey Park, where they were supposed to be residents ;
and Blickling Park would seem to be another favourite
haunt, from specimens having been obtained from
time to time in that locality, of which two are stated
by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher in the "Zoologist" (pp.

294 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

1702-1769), to have been killed in the spring of 1847 :
the first a male, in March, and a female in the following
May. In January of the same year, as recorded in the
above journal by Mr. Alfred Newton, one was obtained
in a wood at Barningham, and a female was shot at
Hales worth, in the adjoining county, in February,
1855. Mr. George Master also informs me that he
shot one at Snettisham, in Norfolk, in October, 1856.
Mr. Hunt, in his "British Ornithology," thus speaks
of this bird, as observed by himself in close vicinity
to this city, though in a locality where one would be
least likely to look for it at the present time"^ : — " We
have frequently seen this species on some willow trees,
at the extremity of our garden, not only during the
summer months, but also in the winter season, running
up the branches with great celerity."

YUNX TORQUILLA, Linnaeus.

WEYNECK.

The cuckoo's leader or cuckoo's mate, as this bird is
frequently called, is an annual summer visitant, arriving
in April and leaving again in September, and breeds in
the county. Mr. Yarrell, on the authority of the late
Mr. John Drew Salmon, who formerly resided in this
county, mentions a singular instance of the persevering
attachment of this species to a particular nesting place,
in which case no less than twenty-two eggs were

* Mr. Hunt, as I learn from his son, a casliier in the Norwich
Post-office, was then residing in Rose Lane, and his garden
occupied the present site of Lloyd's stonemason's yard. It is
difficult, however, to realize in that now busy thoroughfare a
quiet suburb between Thorpe and the city, rural enough to attract
these woodpeckers from the Thorpe woods on the further side of
the river.

WRYNECK. COMMON CEEEPEE. 295

abstracted from tlie nest, on four different occasions,
before the favourite spot was deserted. A very similar
occurrence came under my notice in 1855 at Bramerton,
where a "Wryneck had fixed its abode in the trunk
of an old tree. This bird permitted twenty out of
twenty-three eggs to be taken away at different periods,
without forsaking the nest, and ultimately brought off
three young ones from the eggs that were left. It is
even more strange, perhaps, that in the following
summer from the same nest, and most probably from
the same bird, eighteen out of twenty-two eggs were
taken, and yet, one being left each time, she still con-
tinued to lay. Whether descendants from this perse-
vering couple still occupy their ancestral abode, it is
difficult to say, but in 1857 I was shown four young ones,
which had been reared in the same hole. This is no doubt
the species referred to by Sir Thomas Browne as "an
hobby-bird, so called because it comes either with, or a
little before, the hobbies in the spring. Of the bigness of
a thrush, coloured and paned like a hawk ; marvellously
subject to the vertigo, and are sometimes taken in those
fits." The strange actions of the wryneck, from which
its ordinary name is derived, no doubt originated the
quaint conceit of this celebrated Norfolk naturalist.

CERTHIA FAMILIARIS, Linnseus.

COMMON CEEEPEE.

This diminutive and most interesting species is resi-
dent with us throughout the year, and very generally
distributed; though far oftener heard than seen, from
their quick mouse-like actions, and the wonderful assimi-
lation of their brown tints to the branches and stems of
the trees they frequent. The practised ear of a naturalist

296 BIRDS OP NOEFOLK.

is, however, pretty sure to detect them, in a quiet ramble
through our woods or plantations, and many a time I
have watched their active search for food, whilst waiting
in a "drive" for a chance shot during the shooting
season. The following very interesting note, on the
nesting habits of this species, was communicated to
me by the Eev. C. Norris, of Briston, from personal
observations : — " In May, 1863 (he writes), I found
no less than four nests of the tree-creeper, built
on the outside of a summer-house in Stody planta-
tion. This building, formed of lath and plaster, was
supported on the outside by split fir-poles, and one of
these being warped by the sun, left a sufiicient aperture
for these little creatures to enter and nest in. Two of
the four nests were disturbed, and the same birds
probably erected the two others, but they were all
within two yards of each other. The nests in this
instance were composed of the young top shoots or
catkins of the sweet chestnut and dead shoots of the
larch, lined with moss and a few feathers. The birds
were seen by myself, and one of them on the nest."
A very common resort, also, of the tree-creeper in the
breeding season, as I learn from Mr. Alfred Newton, is
the timber-yard on large estates, where the nests are
invariably built amongst the "slabs" or split fir-poles.
A very beautiful variety, perfectly white, was taken
from a nest in this county, in June, 1854, together with
another young one in the usual plumage, but they are
rarely subject to any variation in colour.

TROGLODYTES VULGARIS (Fleming).

COMMON WEEN.

The little Wren is not only associated with the
robin in our nursery literature, but shares with it

COMMON WREN. 297

also our sympathies and interest as a resident through-
out the year, frequenting the close vicinity of our homes
in city and county ; at one time creeping mouse-hke
amongst the branches of the roadside fence, at another
startling us almost with the vehemence of its song as,
with open bill and tail erect, it pours forth its defiant
notes. Like the redbreast, also, this diminutive little
creature is famed for the eccentricities of its nesting
localities, and the strange assimilation of the materials
used to the peculiarities of the situation. How difficult
of detection is that ball of moss, placed sometimes on a
bank or decayed tree-stem, surrounded with verdure
of the same kind ; or the nest by the side of the straw
or clover stack — built entirely of the materials nearest
at hand, which defies even the keen sight of our
birds'-nesting boys till the entrance or exit of the
bird itself betrays its whereabouts. The most singular
and beautiful nest, however, of this species I ever
saw was taken in 1863, in a garden at Lakenham,
where it had been built amongst the leaves of a
Savoy cabbage. Formed entirely of moss, this exqui-
site little structure was so placed as to rest firmly
against one leaf, whilst another hung pendant over
the top, and in places even the moss was drawn
through these green supports, as though the beaks of
the architects had stitched them together. I could
only regret, when first shown this natural curiosity,
that no means could be adopted to preserve its fresh-
ness, but a photograph taken of it at the time, presents
in all but colour a very fair representation. This species,
like the last, is subject to little variation in plumage,
but in June, 1853, a very prettily marked specimen,
barred and spotted with white, was killed near Norwich.

2q

298 BIRDS 0¥ NOEFOLK.

UPUPA EPOPS, Linnaeus.

HOOPOE.

Of all our rarer migratory visitants there is none
wliose appearance is more regularly noted tlian the
Hoopoe, its singular plumage striking the most indif-
ferent observer, and, unfortunately, in ahnost every
instance insuring its destruction. Although the
annual notices of its persecution, in our local and
natural history journals, belie the stereotyped heading
of " rara avis," no specimen is safe for an instant
on our inhospitable shores, and many an oppor-
tunity of examining the peculiar habits, in a wild
state, of this very interesting bird are lost to the
naturalist through the gi'eed of collectors. That they
have of late years visited us in larger numbers, and
vrith far more regularity than they used to do, is a fact
well ascertained, although the cause of such a change
in their habits is not quite so apparent. It can scarcely,
however, be said of this species as of some others, for
the very reasons above given, that its appearance
amongst us now, is more observed than formerly, since
Sir Thomas Brown thus refers to it ; " JJpupa or hooj)e-
bird, so named from its note; a gallant marked bird,
which I have often seen, and it is not hard to sJioot them."*

* The same learned author, in " an answer to certain queries
relating to fishes, bu'ds, and insects," gives the following addi-
tional notes on this species (Wilkin's edition, vol. iv., p. 183) : —
•' I cannot wonder that this bird you sent should be a stranger
unto you, and unto those who had a sight thereof; for, though it
be not seen every day, yet we often meet with it in this country.
It is an elegant bird, which he that once beholdeth can hardly
mistake any other for it. From the proper note it is called an

HOOPOE. 299

Messrs. Gurney and Fislier, writing of tlie hoopoe in
1846^ speak of it as of *^not unfrequent occurrence in
Norfolk, ajDpearing at irregular intervals and generally
in tlie autumn;" yet, correct as this statement
undoubtedly was at the time, and agreeing also
with Yarrell's general account of its arrival in other
parts of the kingdom, it has since, most un-
questionably, become a very regular spring visitant, its
appearance in autumn being the exception and not
the rule, as the subjoined list of such specimens as
have come under my own observation durmg the last
fourteen years, in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk,
sufficiently proves. I do not suppose that this list,
although containing a large proportion, comprises
nearly all that have been either seen or killed on our
coast since 1850, but it shows, at least, that one or more
specimens have been seen from year to year, except in
1855 and 1861 ; when, in both instances, the extreme
severity of the weather until late in the season might
account for its non-arrival. The great regularity of
its appearance in spring is also remarkable, the dates
varying between the 11th of April and the 28th of
May, and even including the extraordinary number

hoopebird with us ; in Greek epops, in Latin upiipa. We are little
obliged unto our school instruction, wherein we are taught to
render upupa a lapwing, which bhd our natural writers name
vanellus ; for thereby we mistake this remarkable bird, and appre-
hend not rightly what is delivered of it. * * * * Again,
not knowing or mistaking this bird, we may mis-apprehend, or
not closely apprehend, that handsome expression of Ovid, when
Tereus was turned into an vpupa or hoopebird : —

' Vertitur in volucrem cui sunt pro vertice cristae,
Protinus immodicum surgit pro cuspide rostrum
Nomen epops volucri, facies armata videtur.'
For in this military shape he is aptly fancied even still revenge-
fully to pursue his hated wife Progne : in the propriety of his note,
crying out, pou, pou, %ibi, uhi; or, where are you ? "
2q2

300

BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

taken in 1859^ we find but six instances^ out of sixty-
five specimens, of its being met with during the
autmnn months — one in August and five in September.
To the late Mr. Thurtell, of Lowestoft, I am indebted for
the particulars of the thirteen specimens killed in that
neighbourhood between the 28th of April and the 5th
of May, 1859. These were all met with in the same
locality — the Warren and Denes — and were flushed
singly, nine being males and four females. In Mr.
Hunt's " List" of Norfolk Birds a pair of hoopoes are
recorded to have been " shot in a garden in the parish
of St. Martin's at Oak, in Norwich."

The singular name of hoopoe is applied to this
bird in imitation of its peculiar cry,, which is emitted
by distending the cheeks with air, and then tapping
the beak on the ground. In China, as I am informed
by my friend Mr. Swinhoe, Vice-Consul of Formosa,
the same species is called "the coffin bird" by the
natives, from its habit of nesting in exposed coffins,
as well as in the holes of walls. There seems every
probability, from these birds being now so frequently
met with in pairs in this county during the early part
of the year, that in some instances they would remain
to breed if not subjected to that exterminating system
which all true naturalists cannot too severely deprecate ;
and for which, in this case at least, as I have abundantly
shown, neither rarity nor doubt as to the identity of
the species can be urged in excuse : —

TEAR. DATE.

NO

LOCALITY.

YEAR. DATE. NO

LOCALITY,

1850 AprU 11

1

Lowestoft

1852 May 8 1

Martham

(Suff.)

1853 May 2 1

Tarmouth

1851 May 21

1

Yarmouth

1854 April 24 1

Burgh

1852 April 26

1

Lowestoft

„ April 26 1

Hethel

5) »

1

Belaugh-

„ Sept. 28 1

Yarmouth

heath

1856 April 18 1

Winterton

„ April 29

1

Strumpshaw

„ May 4 1

Ditto

„ May 4

1

Bartoji

„ Sept. 24 1

Bungay (SufF.)

(found dead)

„ Sept. 29 1

Ditto

NUTHATCH.

aoi

TEAR

DATE.

NO

LOCAUTY.

YEAR.

DATE.

NO

LOCAUTY.

1857

April 24

Yarmouth

1860

April 24

1

Ditto

>)

May 13

Carrow-abbey

1862

April 11

2

Yarmouth

J>

May ?

Yarmoutli

55

AprH 26

Burgh

J>

»

Lowestoft

55

Sept. 5

Cantley

,,

Aug. 26

Harleston

>f

Sept. 13

Crown Point

1858

May 26

Yarmoutli

>J

April 14

Lowestoft

1859

April i2

Eanwortli

1863

AprU 24

Yarmouth

AprU P

Stoke

1864

April 14

Ditto

>»

Thetford

>j

„ ?

Wortham

,,

Harleston

(Suff.)

April 18

Ashill

>»

April 20

Lowestoft

May 4

Yoxford(Suff.)

,,

))

Yarmouth

)>

Long Stratton

1865

April 21

Lowestoft

May 14

Yarmoutli

j>

„ 22

Plumstead

April 28

»

„ ?

Yarmouth

to May 5 13

Lowestoft

))

May 20

BradweU

SITTA EUROP^A, Leach*.

NUTHATCH.

A not uncommon resident, througliont the county,
though oftener heard than seen as it runs in all direc-
tions over the rough stems and branches of trees, more
particularly those of the beech ; hammering at the bark
with its stout bill, after the manner of the woodpeckers,
or skilfally cracking a nut in some convenient fissure.
I have found them frequenting most of the large
gardens which abound in the close vicinity of this city,
as at Bracondale, Thorpe, and Earlham, and much
amusement has been afforded me, after discovering their
haunts, by placing nuts, or their kernels only, in such

* Ornithologists are divided in opinion as to the identity of the
British Nuthatch with the Sitta europcea of Linn^us. Those who
consider our bird to be distinct from that of Scandinavia apply to
it the name of Sitta ccesia, Meyer.

302 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

situations as would enable me to watcli the actions of
these birds. In confinement the young become very
tame and from their activity and quaintness in every
movement are most engaging pets, but sadly destructive
to any woodwork within their reach. If constantly
supplied with fresh bark, they never tire of searching
each corner and crevice for insect food, clinging to it
in every imaginable attitude with their strong claws,
whilst beating all the wliile with their beaks a very
'^devil's tattoo," unpleasantly suggestive, in its per-
sistent monotony, of the busiest moments of a coffin-
maker. The following very interesting particulars
respecting a nest of this species were communicated
to me by Mr. Samuel Blyth, who watched the progress
of the work, and satisfied himself by measurements,
of the arduous task, not only begun but completed
by these ingenious little architects. In the spring
of 1865, a pair of nuthatches selected, for nesting
purposes, the bole of a beech tree at Framingham,
which had a cleft, on one side, nearly a foot and
a-half in length. This opening, being too large and
exposed, the birds proceeded to fill up (leaving only
a hole big enough for themselves to pass in and out)
with clay collected from the edge of a pond about
one hundred and fifty yards off. In the first instance
the whole structure was pulled down by a lad
when nearly completed; but, nothing daunted, the
nuthatches began again and, completing their task,
eventually hatched and brought off their young. On
subsequent examination, the mud-works, thus labo-
riously constructed, were found so hard that only
a mallet and chisel could make any impression on them,
and they measured exactly 16 inches in length, 3^ inches
in width, and 2^ inches in de^^th. A specimen, perfectly
white, was killed at Lyng, near Reepham, in December,
1846, a very unusual and beautiful variety.

CUCKOO. 303

CUCULUS CANORUS, Liunjeus.

CUCKOO.

Of all our migratory songsters, there is none so
universally known by its note as the Cuckoo, and yet
how few people, comparatively speaking, know the bird
by sight. The same remark applies also to the night-
ingale, but in that case the nocturnal habits of the bird
make it less likely to be often recognised, yet all day
long that "curious voice" sounds in the distance, and
but for the cry of " cuckoo" on the wing, none would
associate that " mysterious sound" with the grey
hawk-like bird, so slowly flitting past. With us it is
always an abundant species, arriving in April"^ and
leaving again about the end of July, though the young
birds are not unfrequently met with long after their
parents have left for the south, as I have seen them
myself, at different times, throughout the months of
August and September. In the district of the broads,
they are more particularly nmnerous, the nests of the
various small birds placed amongst the sedges and
luxuriant herbage on the marshes, being particularly
accessible as lying-in hospitals to these most improvident
and reckless of mothers. In such localities during
May and June, I have seen as many as five or six
cuckoos at one time, beating over the marshes, occa-
sionally pursued by a clamorous throng of titlarks and
warblers, resenting, as it were, a too close scrutiny of

* From a table of " Observations on tbe indications of spring,"
made by a gentleman in the neighbourhood of Stratton Strawles3
for ten years, commencing 1845 (See Norfolk Chronicle May 31,
1856), I find the earliest and latest records of the Cuckoo's song
to be— April 17th, 1848— AprH 28th, 1850.

304 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

their liouseliold treasures, and judging, probably, from
external appearances, witli shrewd suspicions as to tlie
raptorial affinities of tlieir unwelcome guests. The
unvarying but grateful song of this bird is never heard to
more advantage than in these marshy districts, whether
softened by distance, it still blends with the rustling
reed-stems and the sedge-birds' melodies, or, startling
by its sudden presence, the bird flits past, uttering its
long drawn notes upon the wing. Still, far or near,
the life long summer's day appears too short to tell
^Hhe vagrant cuckoo's tale," commenced with the
earliest dawn of day, unfinished often when the sun
has set and other birds have ceased their mingling
notes. I have heard it also, on bright moonlight nights,
whilst listening for the merry medley of the reed and
sedge-birds, utter its song at lengthened intervals, thus
sounding more rich and mellow in its tone, when break-
ing the stillness of the midnight air.

I am sorry I can say nothing from personal observa-
tion on that much debated question, how does the cuckoo
deposit her eggs? Whether or not she follows the
custom of certain foreign species, who are said to lay
their eggs on the ground and afterwards transfer
them with their beaks into suitable nests ; undoubtedly
our cuckoo's egg is found, at times, in nests so
situated that its introduction by any other means
appears impossible. An occurrence, strongly con-
firmatory of this view, is thus recorded in the
"Zoologist" for 1851 (p. 3145), by Mr. J. O. Harper,
curator of the Hospital Museum in this city : — •" On the
morning of the 14th of April, I was out shooting with a
friend for the purpose of obtaining specimens in orni-
thology, and having arrived at a point of the river
called the Alder-carr, situated midway between Norwich
and Thorpe, I heard from an adjoining tree the well-
known note of a cuckoo, which I observed perched at a

CUCKOO. 305

distance of twenty yards. I was about to fire when,
over my head sailed another with something between
its mandibles. My curiosity was excited, and, leaving
the other to speed on its way, I followed in the boat the
flying cuckoo which I saw alight in an adjoining
meadow. I reached the bird within twenty yards, and
observed it in the act of progressing in a similar way to
the crawling of a parrot, by the side of a drain, with the
substance still in its beak; after traversing some
distance it stopped short, and at the same time I
fired. Upon nearing it, I found the substance, before-
mentioned, to be its egg, I am sorry to say, broken, but
still it was quite satisfactory to me that such was the case.
Upon dissection I found the cloaca contained another
egg of nearly the same size, but without the calcareous
envelope. I think, in all probabihty, this bird was
searching for a nest, perhaps that of the meadow pipit,
for the depositing of its egg.'' The curious habit of the
young cuckoo of clearing the nest of all rival inmates,
thus gaining for itself the sole attention of its fond
but deluded foster parents, has been too often described
from the careful observations of Jenner, Montagu,
Yarrell, Stanley, and many others, to need repetition
here; but Mr. Gould (Birds of Great Britain) has
propounded a theory of his own on this subject, opposed
altogether to Dr. Jenner's experience and the opinions
of naturalists generally. Doubting the power of the
young cuckoo to clear the nest of its other occupants
by the end of the thu-d day, he says — "May we
not more readily imagine that it has been done
by the foster parents, who, having bestowed all
their attention on the parasite, thus cause the
death of their own young, which are then cleared
out of the nest in the same way as broken egg-shells,
feeces, and other estraneous matters ?" The same
author also refers to some highly interesting remarks
2 E

306 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

in "Naiimannia/' 1853 (p. 307), by Dr. Baldamus,
in wliicli that accomplished naturalist endeavours to
prove "that the egg of the cuckoo is always found
to present a very recognizable resemblance to the
normal appearance of the egg of the species in whose
nest it is deposited;" giving also in the same journal
for 1854 (p. 415), a list of references to a plate repre-
sentmg sixteen cuckoos' eggs, in proof of his assertion.
*' The similarity (says Mr. Gould) in many instances is
very obvious, and the subject of the article, which does
not seem to be generally known to British ornithologists,
deservedly merits further attention." Mr. G. D. Eowley,
in a very interesting paper in the " Ibis" (1865, p. 178),
*^0n certain facts in the economy of the cuckoo," also
refers to Dr. Baldamus's article, and though not at pre-
sent convinced by the arguments of the writer, which
are opposed in many respects to his own experience ;
yet, in expressing his admiration at the learned doctor's
researches, he adds, ^' The theory is as beautiful as it
is new, and I only wish that fresh evidence may be
brought forward of a nature so strong as to make it
an acknowledged fact." Mr. Rowley has, for some
years, devoted a considerable amount of time and
labour to the study of the habits of this remarkable
species, and his paper should be perused by every one
desirous of knowing the latest views of ornithologists on
this difficult subject. The period of laying, he believes,
from personal observation, to extend from the begin-
ning of May to the middle of July, having taken eggs
of the cuckoo as late as the 29th of that month. He
also gives on the authority of continental as well as
British authors, with some few additions supplied by
the editor of the " Ibis," the subjoined list* of no less

* Sylvia liortensis, cinerea, atricapilla P curruca, tithys, phosni-
curus, rubecula, arundinacea, palustris, cariceti, locustella, nisoria,

CUCKOO. 307

than fifty-two European species, in wliose nests tlie egg
of the cuckoo has been found more or less frequently,
and yet, even this, is probably not an "exhaustive"
series. In this country the eggs of the cuckoo are most
commonly found in the nests of the hedge-warbler,
pied wagtail, skylark, meadow pipit, and reed-warbler
(Salicaria strepera) ; but it is somewhat singular that
the latter, although, perhaps, the most frequently
used of all, should be almost invariably omitted
from our published lists. In my notes on that species
(p. 117), I have recorded several instances of both
eggs and young cuckoos being found in the pretty
pendant nests of this marsh warbler, and whether
placed amongst reeds or in garden bushes, I know
none, from their construction, so difficult of access,
unless the egg, as above stated, be conveyed in the
beak. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear observed a young
cuckoo fed by a pair of red-backed shrikes, and state
that one had been also observed to enter the nest of a
magpie, though at that time supposed to have done so
more for the sake of sucking than laying eggs. The
occurrence also of two eggs in one nest has been
occasionally noticed ; in which case it is generally sup-
posed that two cuckoos have accidentally selected the
same nursery ; and I question if even the amiable

trochilus, Accentor modalaris, Troglodytes vulgaris, Saxicola
rubetra, Motacilla alba, M. flava, Anthus campestris, A. pratensis,
A. arborcus, A. obscurus, A. cervinus ? Alauda arvensis, A. cristata,
A. arborea, Emberiza citrinella, E. scboeniclus, Loxia cbloris, Linota
caunabina, Saxicola stapazina, Lanius collurio, LusciBia luscinia,
Hypolais vulgaris, Phyllopneuste rufa, Calamoherpe turdina, C.
pliragmitis, Regulus flavicapillus, Fringilla coelebs, F. monti-
fringilla, Passer domesticus, Cyanecula suecica, Turdus morula,
T. musicus, Locustella nsevia, Parus major, Acanthis linaria,
Pyrrhula rubicilla, Garrulus glaudarius, besides a Pica, a Turtur,
and a Palumbus.
2k 2

308 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Dr. Watts would have ventured to remark that,
"birds in their little nests agree" could he have
witnessed the fight between two young cuckoos,
thus hatched together, so spiritedly described in
Dr. Jenner's paper. Hapj)ily, however, for the wretched
little birds whose home was the scene of this
deadly struggle, the weakest at length shared the
fate of the nestling hedge-sparrow, and the old pair
were spared the herculean task of supplying two such
yoiuig cormorants with sufficient food. I was myself
a witness on one occasion to a pied- wagtail feeding its
ungainly nestling exactly as depicted in Mr. Gould's
beautiful illustration (Birds of Great Britain) ; the
little wagtail, perching on the cuckoo's back, as the
easiest means of reaching its capacious mouth.

Frequently as the attempt has been made to rear
young cuckoos in confinement, but few cases are known
in which they have been preserved through the winter
months; the absence of some necessary ingredient in
their diet, added to a strong migratory impulse, causing
them almost invariably to pine and die after a few
weeks. Mr. Dew, a hairdresser and bird fancier, in
ITorwich, by great care and judgment in feeding, suc-
ceeded in keeping one in perfect health, from June,
1863, till some time in October, 1864 ; by far the
longest period on record to my knowledge. I last saw
it alive on the 11th of August, 1864, when but slight
traces of grey appeared in its russet plumage, and the
bird eventually died in consequence of imperfect moult-
ing. It was fed entirely on fresh raw meat, and enjoyed
a supply of fresh water every day. When regularly
supplied with food, it would remain perfectly quiet on its
usual perch, but when hungry always fluttered violently
about the cage, and, apparently having no idea of distance,
would thus hurt itself, and even draw blood at times.
A very interesting history of one taken on the 26th

CUCKOO. 309

of June, 1858, wliicli was only accidentally killed
about tlie 28tli of July, 1859, is given by Mr.
Gould (Birds of Great Britain) from tlie pen of
Mr. T. A. Brig'g-s, of Plymouth ; and two instances are
recorded in the "Field" (July 6th, 1862), in which
one bird was kept alive over twelve months, and another
from July to the following May. This species seems,
at times, particularly attracted towards kitchen-gar-
dens, to feed upon the caterpillars that infest the
gooseberry bushes.'^ In a large garden at Bramerton,
where these bushes cover a considerable extent of ground,
I have known a number of cuckoos to be flushed at one
tune, as if collected from all parts to an unusual feast.
Mr. T. E. Gunn, of this city, recently showed me a piece of
cord, about three inches long, which he had found in the
stomach of a cuckoo, with the remains of caterpillars ;
accidentally swallowed, no doubt, though a particularly
unsatisfying and indigestible morsel. Messrs. Gurney
and Fisher have recorded the occurrence of a cuckoo, in
its first year's plumage, on the 5th of May, at Letton,
answermg to the descrij)tion of Temminck's Coucou-roux
the Cuculus hepaticus of authors ; and more recently a
second example has come under Mr. Gurney's notice,
but in this state of plumage the cuckoo is rarely
met with in this country, in spring, though in parts
of Germany it is said to be very common. Adult grey
birds (probably females) on their first arrival not
unfrequently exhibit one or more brown feathers in
the tail and wings. A curiously pied specimen, an
immature female, having both the under and upper
parts mottled with white, was shot at Beeston, near
Cromer, in August, 1862.

* These are mostly the caterpillars of the large white cabbage
butterfly; they are also particularly partial to the hauy species.
The late Bishop Stanley, in his " Familiar History of Bii'ds,"

310 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

CORACIAS GARRULA, Linnajns.

EOLLER.

This beautiful species, tliough an extremely rare
visitant, has occurred in several well authenticated
instances in this county, as will be seen from the
following records, which I have collected from every
available source; but, except in two or three cases,
I have been wholly unable to trace the specimens or
ascertain their existence in collections at the present
time. The late Mr. Hunt, in a communication to
Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear (Catalogue of Norfolk
and Suffolk Birds), respecting a Suffolk specimen, killed
at Bungay in September, 1817, remarks: — "1 am also
credibly informed that another specimen of the same
bird was killed in the neighbourhood of Yarmouth about
the same time ^ ^- ^ and late in the spring of 1818
another was killed in the neighbourhood of Cromer."
Strangely enough, in Messrs. Paget's 'Sketch,' there
is no mention of the Roller as having appeared near
Yarmouth, and only a Suffolk specimen, killed at
Blundestone in May, 1831, is noticed in Sir W. J.
Hooker's MS. notes of the same district. I have
recently ascertained, however, through Mr. Rising, of
Horsey, that a male in the possession of Mr. R. F.
Whaites, of Ingham, was shot in February, 1824, at
Waxham, near Yarmouth, by a man named Tuck, the

states, tliat in the stomach of a young cuckoo, dissected by him-
self, were about twenty full-grown caterpillars of the peacock
butterfly (Papilio lo) undigested. The hairy coating observable in
the stomachs of these bu-ds is apparently a specific peculiarity, and
not attributable, as supposed by some, to their preference for
hairy caterpillars.

KOLLER. 311

son of a farmer then liting there, and, in the very same
year, I find a record in the late Mr. Lombe's notes
of birds not in his collection, of one obtained near
Blofield. An adult female in my own possession,
formerly in the collection of the late Eev. C. Penrice,
of Plumstead, was, I have no doubt, procured in this
county, and it is by no means improbable that it may be
the Blofield bird above referred to ; but, unfortunately,
although Mr. Penrice's birds were known to have been
collected chiefly in this county, no memoranda as to
dates or localities were attached to the numerous cases."^
In the Norwich Museum (No. 155.a) is an adult male,
said to have been kiUed near North Walsham, and in
Mr. Gurney's collection, at Catton, is another Yarmouth
specimen, formerly belonging to the late Mr. Stephen
MiUer, besides which Mr. Lubbock mentions three —
"one killed at Holkliam,t another at Antingham, and
one, in immature plumage, at Acle, in 1832," and adds,
^'the wing of a bird of this species was shown me,
which was picked up dead upon the beach at Brancaster
many years back."

* The chief portion of this large collection came into my pos-
Bession in 1857, when Mr. Chas. Morse succeeded the late Mr. Pen-
rice, at Plumstead Hall ; but at that time some of the rarer local
specimens had been given away, including a female of the great
bustard, now, I believe, preserved at Elmham Hall. Amongst those
purchased by myself were specimens of the osprey, goshawk
(adult), hen harrier (adult male), marsh harrier, buzzards, — com-
mon, rough-legged, and honey (all immature) ; golden oriole
(female), roller, eared grebe (summer plumage), long-tailed ducks
(immature), smew (adult male), white-eyed pochard, &c., &c., with
most of the common species of British birds ; but beyond some
half-dozen of the best and rarest, I found it useless to attempt
preserving them, having been badly stuffed in the first instance,
and sadly injured by neglect.

t No doubt the same bird recorded in Mr. Dowell's MS. notes,
as shot " at Holkham, on the lake, hawking for flies, some years

312 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Of more recent instances I am indebted to Mr.
Alfred Newton, for the knowledge of one kiUed at
Bircham, Norfolk, in September, 1847, now in tlie
collection of Mr. W. Borrer, of Cowfold, Sussex, and
to Mr. S^Dalding, of Westleton, for the account of
another, shot at Earsham, near Bungaj, by a farmer
named Rackham, about fifteen years ago. In August,
1864, Mr. Eising informed me that a strange bird, which,
from the description given of it, he believed to have
been a roller, was observed on a fence in his garden
at Horsey. It was described as being *' very noisy,"
but was neither seen nor heard of afterwards ; but
on the 25th of May of the following year, a very beautiful
male specimen was brought into Yarmouth by some
sailors, having alighted on the rigging of their vessel, just
off the harbour ; yet though taken alive it soon died.
This bird was sent in the flesh to Mr. Sayer, bird-stuffer,
at Norwich, on the following day, and was in per-
fect plumage, but extremely poor in condition, the
stomach containing only a minute fragment of a beetle's
leg. Allowing, therefore, for the possibility of one or two
of these specimens having been recorded twice over, there
is little doubt that this beautiful bird has occurred in at
least ten or twelve different instances on our Norfolk
coast, as well as several times in the adjoining county.
Probably the last observed in Suffolk was an adult
female, shot near Somerleyton, on the 28th of May,
1855. The earliest record, however, of the roller in
Norfolk is contained in the following remarkable note,
by Sir Thomas Browne, just two hundred years ago : —
*^0n the 14th of May, 1664, a very rare bird was sent
me, killed at Crostwick, which seemed to be some kind
of jay. The bill was black, strong, and bigger than a
jay's ; somewhat yellow claws, tipped black ; three
before and one claw behind. The whole bird not so big
as a jay. The head, neck, and throat of a violet

[roller. BEE-EATER. 313

colour; the back and uj)per parts of tlie wiiig of a
russet yellow. The fore part of the wing azure; suc-
ceeded downward by a greenish blue, then on the flying
feathers bright blue ; the lower parts of the wing out-
wardly of a brown ; inwardly of a merry blue ; the
belly a light faint blue ; the back toward the tail of a
purple blue; the tail, eleven feathers of a greenish
colour ; the extremities of the outward feathers thereof
white with an eye of green. — Ga/irrulus argentoratensis."

MEROPS APIASTER, Lmnaeus.

BEE-EATEE.

This species, equally brilliant in plumage, is like
the last, a very rare and accidental visitant, although
several authenticated examples have been obtained in
this county. Yarrell remarks that ^^no specimen
of the common Bee-eater, of Africa, appears to be
recorded to have been killed in England till the
summer of 1794, when a communication was made
to the Linnean Society, and a specimen of this beau-
tiful bird was exhibited by the president. Sir James
Edward Smith, which had been shot out of a flock
of about twenty, near Mattishall, in Norfolk, in the
month of June, by the Rev. George Smith; and a
portion probably of this same flight, much diminished
in numbers, was observed passing over the same spot
in the month of October following." The next recorded
instance is probably the one mentioned by Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear, as shot near Yarmouth, which
came into the possession of Mr. Seaman, of Ipswich;
and in the Museum collection (No. 156) is an immature
bird killed many years back at Gisleham; and in his
"Fauna of Norfolk," published in 1845, Mr. Lubbock
2s

314 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

speaks of another as killed "lately" at Yarmo-utli.
From that time, however, it does not appear to have been
noticed again in this county tmtil the 3rd of June, 1854,
when a pair were shot at the same time on the Norwich
river, near Coldham-haU. These beautiful birds, now in
my possession, were shown to me in the flesh, and for
brilliancy of plumage I never saw finer specimens. Both
were in good condition ; and on dissecting the stomach
of the female I found the remains of no less than five
large insects of the Hymenopterous order, apparently a
species of wild or humble bee ; the stomach of the male
also contained similar debris, but less distinguishable.
The ovaries in the female appeared, on examination, not
to contain any eggs in a perceptibly advanced stage,
which might probably indicate that the bird had already
deposited her quota of eggs for the season, whilst the
thinness of feathers on the breast seemed suggestive
of her having been sitting. They were both killed by a
wherryman, who shot them from his craft as they were
playing over the river, but although I devoted a whole
day to the examination of the river's banks for a mile or
two above and below the point where they were kiUed, I
could find no trace of any probable nest-hole, nor were
the banks in that neighbourhood at aU suited to their
purpose.

ALCEDO ISPIDA, Linnseus.

KINGFISHER.

Next after the Roller and the Bee-eater, in the
arrangement of most of our British authors, comes our
native Kingfisher, whose brilliant plumage suffers no
depreciation in comparison even with those lovely
wanderers from the far south. Though associating only
in pairs, it is very generally distributed throughout

KINGFISHEE. 315

the county, frequenting alike tlie rivers and broads, the
lakes and other fancy waters upon the large estates, and
the little drains and streamlets in the meadows, where
the winding brook meanders through the rushes,
or murmurs over the pebbles in our shady lanes. How
exquisitely beautiful is that bright streak of metallic
blue that seems to flash past us whilst fishing in some
quiet nook; when, the next instant, a shrill piping
cry, which I am wholly unable to convey in words,
assures us we are not far from the "Kingfisher's
haunt." Presently, perhaps, if we remain quiet, the
same beautiful creature returns again, and this time
an-estrng its rapid fiight, perches on some low branch
projecting over the stream. What a glorious object, as
the sun glitters on its glossy plumes, and shows the
rich tints of its bill and feet. Suddenly it detects
some passing minnow, and dropping almost like a stone
into the water, re-appears in an instant, and flies back
with its victim to the same perch. A sharp tap or two
on the wood soon ends its struggles, and a dextrous
twist of the bird's beak brings the fish head downwards
into its capacious throat, whence facilis descensus averni.
Sometimes also the kingfisher, pausing in its fiight,
hovers like a kestrel or a fishing tern before making its
plunge, and having seized its prey, flies off" to some
convenient station to kill and swallow it. Surely it
must be a mind of no ordinary insensibility that could
Contemplate with indifference the wholesale destruction
of these living gems. Yet that which a savage might
feel remorse at, is being effected in many places through
the votaries of fashion. It probably never occurs to the
fair owners of those wicked little hats, which mark the
present age as one of the most fascinating epochs
in the history of female costume, that the adoption of
one particular feather, by some reigning beauty, may be
the death warrant of a species ! — the system of imitation
2s2

316 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

in tlie world of fashion, as surely producing the de-
struction of a race, as the colonization of the white man
in Australia and New Zealand is effecting the extinction
of the native tribes. The rage for grebe-skin muffs
and boas has all but exterminated (except on the most
strictly preserved waters), th.e great crested species
(Podiceps cristatus) on the broads of Norfolk, and some
Indian birds, famed for the beauty of their feathers, are
said to have suffered in the same degree. Now, again,
the fiat has gone forth against the beautiful kingfisbers,*
both here and elsewhere, and if fickle fashion does not
quickly change, or the ladies of England lend a merciful
ear to the remonstrances of naturalists, this once
common and most beautiful of our British birds will
become the greatest rarity. It is somewhat singular
how comparatively few individuals, even amongst pro-
fessed naturalists, have had the chance of personally
examining the nest of the kingfisher ; it was, therefore,
with no little pleasure that I found myself, in the spring

* Mr. F. Buckland writes in the " Field" (March 26th, 1864,
p. 216), " On Saturday last I met a man in a punt on the Thames,
whose special mission on that day was to destroy kingfishers. He
had one (a beauty), and had two shots at others. They were going,
he told me, to London to be made into ornaments for ladies' hats.
It seems a very great pity to destroy these little birds, who are
just now building their nests; but ladies fashions rule the day.
They have already, by making them fashionable, nearly utterly
destroyed the black monkey on the west coast of Africa. The skins
of the Himalayan pheasants are getting very dear. Sea otters
have retired to the Arctic circle, and now the kingfisher's turn has
come ; and if this continues, the kingfisher will become shortly a
rare British bird. Ladies, if you wish to do service to your
husbands and brothers, make the white swan of the Thames fashion-
able ; for they are useless and spawn-eating brutes. If I knew who
the individual was who sets the fashions, I would certainly do my
best to cause this really modern demi-god to make swans' plumes
fashionable. It would be a bad job for the swans, possibly, and a
a piece of good luck for the fish."

KINGf'ISHER. 317

of 1863, enabled to gratify my curiosity in this respect,
and compare my own observations with tlie many and
contradictory statements I had previously read. The
pretty stream at Keswick, near Norwich, has always
been a favourite resort of this species, and having
mentioned my desire to procure a nest to my friend Mr.
Thomas Edwards, he kindly sent me word on the 20th
of April, that one had been discovered that morning in
the bank of a drain at the back of Mrs. Birkbeck's
residence. I was soon there, and found that some men
employed in cleaning out the meadow drains (the water
being very low at the time) had watched a pair of
kingfishers passing in and out of a hole in a bank,
and were sure from their actions that it contained
a nest. The drain or 'dyke,' as it is called in Nor-
folk, was rather wide, and the hole, which I should
certainly have taken for a rat's, was about a foot below
the top of the bank, and the same distance from the
water. We first took the precaution to introduce some
paper into this aperture spreading it over the eggs,
to prevent the soil from crumbling into the nest, and
then dug carefully down upon the paper, extracting a
large circular piece of turf, but, in spite of all our
precautions, the earth, owing to a long continued
drought, was too friable to be kept from partially fall-
ing in. Carefully brushing this away, and removing
the paper, we discovered the nest, for such with its
raised sides it might fairly be called, occupying
a round chamber at the upper end of the passage
which sloped gradually upward from the point of
entrance. From the mouth of the hole to the circular
bed was about two feet, and the chamber containing the
nest itself was about six or eight inches in diameter, and
completely filled with the remains of fish in every stage
of decomposition. The eggs, seven in number, exhibiting
the usual pinky hue of the yolk showing through their

318 BIEDS 0¥ NORFOLK.

glossy shells, were laid exactly in the centre, and
reposed on a strata of fragmentary fish bones pure
white and by no means offensive ; but a slightly raised
wall of similar substances, of a dirty yellow tint,
crumbling to the touch and alive with maggots was far
from pleasant, and I doubt not consisted of the recent
deposits of the old bird or birds whilst sitting, the
bleached looking bones beneath the eggs being evidently
of older date, and dried no doubt by the warmth of
their bodies. On inserting a spade beneath the entire
mass, in order to carry away as much as possible, we
found apparent evidence of this hole having been tenanted
for more than one season, since below the white bones,
forming the actual nest, was at least an inch in depth of
former dejecta. This under layer was also very dark in
colour, and very lively, whilst that portion nearest the
walls of the chamber was quite dry and caked into the
surrounding soil. Amongst the half-digested portions of
bone I particularly noticed the remains of beetle-cases,
and one large fragment of a water-beetle (Notonecta),
with the claws complete ; but all these substances were
confined exclusively to the nesting-chamber, and were
not scattered about the passage leading thereto, nor was
there a single atom of grass, straw, or such like material
to be seen anywhere. Wishing to preserve not only the
eggs, but the strange bed on which they were placed,
the whole mass, on our reaching home, was turned into
a muslin bag, and by placing that in a cullender and
allowing water to run freely through it for some time,
all the earthy particles were soon washed out, and the
maggots were as effectively destroyed, by a single
immersion in boiling water. The bones, thus thoroughly
cleansed and sifted, were next turned out upon a
sheet of blotting paper and then laid on a wire sieve
to strain and dry till in a few hours the entire heap
looked as white, and free from all impurities, as the

KINGFISHER. 319

portion on which the eggs had been first seen. On
weighing these bones, thns freed from all foreign
particles, I found they amounted to exactly 1,080 grains
or two ounces and a-quarter and thirty grains. Mr. Gould
(Birds of Great Britain), in describing a kingfisher's
nest, taken by himself from a bank on the Thames,
(April 18th, 1859,) speaks of the deposit of bones then
found "as weighing 700 grains, which had been cast
up and deposited by the bird and its mate in the short
space of twenty-one days," as he had previously ab-
stracted four eggs, placed on a very slight layer of the
same material. How long in my case the nest had been
forming I cannot say, but the eggs were hard set upon
when I took them, and though I beheve nearly all the
older portions of the structure either crumbled to bits,
or were washed away imder the cleansing process, there
still remained, in all probability, more then one year's
deposit. The quantity of small fry whose tmy skeletons
alone would weigh 1080 grains, might form a problem
for the ingenious, and undoubtedly would amount to
something enormous ; yet anyone who has watched the
voracity of the young, when kept in confinement, will
scarcely be surprised at the mass of pellets thus ejected
by adult birds in then' breeding places.

I have recently met with a description of three nests,
by a true naturahst, in that most interesting work,
entitled ^^ Life in Normandy ;"^ one found at Eton, one
in Northamptonshire, and one in Italy.f The first

* "Life in Normandy, sketclies of French fishing, farming,
cooking, natural history, and politics, drawn from nature,"
2 vols., 8vo., 1863.

f All three nests varied somewhat in character, that at Eton
much resembled the one at Keswick, being described as " nearly
circular, having only one side open ; the top, bottom, and sides all
composed of the same substance ; the inside covered with some of
the light sandy soil which surrounded it, and which adhered to

320 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

contained three young ones in the month, of May,
the second five eggs in July, and the latter four
young ones fall fledged in summer. With these
various dates then, of eggs and young, the question
naturally arises, whether this species has two broods
in the year? That they breed early is evident from
my own and Mr. Gould's nest, and in that taken
at Eton the young were hatched in May ; yet in the
Northamptonshire nest the eggs were found in July,
and it is not, I think, improbable, that if robbed of
their first offspring they will lay again, though perhaps
not accustomed as a rule to rear two broods in the
season. The appearance of the nest which I examined
at Keswick, and the situation of the hole, was strongly
in favour of its having been made by a rat, and enlarged
by the bird for its own purposes, but there seems little
doubt from the situations in which some nests have been
found, that these birds are also accustomed to excavate
for themselves. A young friend extremely fond of
ornithology, and a good observer, assured me not long
since that, on one occasion, he observed a kingfisher
in the act of boring into a bank, and although he could
never subsequently catch the bird at work, the hole
became deeper day by day, till probably through
his too frequent visits the chosen spot was deserted.
The above instances, I think, also clearly indicate

the bottom ; tlie outside beautifully white, and looking Uke carved
ivory or lace." In the Northamptonshire nest, the eggs "were
deposited at the end of a hole four feet deep, and were lying on
sand mixed with a few small bones ;" and the third, in Italy " was
of a dirty yellow colour instead of white, buUt round like the nest
of a hedge-sparrow, except at the back, where it rose with an
irregular edge, about two inches higher than the front. The
bottom, front, and sides were quite hard, but the part that rose
behind was soft, and broke easily under the fingers when lifted
from the ground, but by the next morning had become quite hard
and dry."

KINGFISHER. 321

that wherever the nest is newly tenanted, the eggs
are laid on the sand, and the nest of fish bones, such as
it is, is gradually formed by the sitting birds. In
Suffolk, according to Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear,
their nests " have been found in holes in gravel pits at
the distance of a mile from any large pond or river."
In such localities the previous borings of the sand-
martin are most probably made use of, but I cannot agree
with Mr. Newman"^ that the kingfisher invariably adapts
the deserted holes of the sand-martin to its own pur-
poses. May not the statements of some authors that
kingfishers' nests have been found with grasses, straws,
and such like materials, mixed with fish bones, be
accounted for by presuming that some former occu-
pant of the hole, such as either land or water rat,
had previously introduced these foreign substances?
I cannot conclude this account of the kingfishers'
nest without quoting Sir Thomas Browne's descrip-
tion as given in his "answer to queries about fishes,
birds, and insects" (Wilkin's ed., vol. iv., p. 184),
as usual exhibiting the accuracy of observation of
that most remarkable man. ^'Halcyon is rendered a
a kingfisher, a bird commonly known among us, and by
zoographers and naturals the same is named ispicla,
a well coloured bird, frequenting streams and rivers,
building in holes of pits, like some martins, about the
end of the spring, in whose nests we have found little
else than innumerable smaU fish bones, and white round
eggs of a smooth and polished surface." The young birds,
though rather difficult to rear, are extremely amusing
when brought up from the nest. Mr. Sayer, a bii'd-
stuffer, in this city, had four ahve in the summer of
1862, which were kept in a small aviary where they

* "Private Life of the Kingfisher," by Ed. Newman, F.L.S.,
F.Z.S.— " Field," 1865, p. 108.
2t

322 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

had ample space to display their natural habits. If a
deep basin of water, fQled with live minnows, was
placed on the floor, they would dart down from their
perches one after the other, and with almost unerring
aim, secure a victim, which was generally held near
to the tail until killed by sundry smart blows against
the woodwork ; then tossed up with a Httle jerk and
swallowed head downwards. Their voracity was some-
thing extraordinary, devouring meat as well as fish, and
occasionally one, having bolted his own minnow, would
seize hold of that in the beak of his neighbour, when the
struggle for mastery was highly amusing, *' pull devil,
pull baker," they alternately dragged one another along
the narrow perch, and usually ended in halving the fish in
their violent efforts to gain sole possession.

There is no doubt that our native birds receive in
some seasons, if not every autumn, additions to their
numbers from more northern localities. Messrs. Shep-
pard and Whitear describe this species as apparently
" subject to a partial migration, as it comes up the
river Gipping, in Suffolk, every autumn. In the autumn
of 1818, kingfishers abounded along the shores and
creeks of the Stour, though not one was to be seen
in the summer. At the latter end of the last year
none were to be found in the same place." Mr. W. R.
Fisher, also, writing from Yarmouth in 1844 (Zoologist,
p. 766), says, — " I have for some time suspected, from
the number of kingfishers which are annually killed
here towards the end of August and beginning of
September ; that a migration of these birds takes place
about this time. The fact of a kingfisher having lately
dashed against a floating light placed about twenty
miles at sea, off Winterton (the Lemon), seems to con-
firm this supposition. It seems probable that they come
from the more northern parts of Europe, where the
waters are frozen in winter, but I have not hitherto

KINGFISHEK. 323

observed any indication of their return in spring. The
greater number of those which occur are young birds."
In the severe winter of 1859-60, a very unusual number
of kingfishers appeared in this neighbourhood, and
during the intense frost at that time, between the 12th
and 24th of December, when the rivers, drains, and
watercourses of every kind were thickly frozen, more
than twenty of these beautiful little creatures, from one
locality only, were brought into Norwich to be stuffed.
Most of them had been shot by the side of a mill pool,
where the open water, caused by the action of the
flushes, afforded the only chance of obtaining their
finny prey ; and several were picked up dead upon the
ice, frozen hard and stiff, and apparently starved to
death. In one instance a kingfisher was seen to pitch
down close to the bank of the rivei, and rising again, fly
off to a rail close by. The person watching this bird
saw it attempt to swallow something, when it suddenly
fell backwards and was picked up dead. On being
examined afterwards it was found to have bolted a little
shrew mouse, which unusual morsel had evidently
caused its untimely end, and showed how hard pressed
these poor birds must have been for their natural food.
These were, no doubt, for the most part homebred birds,
as their scarcity during the following spring and summer
was particularly noticeable, and in the winter of 1860-1,
though very severe, the kingfisher was scarcely seen.
From that time they did not again appear to be par-
ticularly numerous until the beginning of 1864, when,
during the hard frost that prevailed at the beginning of
January, between thirty and forty specimens at least
were shot in the immediate vicinity of Norwich, and
others were picked up entirely starved out. To a record
of this fact communicated to the " Zoologist" by Mr. T.
E. Gunn (p. 8954), Mr. Newman has also appended the
following note : — " A stUl larger number were kiQed or
2t2

324 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

picked up dead in tlie Woolwicli marslies and the fens
of Lincolnshire, but much earlier in the winter season,
and before any starvation could have taken place from
freezing of streams ; indeed, October and November
were the months when these birds were most abundant."

HIRUNDO RUSTICA, Linnseus.

SWALLOW.

Emblem of all that is bright and sunny, the Swallow
is associated with our pleasantest recollections of idle
hours, by "flood and field." Lazily sitting by the
river's side, supposed to be fishing, though, in reality,
more intent upon the scene before us than the uncertain
movements of a painted float, the soft warblings of
the passing swallow delight the ear, and the eye as
delightedly follows its rapid flight. Skimming low
over the water, it passes again and again, snatching
at the insects in its zigzag flight, now stopping abruptly
as, with upraised wings, it hovers for an instant over
some floating object, now laving its glossy plumage in
the water as, rising and falling in graceful curves, it
seeks, high and low, its not less active prey. Tired of
our sport, or may be the want of it, let us now gather
our tackle together and, as we slowly saimter
homewards, observe attentively the varied actions
of this busy useful bird. How the sun glistens
on its glossy back as it courses over the buttercups
in the rich meadows, or, following others in quick
succession, threads the ^^mazy dance" beneath the
spreading trees. In and out amongst the legs of
the cattle, revelling in the insects that swarm around
them, we lose it for an instant in its sudden turns
as we cross the stile into the dusty road ; yet scarcely

SWALLOW. 325

have we resumed our walk than it re-appears ; this
time, perhaps, coming straight at us in its headlong
flight; till, with one stroke of its nimble wing, it is
over the fence and far away on the other side, or, rising
almost perpendicularly, passes high over head ; then
descending again and almost sweeping the ground,
hurries on its way as we turn to watch it. In our towns
and villages, where the swallows nest in the chimneys
of old fashioned houses or more humble cottages, they
are seen continually flying backwards and forwards close
under the eaves, or occasionally' attempting a lower
level when a brief cessation of trafiic in the streets
leaves an open coiu-se. Suddenly, stopping in his swift
career, the male revisits his sitting mate in some long
frequented chimney, and cheers her labours with his soft
guttural notes either perched on the brick-work, or
hovering like a kestrel over the entrance to the nest.
If we change the scene and seek the cool refreshing
breeze upon the sea-shore, the swallow joins us in our
summer ramble, feasting on the sand-flies as it skims
along the beach, its graceful form reflected on the
moist sands ; or, in short flights out to sea, just tops
the crests of the little billows and the weed-covered
rocks exposed by the tide. Again, in a summer cruise
upon the broads and rivers, though not so generally
dispersed, and far less numerous than either the house
or sand-martins, the swallow still comes to meet us as
we approach the 'Terry," or some lone farm-house,
or marsh-man's cottage near to the waterside. Occa-
sionally, also, even further from the habitations of man,
we find a pair or two frequenting some large wooden
marsh-mill, passing in and out through the door and
windows to their nests amongst the rafters in the upper
story. As a rule, however, I have invariably noticed
that the swallow, whether in its search for food or merely
sportive flights, does not wander so far from its nesting

326 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

liaunts as either of our British, martins. In this county,
this ever welcome visitant usually makes its appear-
ance about the 15th of April,"^ and leaves us again towards
the end of October, although I have occasionally observed
stragglers up to the 12th and 14th of November. The
situations selected for nesting purposes are by no means
confined to our chimney shafts, as they build quite as
frequently under the eaves of out-houses, or on the
crossbeams inside the roofs of barns and cattle sheds,
and other similar localities, provided access can be
obtained by door or window, or any chance aperture.
For many years I have known their nests to be placed
against the rafters in two covered sheds, erected on
either side of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, as a
shelter for gigs and carriages ; and whilst staying at
Lowestoft in the summer of 1864, I found two pairs
breeding in a similar manner within the boarded house
of the Gorton life-boat. This building has a window on
either side, protected with iron bars, and closed when
necessary with wooden shutters, but one or other is
invariably open during the summer months to admit the
air, and thus these pretty creatures had availed them-
selves of this snug retreat ; but unless they crept out
beneath the door way, I could find no other means of
escape should both the windows be closed at once. In
collecting materials for its nest, the swallow, like the
house-martin, will settle on the moist road or the brink
of ponds and ditches, and daintily elevating its wings
and tail above the soil, gather the soft mud with its beak.
Yet, although these clayey structures are always inter-
mixed with straw, and lined with grass and feathers, it

* The table of "observations on indications of spring," made
during ten years, commencing 1845, at Stratton Strawless, as
published in the Norfolk Chronicle, May 31st, 1856, gives the
earliest and latest arrival of the swallow as follows : — April 10th,
1852; April 28th, 1847.

SWALLOW. 327

is rarely that one detects a bird in the act of conveying
any of those lighter articles ; but I once saw a pair
playfully contending on the wing for the possession of a
large white feather, which was dropt again and again,
and as often seized by one or other of the birds ere it
floated to the ground, and was at leng-th safely deposited
within the chimney shaft.

Of the two broods which they rear in their brief
sojourn amongst us, the first, if the parents have
been undisturbed, are flyers by the middle of June,
the latter-hatch about the middle of August. How
pretty it is then to watch the untiring labours of
the old birds. Sometimes ranged in a row on the
parapet of a house, four or five little fluttering creatures
sit side by side, already slight traces of the chesnut
gorget leaving no doubt as to the species. How did
they get there? Did they tumble down or, stronger
in faith than in quill feathers, believe the "all right"
of their fond parents, and pluckily launch themselves
from the summit of that stack of chimnies ? Any-
how, there they are, and now both trembling wings and
open beaks dispel all doubts as to these feathered babies
being perfectly capable of ^'^ taking notice." Pausing
for an instant in its upward flight, an old bird hovers,
with expanded tail before the favoured nestling, and
with soft loving notes fills the little outstretched throat
with food, then off for more, and each in turn, by either
parent, is thus fed incessantly. When further fledged, a
favourite resting place for the young swallows is on the
dead branches of some lofty tree, whose summit has,
perhaps, been scorched by lightnings and here both old
and young at intervals will sun themselves for hours,
the latter now dartmg off to meet their parents, and
receive in mid air the expected feast. The popular
belief, however, in some parts of the country, that
swallows only settle on dead wood is not founded

328 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

on fact, as I have seen them often on green branches,
but the leafless bough affords an open perch, from
which they can more readily launch themselves with
their long tapering wings, and hence no doubt their
modern predilection for the telegraph wires. Young
and old, still congregating together, are seen in little
flocks about our meadows and pastures, till instinct
warns them of the coming winter, when suddenly they
are gone, and, in the absence of their graceful forms
around our dwellings or about our paths, in every out-
door occupation, we realize in the very void created,
the pleasure they impart in summer.

HIRUNDO URBICA, Linnaeus.
HOUSE-MARTIN.

The fullest and most accurate account of the habits of
this familiar species, as indeed of most of our migrants and
residents, is that given by Macgillivray in his " British
Birds" — a work far too little known to the naturalists
of this country, the minute observations of its talented
author being equalled only by his descriptive powers.
For my own purpose, a brief sketch of the ^' ways and
means" of the House-Martin, as observed in this county,
will suffice in the present volume, though a small book
might be written, without exhausting the subject, on
the varied actions, customs, and peculiarities of this
universal favourite.

The winter has passed and gone, though still the
chilling blast of the north-east winds makes one sym-
pathise with Hood"^ in his version of '' The Seasons."

* " Come gentle spring ! ethereal ^nildness come !
Oh ! Thomson, void of rhyme as well as reason,
How could'st thou thus poor human nature hum ?
There's no such season."

HOUSE -MARTIN. 329

Yet, in spite of all such atmosplierical drawbacks, the
elms and beech trees are budding into leaf, and the
horse-chestnut and sycamore are fully clothed; the
hedgerows, changing from brown to green, are hiding
with theu' foliage the early nests of the robin and
the hedge-sparrow, and the merry song of the chaffinch
is heard again with the chifFchafF and the willow
wren ; when the brief sight of a glancing form,
twisting and turning in the bright sunlight, gives a
thrill of pleasure to the true naturalist, who doffs
his cap to the "first swallow" or the foremost flight
of the coming martins. Varying a little with the
mildness or backwardness of the season, the house-
martin arrives generally rather later than the swallow,
and is seen in our country walks, though not in our
streets, by about the second week in April. The 20th
of that month is, I think, an average date, and from
that time their numbers rapidly increase, and, for
a time at least, they seem to give themselves up wholly
to the pleasures of existence, spending their entu'e
days upon our rivers and streams, feasting and flitting
with untiring energy, and delaying for a while their
parental cares. Should the weather at this time
become unusually severe, they are gone again for a
brief space, having sought, no doubt, with their swift
vrings, the warmer climate of our southern counties,
but a genial change soon brings them back, and by
the first week in May they are around our dwellings
carefully inspectmg their old nests and selecting sites
for new. Now is the time to watch their pretty
actions as again and again they hover up to the eaves,
or drift away upon outspread wings, the white patch
on the tail coverts contrasting forcibly with their dark
blue backs. Not easily dislodged from any favourite
spot, they are equally hard to please in the choice of a
new one, often coming and going for days together,
2u

330 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

apparently quite unable to decide. At otlier times,
from some cause or otlier, the place fixed upon proves
■wholly unsuitable, the materials for the nest refusing
to adhere. This was the case in a house not far
from my own a year or two back, where several pairs
seemed anxious to build under the projecting eaves, but
though from one side of the house to the other the
wall was dotted with little patches of clay, no safe founda-
tion could be made, and at length the attempt had to be
given up ; yet some persevered for a fortnight and thus,
to no purpose, lost much valuable time. There is no doubt
that the old nests, which remain firm, are inhabited year
after year, very probably by the same birds or some of
their brood, but in too many cases these are occupied
by sparrows in winter, who re-line them with straws
and other articles for their own convenience, and in
spring dispute the right of the martins to their former
tenements. The cunning bullying sparrow is the house-
martin's worst enemy. It sits quietly watching the
labours of the little architects from the gutter of the
roof or the top of the chimney, never interfering whilst
the work is in progress ; but, no sooner is the whole
completed, than it takes possession, in the absence of
the builders, and impudently pecks at them from the
entrance when they return to their home. Macgillivray,
on the authority of Mr. Durham Weir, gives no less
than three "well authenticated facts," as he terms
them, of martins collecting together to build up a re-
fractory sparrow in its ill-gotten nest, the names of the
individuals who witnessed the proceedings bemg given in
each case ; and many similar instances are also on record,
though generally looked upon as mere fabulous state-
ments. Most heartily do I wish that the martins fre-
quenting my house would thus summarily punish
a few of their tormentors; as it is, I am obliged to
come to the rescue, and with a small bulletted saloon

HOUSE-MAETIN. 831

pistol, that makes little noise, pick off these feathered
house-breakers whenever opportunity offers. Many
people rather than drive away these amusing birds
have little wooden ledges placed under the nests
to preserve the cleanliness of their windows and door
steps ; but that this is not always an effectual remedy
will be seen by the following anecdote, related to me
by Mr. Ringer, of West Harling. A gentleman of his
acquaintance residing in that neighbourhood, who,
though particularly partial to house-martins, objected
to the nuisance which their building entailed, had a
long board, the whole width of his house, fixed at a
convenient distance below their nests. Many pairs,
as usual, built under the eaves, and the old gentleman
was congTatulating himself on this happy idea when,
to his great vexation, a good many more persisted in
building below the board, and thus effectually frustrated
his good uitentions. The same individual, also, being
much aiuioyed at the sparrows taking forcible possession
of the nests of his favourites, employed a man to shoot
at the sparrows as they flew out, and the martins, far
from being frightened by the report of the gun, would
repossess themselves instantly of their proper domiciles.
The application, however, of soft soap or cart-grease
when required, to the wall, the under side of the eaves
or protecting board is generally sufficient to hinder the
birds fr'om attaching their nests to any place where
these would be found a nuisance.

As soon as building has commenced in earnest,
we see these little creatures collecting mud from the
sides of ponds and water courses, or settling on the
roads in busy groups to avail themselves of the
temporary moisture afforded by the water-carts in dry
seasons. How daintily they hft their wings and tails,
raising themselves up on their little white feet to avoid
contact with the dirty soil, then launching themselves
2u2

332 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

upon the wing, with perfect ease, fly off to their homes
with many a graceful curve. Early in the season the
business proceeds but slowly, the birds working only
for short periods and at uncertain intervals, guided, no
doubt, by the necessities of nature to hasten or delay
the appointed task. If, however, their nests are
destroyed by accident or otherwise, the next are com-
pleted with far more expedition. A pair, which no
doubt had been disturbed elsewhere, commenced build-
ing at the side of my house on the 8th of June (1864),
and by the 13th the nest was completed, and the old
birds were seen going in and out. I watched their
proceedings with much interest, and as soon as the
site was once chosen and the foundation laid with a
few lumps of clay, both birds were actively engaged
collecting materials. At first, clinging to the brick-
work with their claws and supportmg themselves on
their outspread tails, each one in turn added its mite,
and hurried off for a fresh supply. An affectionate
little twitter was invariably uttered on each arrival,
but if both remained at the same time, one only con-
tinued building; the other either looked on, or with
endearing notes caressed its mate. Occasionally the
absent bird would return too soon, and receiving a
hint to that effect as it hovered up to its partner,
would skim away over the tops of the trees, and thus
in little flights await its turn. Presently the structure
assumed a cup-like form, projecting sufficiently for
each little architect to get inside, as with busy bills
they raised the outer wall, and now both birds, which
before had left the house at night, roosted together on
their new structure. They generally worked, if the
weather was fine, from early morning till nearly noon,
and then either desisted altogether or returned only at
long intervals until about five p.m., when both worked
steadily for an hour or two, and then joined their

HOUSE-MARTIN. 333

neighbours in tlieir aerial evolutions as long as day-
light lasted. As a rule, I think, the middle of the
day is devoted to feasting and pleasure-flights, the moist
atmosphere, both morning and evening, being most
favourable to the prosecution of their work, which
hardens with the sun in the middle of the day.
Under the projecting roofs of sheds and other buildings
and the corners of windows are the sites usually
selected for their nests, but I have known them built
under the arches of a bridge, and in one instance
also, at Hunstanton, on the face of the chalk-clilf
fronting the sea ; a strange situation in these days, for
this species, but one which it occasionally selects in
other parts of England, and which no doubt was natural
to it before men began to erect houses. I have also
known them to build for years under the thatch of a
cottage, one story high, where a boy could reach every
nest with a short stick, yet probably from the people
encouraging and protecting them they seem quite un-
suspicious of danger.

The unceasing exertions of the old birds to supply
the wants of their nestlings when once hatched, is one
of the most interesting sights in nature, as each in
turn arrives with food, then, squeezing its way out
again through the little aperture, launches forth once
more. Thus, hour after hour, the '' labour of love"
goes on till darkness only stays their busy wings, and
old and young nestle together in their little home.
Macgillivray gives the result of one whole day's observa-
tions upon the number of times that the house-martin
really feeds its oJffspring; and by this statement it is
shown that in the middle of July, between four a.m.
and eight p.m., a pair of these birds returned with
food to their nest no less than three hundred and
seven times, making at certain parts of the day
from twenty to twenty-eight visits per hour. As

334 BIRDS OP NOEPOLK.

the young approacli tlie time for their fii'st flig-lit, we
see tlieir little white faces at the opening of the nest,
watching the return of the old birds, who now feed
them from the outside, and, as they hover up and cling
for an instant with outsx^read tails, low murmuring
notes announce a mutual pleasure ; and, even when not
actually seeldng food, the parents will pause again and
again in their rapid circlings, and on .quivering wings
twitter for an instant to the tiny occupants of their little
nursery. As a rule the house-martins are so amiable a
race, aiding one another against their common foes, and
taking evidently a friendly interest in their neighbours
affairs, that the following instance of a downright
quarrel amongst them is worth recording. On the
12th of June, 1865, my attention was attracted to
the martins that build against the side of my house
by their agitated flight and cries, and the fact of
several of them visiting one particular nest. On
watching theh^ movements, I found the real proprietors
were fighting for their home, and two others evidently
as much bent upon ejecting them. First one would %
into the nest, then another, then a third would
work its way through the entrance and a regular
struggle succeeded inside ; portions of clay rattling
down, whilst wings and tails alternately projected from
the little aperture. In a second or two, one would come
out, then two, fighting with their claws apparently
interlaced, till they thus fell occasionally to within a
yard of the ground before quitting hold. Then a chase
ensued, and all four, wheeling round, returned again to
the attack and defence. Sometimes one pair seemingly
gained possession first, sometimes the other, but each
" round" invariably ended with two, probably the males,
clinging to each other, as they tumbled from the nest,
with now and then two others also *' binding" to them, till
the whole strugghng feathered mass would come nearly

HOUSE-MAETIN. 335

within arms' reach, the combatants being far too excited
to heed my presence. Parts of the nest were pulled down,
and feathers from the lining flew out as well, and thus
the fight went on for at least twenty minutes. At
length, after a prolonged struggle and chasing flight,
one pair returned alone, and the others were evidently
beaten. The owners now began to repair damages, though
neither quitted the nest, but sat preening their feathers
on the edge, twittering all the while in an excited
manner and evidently unwilling to leave for fear the
intruders should return. I can only imagine, as the
cause of this strange quarrel, that one pair commenced
the building and deserted it for some reason, returning
only when a fresh pair had appropriated the site and
finished the nest.

As invariable as the circlings of the rooks over
the elms, or the twistings and turnings of the starlings
over the reed-beds, before retiring to roost, is the
evening flight of the swallow the martin, and the
swift. The sitting bird leaves her nest for awhile
to stretch her weary limbs and join with her mate
the twittering throng. Now, mingling in full chorus,
they swarm over our heads ; now, separating in all
directions, they skim over the trees and housetops,
rising and falling under the eaves of our dwellings ;
and, again collecting, repeat their varied movements,
till, almost imperceptibly, when the sun has set and
the deepening shadows are stealing over the scene, they
drop off by degrees to their respective homes, and the
stillness of the summer night succeeds in strange con-
trast to their busy actions. The house-martins have
at least two broods in the year, some of the first
hatch being known to roost with their parents and the
second family in the same nest; whilst old and young
consort together in their flights over the meadows,
fields, and rivers, till the time comes to return south-

336 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

wards. In dull clondj days, witli occasional showers,
they frequent for the most part the vicinity of trees,
flying low under the spreading branches, or circling
round, at a somewhat higher level, their white tail-
coverts contrast sharply with the dark foliage. In
windy weather they will also seek the same localities ;
but it is curious to watch them at such times, daring the
wind, as it were, in their playful flight, hovering up in
the very teeth of the gale till, fairly mastered, they are
borne swiftly away on outspread wings only to return
again and again to the charge. The sportsman finds
them in the early autumn playing over the turnip fields
with the skimming swallow, crossing his path at every
turn, or chasing each other in little groups over the
sheltered corners where, some small plantation casts a
little shade, or a chance pit-hole adds the attractions of
water to a shady nook rich in coarse herbage and teeming
with insect life. How strange it is that the migratory im-
pulse should be stronger even than parental love, causing
even these gentle and peculiarly affectionate beings to
desert their later nestlings and leave them to the sad
lingering fate of death by starvation. Yet many are the
instances in which this has come to the knowledge of
careful observers, and the bodies of these callow young
are thrown out by the old ones on their return in spring.
I have frequently seen martins still feeding their off-
spring in the nest up to the end of September, and it is
these late hatched ones which are observed occasionally
about our dwellings long after the main body have left
us in October, being then too young and feeble to
attempt so long a journey. A young pair were shot
at C arrow, near Norwich, in 1862, as late as the
loth of November. As before remarked, though
for the most part peculiarly gentle and inofiensive
amongst themselves, these little creatures will pursue
any feathered intruder with the utmost vigour and

HOUSE-MAETIN. 337

determination ; sometimes, in a body, pursuing a hawk
for a long distance, "mobbing" him in every possible
way, and fairly bewildering him with their endless evolu-
tions, as they swarm around with their twittering
menaces. On one occasion also, I saw a common
pigeon treated in the same manner by a large flight of
martins, merely, as far as I could see, because he passed
through their ranks ; but so severely did they resent this
intrusion that, after a long bewildering chase, they
fairly drove him to his pigeon-locker, glad enough to
escape from such a nest of hornets. At times, too, I have
noticed a strange antipathy between the pied- wagtail and
the house-martin, which it is difficult to attribute to
anything but jealousy in a kindred pursuit of insect
food. In every instance the attack has been made by
the wagtail, when the two birds have accidentally crossed
each other's path, in which case I have watched the
pursuer and pursued as far as the eye could reach, twist-
ing and turning with such wondrous rapidity that the
two birds have seemed like one in the closeness of their
movements. On one occasion I had been watching some
thirty or forty martins sitting in rows upon the telegraph
wires, when a pair of pied-wagtails came and perched
amongst them; this seemed the signal for most of the
martins to fly off, and the wagtails, each singling out an
object for the chase, started in swift pursuit. Whether •
or not our British Hirundines believe that the telegraph
wires were erected for their special accommodation,
undoubtedly one of the strangest points in their modern
history is the manner in which they avail themselves of
these novel resting places. Indeed, when beholding, as I
have often done in autumn, each wire lined with their
little bodies, more especially in the vicinity of our rivers
and broads, one wonders, almost, how they managed with-
out them, since no other perch seems half so suitable for
their tiny feet, or affords so great facility for launching
2 X

338 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

themselves upon the wing. On one occasion I remember,
when sailing up the river from Lowestoft, about the
middle of August, the wires in the vicinity of St. Olave's
Bridge were literally black with house and sand-martins,
in nearly equal numbers, and a few swallows here and
there. It was too early in the season to suppose they
had collected preparatory to leaving altogether, and yet
their numbers, which might fairly be reckoned by
thousands (extending as they did in unbroken lines for
at least a hundred yards), was a sight which even the
least observant individual could scarcely pass unnoticed,
and their ranks no doubt included nearly all the birds
reared for miles around, thus met to desport themselves
over the waters of the Waveney. Mr. Nevrton attributes
the unquestionable decrease, of late years, in the numbers
of the genus Hirundo, and especially in H. urhica, so
frequently remarked upon in zoological journals, to the
diminution of their food by the drainage of fens and the
like. There is no doubt, I think, that this may be con-
sidered the main cause of their scarcity in many places ;
but as yet, owing to the wide extent of marsh land and
the broad districts, the diminution is less perceptible in
Norfolk than in many other counties.

HIRUNDO RIPARIA, Linnaeus.

SAND-MARTIN.

Pleasant as are the home associations connected
with the house-martin and the swallow, the above-named
species is not the less endeared to us, through the
recollection of summer days spent amidst their cheerful
haunts. To my mind, the very name is suggestive of
holiday recreations and pleasant hours upon the rivers
and broads, where the verdant marshes and the winding
stream resound on all sides with their ceaseless twit-

SAND-MARTIN. 339

terings. Wliat angler has not watched their endless
flight, passing and repassing on the rippling water, and
felt how much enjoyment would be wanting to the
scene were there no birds to charm the eye and ear, no
gentle breeze to stir the rustling reed-stems. Ex-
tremely numerous in summer, the Sand-Martins arrive
rather earlier than the previous species and leave us
again towards the end of October, but a few may be
seen occasionally as late as the middle of November;
most probably young birds of the second brood, reared
late in the season. On their first arrival, before their
parental duties have commenced, they spend the entire
day upon the water, flitting and feasting from the
first dawn of morning till after sunset, and at night,
clinging by hundreds to the reed-stems, roost in the
great reed-beds upon the various broads, or in ozier-cars
and damp rush-bottomed plantations by the river side.
In such localities, also, the young of the first broods
retire to rest, no doubt a far more agreeable manner of
passing the dark hours than in their confined nest-holes
swarming with fleas. These, however, bear but little
comparison to the numbers which, later in the season,
collect from all parts towards sunset ; feasting as long as
daylight remains upon the innumerable insects that
swarm upon the surface of the water, and settling by
degrees, like the starlings, amongst the reeds ; whilst
stragglers are still arriving till past nine o'clock at
night. Late as they may be, however, in retiring to
rest, they may be seen again by three o'clock the next
morning, snatching a hasty meal amongst the swarming
midges, and dispersing themselves once more over the
marshes to spend, on ceaseless pinions, their busy useful
day.^

* Who but Macgillivray could describe their ever changiBg
course, or give, in such "winged words," the idea of swiftness;
yet thus he renders it : — " There comes a bank martin, skimming
2x2

340 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

Their breeding habits are too well known to every
ordinary observer to need much description, but
wherever the side of a railway cutting, or the declivity of
a chalk, gravel, or sand pit, presents a favourable surface
to be operated upon by their little bills, these busy
miners excavate for themselves a home, living sociably
enough in numerous colonies, and the apertures of their
nest-holes, in some cases, so close together as almost to
run one into the other. As a rule, the sites selected for
nesting purposes are in close vicinity to a river or
smaller stream, but I have occasionally found them
breeding at a considerable distance from water of any
kind. Unless the position itself has peculiar attractions,
they do not, like their kindred species, seek the neigh-
bourhood of man, but prefer the open country away
from all habitations, and they also nest by hundreds in
the face of our lofty sand cliffs, facing the sea. In the
vicinity of Cromer, on either side of the town, their
nest-holes are placed about two feet from the summit of
the cliff, and for the most part exactly on the same
level, that strata being no doubt most easily worked,
and they also breed in the carstone formation, adjoining
the chalk, in the less extensive but most remarkable
range of cliffs at Hunstanton, near Lynn. In such
positions, from the abruptness of the precipice and the
distance below the surface at which their borings
are made, the nests are rarely disturbed except by the
sparrows, who will occasionally take unlawful posses-

along the surface of the brook, gliding from side to side, deviating
by starts, now sweeping over the bank, wheehng across the road,
making an excursion over the cornfield, then rising perpendicularly,
slanting away down the wind, fluttering among the spikes of the
long grass, and shooting off into the midst of a multitude of its
fellows." Almost as one reads this graphic passage, low hurried
twitterings seem to fall upon the ear, and he who in his mind's eye
cannot see that martin is no true lover of nature.

SAND-MAETIN. 341

sion, and keep it too, against all tlie efforts of tlie poor
ill-treated martins and their friends, to expel tlie
intruders. In chalk and gravel-pits, however, they are
subject to many dangers from the fall of the soil,
whether slipped by accident or intentionally broken
down ; and although the upper margin of the pit from
its softer material is usually most densely populated,
yet many pairs, in seeking for similar facilities, build
so low down that the holes are easily accessible to
boys, or the pickaxes of the men at work in the
cuttings. The noted chalk-pits at Horstead, near
Norwich, are the resort of immense numbers of these
birds, and it is extremely interesting to observe how
instinctively they avoid the harder and more stony
layers, whilst the smallest portions of the softer strata
are selected wherever they may chance to crop out.
The nest holes are by no means of the same size or
shape, but vary according to the difficulties met with
in excavating, and many may be seen left unfinished
where a large stone, or other substance too hard for
their bills, has obliged them to desist. The depth to
which many of these little burrows extend is very
remarkable, as I have frequently been unable to reach
the nest even at arm's length, whilst others extend from
two to three feet into the soil and are by no means
always in a straight line, but curved so as to avoid any
obstruction in the passage. They have generally two
broods in the year, the first flying in June, and the
second towards the end of July, as I have found the
young still in the down by the second week in July, and
eggs hard set upon at the same time. The nests are
formed of short bits of straw and grass loosely put
together, and lined with feathers — white ones, whether
by choice or accident, always largely predominating.
In autumn both old and young congregate toge-
ther in their pleasure-flights^ skimming over the rivers

342 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

and adjacent meadows in company with the house-
martin and still scarcer swallow, or rest by hundreds
on the telegraph wires, wherever commercial enterprise
may have brought those convenient perches near enough
to their usual haunts.

A high gravelly bank at the back of the Brundall
station, on the Yarmouth line, has been for years
a very favourite resort, and the chief home of those
large flights met with, throughout the summer, on
Surhngham and Eockland Broads; but, in all my
visits to that district, I never remember to have seen
them in such prodigious quantities as in the month of
July, 1864. I was returning from Lowestoft, by train,
on the 23rd, and, waiting for the Norwich train to
pass, was detained several minutes at the Brundall
station. As we came to a stand still close to their
nesting place, I observed the sand-martins clusiering
like bees on the wires, many hundreds together
sitting closely in rows, and these, when disturbed
by the noise of the engine, rose in one dense mass,
and flew round and round, apparently joined by as
many more, and all at length settled in one thick
cloud in a ploughed field close to the line. Most
of them from their actions appeared to be feeding,
some hovering up now and then and ahghting again,
but on the least alarm all rose together on the wing,
and, drifting over the train in immense swarms, produced
an effect as singular as it was beautiful, and one which
I certainly never witnessed before upon so large a
scale. A gun fired into their midst as they sprang
from the ground, must inevitably have killed hundreds
at one discharge, whilst their numbers, without the
least exaggeration, could be only computed by thousands.
Perfectly white and other varieties have been killed
at times in this county ; a light cream-coloured speci-
men was shot at Eaton, near Norwich, in July, 1861,

COMMON SWIFT. 343

and another at Weasenliani in the following September ;
and one of a light silvery grey, in the Norwich museum
(No. 162.a), was killed at Dereham, in 1864.

CYPSELUS APUS (Linn^us).

COMMON SWIFT.

If " one swallow does not make a summer," the first
Swift is a pretty sure indication that that season has
commenced in earnest. The last of its race to visit us
in spring, and the first to leave us in the early autumn,
we know it only in connection with bright sunny skies,
long days, and sultry heat. Here, as we lay at length
upon the warm shingle, hstening to the murmur of the
little waves as they ebb and flow amongst the pebbles at
our feet, with a soft breeze tempering the scorching
heat of the noon-day sun, under whose influence a
deceptive mirage dances and flickers above the sand-
hills ; suddenly the sharp screech of the passing swifts
is heard as they swoop past us in their mad career, and
still rings upon our startled ears long after their mar-
vellous powers of flight have borne them beyond the
range of vision. Soon they return again, rising and
falling in amorous chase, or wheel in devious circles
high up in the blue vault of heaven ; revelling apparently
in the intensity of the heat and the cessation for a time
from parental duties. I have often noticed this habit
in the swifts, of leaving the church towers and other
nesting places about the noon-hour, as if to stretch
their cramped limbs, and seek their food at a time
when their eggs would least suffer from temporary
exposure. There is another period, too, when the swift
almost invariably appears abroad, though previously,
perhaps, unseen for hours. The air is hot and stifling.

344 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

and a sudden gloom creeps as it were over tlie earth
and sky. An almost painful stillness is broken only by
the chirping of the sparrows under the tiles, already
conscious of a coming storm. Dark angry clouds are drift-
ing across the heavens, and one broad mass, perceptibly
increasing and assuming each moment a deeper shade, be-
speaks the lowering tempest. Now, as we stand watching
that strange yellow light, which spreads itself for awhile
over surrounding objects ; as one by one the heavy drops
foretell the drenching shower; strange dark forms are
seen sweeping through the air in the very **■' eye of the
storm," and the sooty plumage of the swifts contrasts
even with the blackest portions of the surrounding
atmosphere. No wonder, then, that their appearance
at such times, issuing from then* fastnesses as the very
** demons of the storm," coupled with their " uncanny"
looks and thrilling cries, should have won for them in a
superstitious age the local name of DeviHus."*^ I have
pictured these birds by the sea-side, not that they are
more common in the vicinity of the coast than in any of
our inland towns or villages, but so essentially is this
a summer bird, that it recalls involuntarily the thought
of leisure and of healthy idle hours. There is, too, one
other association connected with the swift, which need
not take us further from our homes, in town or country,
than the parish church. Who is there, with an ear for
nature's sounds, that cannot recall some quiet Sunday
evening when, through the open doors and windows,
scarce a breath of air is felt within the sacred building —
when human frailty, too much for even the best intentions,
is yielding by degrees to an irresistible drowsiness, and
the worthy minister is soothing rather than rousing those

* " Devilin. s., the species of swallow commonly called the
swift ; hirundo a^pus, Lia. ITamed from its imp-like ugliness
and screaming, jen. (Jennings Glossary) Sheer-devil." — Forby'a
Vocabulary of East Anglia.

COMMOJf SWIFT. 345

slumbering tendencies ? Suddenly, witli a screech that
makes one jump again, the swifts come dashing past the
upper windows, no sooner heard than gone, and circling
round the steej)le in their evening flight, repeat with
every passing swoop their strange alarm.

This species appears, generally, about the first week
in May, and leaves us again, for the most part, by
the end of August, though stragglers are occasionally
seen up to the 20th and 25th September. The E.ev.
E. W. Dowell has, however, recorded in his MS.
notes, a single swift as seen by himself at Blakeney,
with several Hirundines, in October, 1858, a very un-
usually late appearance of this species. Through-
out their brief sojourn with us, they are very
generally distributed, frequenting alike the steeples of
our city and country churches, the eaves of houses, or
the ruined edifices of bygone days. They also breed
regularly in the dark crevices of the chalk-cliifs at
Hunstanton, facuig the sea, where their nests are free
from all chance of molestation ; but the old birds are, I
am sorry to say, frequently shot at from the beach as
they take their evening flight over the sands, or chase
one another along the face of the clifFs, whose hollows
reverberate with their harsh screams. A curious instance
of the effect of cold, during a very backward spring, upon
our British Hirundines, as observed at the residence of the
Rev. Mr. Fonnereau, of Christchurch, Ipswich, is quoted
by Messrs Sheppard and Whitear from the Suffolk
Chronicle (June 15th, 1816) : — ^^On the mornings of the
6th and 6th of June, 1816, the gardeners could have taken
up hundreds of these birds (swallows) in their hands.
They were collected in knots, and sat on the gi'ass in
parcels of thfrty and forty. This, there is reason to
believe, was owing both to cold and hunger." They
farther add, "The same summer many house-martins
were found dead on the gi'ound in Norfolk, and others
2 Y

346 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

were so weak that the cats sprang on and canght
them as they flew near the ground. A pair of these
birds, which had completed a nest under the eaves of our
house, were both found dead in it before any eggs were
laid. From the above circumstances birds of this hind
were unusually scarce throughout the summer," The
Cypselidce are, in like manner, much affected by sudden
changes of temperature. On the 20th of May, 1859,
after a succession of cold IST.E. winds for some days, I
was shown a pair of swifts that had just been taken in a
semi-torpid state from under the eaves of a church in
this city, but on being introduced into a warm room
they gradually revived, and were soon anxious enough
to regain their liberty.

CYPSELUS ALPINUS (Scopoli.)

ALPINE SWIFT.

But one specimen of the White-bellied Swift is
known to have occurred in Norfolk, of which I am
enabled to give the following particulars through the
kindness of the Rev. Thomas Fulcher, of Old Bucken-
ham, who has recently presented this most interesting
bird to the Norwich Museum : — " There is a slight
inaccuracy (he writes) in Yarrell's notice of it. It
was shot in Old Buckenham, in the field between
the old castle and New Buckenham parsonage, in
the latter part of September (not 13tli of October),
1831. The gentleman who shot it left it, whilst still
warm and bleeding, with a bird-stuffer in New Buck-
enham, but neither of them knew the value of it.
After a few weeks it was offered to me, and I had it
preserved. A friend of mine sent an account of it to
"Loudon's Magazine" the same year. In February,
1833, I made a pen and ink sketch of the bird, natural

ALPINE SWIFT. 347

size, and sent it witli a full description to Professor
James Rennie, wlio inserted a reduced copy of the
figure witli my description in the "Field Naturalist"
(vol. i., No. iv., p. 172). Tlie following- are the dimen-
sions of this specimen as given in the above journal,
although, as Mr. Fulcher remarks, '^in measuring it
some allowance must be made for the shrivelled state
of the skin :" — " The length, from the tip of the bill
to the end of the tail, is rather more than eight inches ;
breadth across the wings twenty inches ; it is much more
bulky than the common swift (Cypselus murarius Tem-
minck), and must have weighed, at least, as much again.
Bill nearly two-fifths of an inch long, measured from the
base of the upper mandible, curved and black ; the colour
of the ii-ides unknown, but I believe it was dusky. The
head, back of the neck, back, wings, and tail grey brown,
and the edges of the feathers of a paler colour. Eound
the breast is a collar of grey brown. The throat, lower
part of the breast, and the body to the commencement
of the under tail-coverts white ; the sides dusky, with a
mixture of dull white ; under surface of the wings and
tail, and the under tail-coverts dusky. The quill-feathers
are darker than the back, and remarkably strong and
pointed ; the quills dusky white. The back, wings, and
tail have co23per-coloured and green reflections when
viewed in particular lights. The tail is more than three
inches long, forked, and consists of exactly ten feathers.
Legs short and strong, flesh coloured, and feathered
to the toes, which are all placed forward, as in the
common swift ; the claws strong and brownish black."
Yarrell has recorded four or five specimens of this
swift as procured in the British Islands, including the
above, and a notice of a recent example taken in St.
Mary's Church, Hulme, Manchester, on the 18th of
October, 1863, will be found in the "Zoologist" for
1864, p. 8955.
2 y2

348 BIKDS OP NORFOLK.

CAPRIMULGUS EUROP^US, Linn^us.

NIGHTJAR.

This singular species, both in habits and appearance,
is a regular summer visitant and breeds in Norfolk,
arriving- in May, and leaving towards the end of August
or beginning of September. A few young birds are,
however, sometimes met with as late as the first week
in October. Although the enclosure of late years of
commons and waste lands has banished them from
many of their former haunts, they are still common
enough on the wild heathery districts in the western
and south-western parts of the county, as well as in the
vicinity of the coast, at Beeston and Hempstead, and on
the Sandringham and other adjoining estates, in the
neighbourhood of Lynn. In the vicinity of Norwich they
may be seen as well as heard during the light summer
nights on Household Heath, also in the fern-growing
lanes about Cossey, Bowthorpe, and Earlliam, and I
once observed one as near the city as the Asylum-lane,
on St. Giles'-road. In such localities as I have just
alluded to, they are particularly partial to the vicinity of
woods and plantations, where, like other nocturnal
feeders, they rest during the day if undisturbed ;
although, occasionally, as noticed by Messrs. Sheppard
and Whitear, a single example has been seen hawking
for food on the wing in the middle of a bright sunny
day. On one occasion, whilst shooting, some years back,
on Narboro' Heath, in the early part of September, I
flushed several of these birds, which in more than one
instance fluttered away as if wounded, to decoy me pro-
bably from the vicinity of their young. The following
curious instance of the length of time during which,

NIGHTJAR. 349

if undisturbed by day, the Nightjar will remain
quiescent, was recently communicated to me by the
Rev. Thomas Fulcher : — Whilst walking round his
garden on the morning of the 9th of August, 1865, about
half-past eight, a nightjar rose from the ground under a
spruce fir-tree. On following up the bird he found it
perched, as is their custom, lengthwise, on a wooden
hurdle, and from thence it flew into an ash tree across
an adjoining meadow, but escorted by a noisy group of
chaffinches and robins, " mobbing" the supposed raptor.
Two hours later, and again in the afternoon, it was
seen by Mr. Fulcher, " crouched fiat on the same
horizontal branch lengthwise," and by no means dis-
turbed by his visits ; and on once more going to look
for it between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, it
was still there, only quitting the branch when startled
by a sharp tap on the stem of the. tree. This bird,
therefore (as Mr. Fulcher observes), " must have re-
mained on the same spot in the ash tree eleven hours,
from half-past eight in the morning till half-past seven
in the evening." The following is a description of some
singular varieties of the nightjar, which occurred during
two or three seasons in this county, and are the more
remarkable from the rarity of any variation in the sombre
though beautifully pencilled plumage of this species.
On the 27th July, 1856, a young pair were shot near
Holt, whose peculiar appearance may be thus described.
The throat, level with the eyes on either side, breast,
belly, wings above and below, and the two central tail
feathers pure white ; under tail coverts partly brown
and white ; legs and claws fiesh colour ; top of the head,
back, and remaining feathers of the tail as usual. The
two birds were alike, with the exception, that the two
white tail feathers were wanting in the female. During
the first week of September, 1858, an adult bird, exactly
resembling the above, was shot in the same neighbour-

350 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

liood, and again on tlie 29tli of September, 1859, a
young female was also killed near Holt, strongly re-
sembling the previous examples, having the wings,
throat, and upper part of the breast, with the vent and
under tail coverts pure white. Whether any similar
examples were observed in the same district during 1857,
I could not ascertain; certainly none were obtained;
but when we consider the undoubted migratory habits
of the nightjar, it is a fact as remarkable as it is
interesting to find specimens appearing in the very same
locahty, during three different seasons, exhibiting the
same striking deviations from their normal colouring.
There can be, I think, but little doubt that the birds of
1858 and 1859 were connected with the first brood in
1856, thus proving, as in the case of swallows and
martins, the annual return of certain individuals to the
same favourite locality. Mr. F. JSTorgate, of Sparham, a
young naturalist who takes considerable interest in the
habits and formation of birds, assures me, that a female
nightjar shot by himself on the 5th of August, 1865, at
Beeston Regis, when in company with some eight or ten
others, proved, on dissection, to have no less than twenty-
four small white worms in its eyes and brain in a state
of active existence, when extracted from this recently
killed specimen. This species is alluded to by Sir
Thomas Browne as "A dorhawk or kind of Accipiter
inuscarius, conceived to have its name from feeding
upon flies and beetles ; of a woodcock colour, and
paned like a hawk; a very little pointed bill; large
throat ; breedeth with us ; and lays a marvellous
handsome spotted egg. Though I have opened many,
I could never find anything considerable in their
maws. — Caprimulgus."

RINGDOVE. 351

COLUMBA PALUMBUS, Linnseus.

RINGDOVE.

Tlie enormotis increase in the numbers of this species
of late years tlirougliout the county is attributable
in a great degree to the extension of our fir-planta-
tions, added to their immunity at the present time
from the attacks of their natural enemies, crows,
magpies, and hawks, now almost exterminated as re-
sidents amongst us, through the strict preservation of
game. Here, again, we perceive the effect of destroying
for any special object, that true balance in the animal
kingdom, by which an all-wise Providence decrees that
the necessities of one class of created beings shall form
a check upon the too prolific tendencies of other races.
In the absence of those species, whose instincts teach
them to prey upon the eggs and young of others, or to
satisfy their carnivorous tastes by attacking birds of a
far gentler nature, the now favoured tribes threaten in
their turn to become injurious to man, by their undue
preponderance in the scale of feathered life. As in the
case of the smaller finches before alluded to, whose
increase, unchecked by natural means, and exceeding
therefore its natural proportions, becomes a real grievance
to the agriculturist — the immense flocks of wood-pigeons
that now traverse the country in search of food during
the autumn and winter months, have become an equal
source of complaint in the same quarter."^ They

* In the Times of December 16tli, 1864, in a notice of the
anniaal meeting of the United East Lothian Agricultural Society,
it appeared that subscriptions were raised amongst its members
for the destruction of wood-pigeons after the manner of sparrow
clubs in our English counties.

352 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

unquestionably do mucli damage to the young layers by
picking them off so close as to weaken and, in some
cases, destroy the plant, and their extreme partiality
for the succulent tops of the peas, as they come up,
necessitates a careful watching of such produce in the
pigeon districts, to prevent severe loss to the farmer.
On the large flock farms also about Thetford, where
turnip tops are really an object for lamb feeding,
their visitations are by no means welcomed; but they
do not attack the corn crops till the grain is ripe,
when they settle on the "laid" portions. In making
these remarks, however, I must not be understood to
encourage the wholesale slaughter of these handsome
birds. There are many and effectual means, by net
and gun, of thinning their numbers to a reasonable
extent, and whatever mischief can be fairly laid to
their charge, must be considered in connection with
the benefits they confer during a great portion of
the year, by feeding on many seeds and plants inju-
rious to agriculture.^ Besides grain and the succulent

* The late Mr. St. John, who paid much attention to the
habits of this species in Scotland, does full justice to them in the
following remarks : — " During the month of January the wood-
pigeons commence feeding greedily on the turnips. They do not,
in my opinion, dig into the roots with their bills unless rabbits or
rooks have been before them to break the skin of the turnip. In
fact the wood-pigeons bill is not at all adapted for cutting into
a frozen and unbroken turnip. The crops of those which I
kill at this season are full of the leaf of the turnip ; and they
appear not to attack the centre or heart of the leaf, but to eat only
the thin part of it. The wood-pigeon feeds more particularly on
the leaf of the Swedish turnip, which is more succulent. * * *
The wood-pigeon feeds also on acorns, beech-nuts, the seed of wild
mustard and, where it can be obtained, devours great quantities of
Potentilla anserina, breaking it off in pieces of about an inch in
length. Though without doubt a consumer of great quantities of
grain at some seasons, the wood-pigeon must feed for many
months wholly on seeds of weeds, which if left to grow would

RINGDOVE. 353

leaf of the turnip, they also devour large quantities
of berries, such as those of the ivy and mountain
ash. A very remarkable instance of the manner in which
birds are attracted from all quarters, by some mysterious
instinct, to any local abundance of their favourite food,
occurred in the autumn of 1843, when this county was
visited by one of the most fearful hailstorms ever known
in the Eastern Counties. This storm, which took a
direct route from Attleborough to Postwick, in a Hue of
from two to three miles in width, committed frightful
havoc amongst the cereal crops, levelling them with the
ground, and scattering the grain, then ripe in the ear, in
some places nearly three inches deep in the fields ; and it
was this very circumstance that caused immense flocks
of wood-pigeons, as though summoned by invitation to
one common feast, to arrive all at once in that particular
district. Mr. Edwards, of Keswick, to whom I am
indebted for much valuable information, respecting the
habits of many of our resident species, was at that time
residing near the line of devastation, at Wattlefield, and
assures me that they came in such numbers that it
seemed as if all the wood-pigeons in the county had
suddenly collected together into that one locality.
Amongst the wood-pigeons were also hundreds of
stock-doves, a species only abundant in the warren
parts of Norfolk, many miles from the scene of this
terrible visitation. By shooting at them as they fed

injure the farmers crops to a very serious extent. Amongst other
seeds which it eats are those of the rag weed. The wood-pigeon
not being able to scratch up seed can only feed on those which lie
exposed. * * * Although there is a gi-eat extent of new sown
wheat (Nov. 23,) in every direction, I shoot wood-pigeons with
their crops full of the seed of the dock and without a single grain
of corn. They also have in their crops a great deal of the rag
weed, and small potatoes as large as marbles." — [Nat. Hist, and
Sport in Moray.]

2z

354 BIRDS OF NOEFOLE.

in masses upon tlie stubbles of tbe corn fields that had
been destroyed by the storm, as many as thirty and
forty were killed at a time with a shoulder duck gun, and
often from thirteen to fourteen with an ordinary fowling
piece, without apparently diminishing their numbers.
The large flocks that regularly visit this part of the
county in winter, come, no doubt, from the great fir-
plantations in the western and south-western districts,
where extensive tracts of heath land aflbrd little sus-
tenance, and these in roving parties visit our more
sheltered and enclosed turnip fields and new layers, to
feast on the juicy leaves which at that season fonn their
chief sustenance. These roost by night in the adjacent
fir- woods, and large numbers may be killed at such times
by " laying up" for them of an evening and waiting till
the birds fly over, which they will keep doing until
dark. I have known as many as sixty obtained by this
means in about two hours, guns being stationed in
different plantations so that the birds fly from one
to the other as they are shot at. In winter they are
extremely troublesome in the large game preserves,
from their devouring the pheasant's food in consid-
erable quantities, and on some estates, in order to
secure as many of these marauders as possible without
disturbing the game, huts, either erected for the
purpose or for feeding the pheasants in, are fitted with
a net so constructed as to fall over the open front. The
pigeons having been allured by gi-ain for some days
freely enter the trap, and when a sufiicient number
are collected together the net is suddenly dropped,
and the whole flock secured at once. Upwards of
seventy couple have been thus netted in the Hemp-
stead woods near Holt, at one time. Both this species
and the stock-dove are occasionally found nesting very
late in the season ; and Mr. Gurney, in the " Zoologist"
for 1858, has recorded an instance of a ringdove's

RINGDOVE. — STOCK-DOVE. 6ob

nest, with, two eggs, being found in liis grounds at
Catton, on tlie 7th of September. Varieties of this bird
are but rarely met with, but one killed at Hoveton,
in 1861, was of a light cream-colour, blotched on the
upper parts with a pale slate grey ; and a very beautitul
specimen, pure white with the exception of two or
three feathers in one wing, was procured near Swaffham
a year or two back. This is the same bird recorded
in the "Field" of March 12th, 1864, as a great
curiosity, and is now, I believe, in the possession of Mr.
Anthony Hamond, juu.

COLUMBA ^NAS, Linnseus.

STOCK-DOVE.

Although far less numerous, and more locally dis-
tributed than the last species, the Stock-dove is plentiful
enough at certain times of the year and in certain parts
of the county, particularly the north-eastern and south-
western districts. In the latter, with the exception of
about four months from the middle of September to the
middle of January, or even later if the winter be much
prolonged, it is found, if not in great abundance when
compared with other species, yet in sufficient numbers
to be one of the most characteristic birds of that open
country. During the latter part of the autumn and
beginning of winter, though not perhaps absolutely
wanting, yet it only occasionally appears, and then
generally flocked in com^Dany with ring-doves. The late
Mr. Salmon, with some show of justice, included it in
his list of migratory birds in the neighbourhood of
Thetford (Loudon's Mag. Nat. Hist, ix., p. 520), though
from what I learn from other observers in that district
he seems to have made an assertion rather too sweeping
2 z 2

356 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

■when he states that all individuals of the species leave
the neighbourhood towards the end of October, " none
remaining during the winter." This same accurate
naturalist states that the stock-dove, which in all
"works upon natural history is stated to be only an
inhabitant of woods, abounds in this neighbourhood
during the spring and summer months, upon our rabbit
warrens and heaths, to which it annually resorts for the
purpose of nidification ; and it is in general the first
that arrives in this district for that purpose. The
situation which it selects for its nest differs materially
from that chosen by its congeners, the ring and turtle
doves (G. pakimbiis, C. turtur), the nests of which are
always placed either upon trees or bushes : this species,
on the contrary, occupies the deserted rabbit burrows
upon warrens ; it places its pair of eggs about a yard
from the entrance, generally upon the bare sand, some-
times using a small quantity of dried roots, &c., barely
sufiicient to keep the eggs from the ground. Besides
such situations, on the heaths it nestles under the thick
furze bushes (JJlex europcea), which are impervious to
rain, in consequence of the sheep and rabbits eating off
the young and tender shoots as they grow, always
preferring those bushes that have a small opening made
by the rabbits near the ground. A few pairs occasionally
breed in the holes of decayed trees : this is of rare
occurrence in this district. It generally commences
breeding by the end of March, or the beginning of
April; the young ones, which are very much esteemed,
being ready for the table by the commencement of
June." Mr. Alfred Newton tells me that the young
stock-doves, being a perquisite of the warreners, are a
source of not inconsiderable profit to them, as they sell
them for from eighteen pence to two shillings a couple,
and that in consequence almost every warrener keeps a
*' dowe-dawg," i. e. a dog regularly trained to discover

STOCK-DOVE. 357

the burrows in wliicli the doves breed. Mr. Scales, of
Beechamwell, adds that " when the warj;eners find them
in a burrow, they fix sticks at the mouth of the hole in
such a manner as to prevent the escape of the young,
but to allow the old birds to feed them," Mr. Newton,
however, informs me that this precaution is thought to
be unnecessary for the more experienced warreners,
from long practice, know to a day (by once seeing the
nestlings) when they will be fit to take. Along the
extensive range of sandhills in the neighbourhood of
Hunstanton,"^ also, the stock-doves may be found
breeding in considerable numbers, and likewise on
Holt heath and other similar localities ; indeed, I
have no doubt that with careful observation a few
pairs might be found in summer in many rough
furze-covered spots where rabbits are preserved, but
this peculiarity in the habits of the 'stock-dove
is by no means generally known. In 1863, a friend
of mine, whilst ferreting on Mr. George's farm, at
Eaton, near Norwich, was not a little surprised at
seeing a pigeon flutter out of a rabbit's hole (half
hidden by thick gorse, in the steep side of a sandpit),
into which he had just previously turned his ferret;
the bird was caught by a terrier before it could take
flight and proved to be an old stock-dove, but on a
subsequent examination of the burrow no eggs or young
were found. I may add that in that neighbourhood
the bird is by no means common. This species,
however, in certain districts, also breeds in our woods
and plantations with the common ringdove, but in
such situations it nests either in the holes of old trees.

* These birds occur twice in the "Privy Purse Accounts" of
the Lestranges, of Hunstanton, as follows : — Itm in rewarde the
xvij. daye of Novembre to Osbert Reds sone, for bryng^-ng of
stockdowes. •' Itm ij stockdowes of gyste."

358 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

using only a few sticks by way of lining, in tlie stocks
of old oak pollards, (from which circumstance, according
to Yarrell, it has acquired the name of stock-dove), or,
as my friend Mr. Edwards informs me, in any faggot
stacks left in the plantations for the summer, the nest
being generally placed at the bottom should sufficient
space remain for the purpose. Mr. Newton has also
recorded ("Zoologist," 1849, p. 2525, note) a single
instance in which he found a pair of eggs of this bird
at Elveden, near Thetford, " laid on a very thick bushy
bough of a Scotch fir tree, about twelve feet from the
ground, without any nest." Mr. Samuel Bligh, who has
studied the habits of this species during the breeding
season at Framingham Earl, says that their actions
are occasionally anything but dove-like, as they fight
most desperately till one or both fall to the ground.
He has shot them in the very act.

The EocK Dove (Columba livia), from which there
is no doubt our "blue rocks" and other fancy varieties
have really sprung, is not found on our Norfolk coast,
but it is worthy of remark, as confirmatory rather of
the above statement, that the steeples of many of our
churches in both town and country are frequented by
pigeons in a half-wild state, which nest regularly year
after year, like the jackdaws, in any chance apertures in
the old towers; and generally in such situations as
to be safe from all molestation. The still unfinished
steeple of St. Peter's Mancroffc, in this city, affords an
unusual number of openings for such purposes, and I
have often watched these truant pigeons, at all times of
the year, passing in and out of their adopted homes.
Yarrell (Brit. Birds, 2nd ed., p. 292), referring to
the great powers of vision and the speed and duration
of flight of our dove-house pigeons, gives the fol-
lowing remarkable statement, on the authority of Dr.
Jenner: — "My ingenious friend and neighbour, the

ROCK DOVE. — TURTLE DOVE. 359

late Rev. Nathaniel Thornbury, who had occasionally-
visited Holland, informed me that the pigeons about the
Hague make daily marauding excursions at certain
seasons to the opposite shore of Norfolk, to feed on
vetches, a distance of forty leagues."

COLUMBA TURTUR, Linn^us.

TURTLE DOYE.

The increase of late years in the number of these
summer visitants is also attributable in a great degree,
as stated by Mr. Lubbock, to the extension of our fir
plantations, as, in most localities where such shelter is
afforded them, they now breed very numerously in
company with the wood-pigeon, though, as remarked
by the same author, "the turtle breeds lower in the
tree than the ringdove, and chooses a smaller tree."
For several successive seasons until the place was
disturbed for building purposes about six or seven years
ago, a pair or two of Tui-tle Doves bred regularly
in "the wilderness" on Bracondale, most probably the
same haunt alluded to by Yarrell, on Mr. Lubbock's
authority, as "within half a mile of the city of
Norwich;" and they now nest regularly at Keswick
and other wooded districts in our immediate neigh-
hood. In the western parts of the county, about
Feltwell and Brandon, they are now extremely plentiful,
and in the vicinity of the coast abound in the extensive
fir coverts about Cromer and Sheringham ; yet, in 1846,
the Rev. E. W. Dowell, in his MS. notes, records one
shot at Roydon, and another at North Pickenham, as
rarities in that part of Norfolk,, and states that a
specimen **shot at Brinton puzzled all who saw it for
some years, as it had never been seen there before."

360 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

These birds arrive about tlie beginning of Maj, and
remain witli us generally till tbe middle of September,
both young and old being frequently shot at the com-
mencement of the partridge season, and the great
partiality of this species for salt, whether in a wild
state or in confinement, accounts, probably, in some
degree, for their abundance in the vicinity of the
coast. In two or three instances to my knowledge,
this species has bred in confinement, in this county,
with the ring-necked domestic dove (Columha risoriaj.
Mr. Lovick, of Thorpe, near Norwich, in the spring of
1858, succeeded in rearing some young birds of this
hybrid race, which, as will be seen by the following
description of a stuffed specimen in the possession
of Mr. Longe, of Spixworth Park, presented many of
the characteristics of both parents : — Head, neck (all
round), breast, and under parts, as far as the legs, deep
rosy pink ; vent, and under tail coverts, white. On
either side of the neck a patch of deep black ; each row
of feathers broadly edged with white. Back, scapulars,
and greater wing coverts, rich buff colour, without
any markings, but becoming slightly greyish in the
centre of each feather. Primaries, blackish brown;
secondaries, bluish grey. The lower half of the two
outer tail feathers, with the external web, pure white,
the remaining portion black ; two centre feathers
buffy-grey, and the remainder black, more or less
broadly edged with white. The same pair again hatched,
and brought off one young one in the following year.
These cross-bred birds, however, are not very uncom-
mon ; two or three other examples I have seen resemble,
in general appearance, Mr. Longe's specimen, though
varying slightly in plumage.

PHEASANT. 361

PHASIANUS COLCHICUS, Lmneeus.

PHEASANT.

I know of no records relating to tlie Pheasant in
England which afford any clue to the period when that
noble species was first brought to this country, and
though probably its acclimatization does not date further
back than the Norman Conquest, yet it is still possible
that our Roman invaders may have imported it at a
much earlier period with other Imperial luxuries.
Yarrell (Brit. Bds., ii., 2nd ed., p. 420, note) quotes
from Dugdale's "Monasticon Anglicanum" an extract,
showing that in the first year of Henry I., who
began to reign in 1100, the Abbot of Amesbury
obtained a license to kill pheasants ; and according
to Echard's History of England, as quoted in Daniell's
*^Eural Sports,"'^ the price of a pheasant Anno
Dom. 1299 (being the 27th of Edward the First) was
fourpence, a couple of woodcocks at the same period
three halfpence, a mallard three hal^ence, and a plover
one penny. If we take then the above dates, only, into
consideration, a residence in this country of over seven
hundred years would surely entitle the pheasant to
rank amongst our '^British Birds," more particularly
when the propensity of the hens to " lay away," and of
the cocks to " foot it," on their own account, in search
of food, shews a natural independence of character,
opposed to the domesticated habits of our poultry, and
impatient of the supervision and protection of man. The
earliest notice of this bird in Norfolk occurs in the

* Pheasants are also stated by this author to have been
"brought into Europe by the Argonauts 1250 years before the
Christia,n era.
3 A

362 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

" Household Book"'^ of the L'Estrange's, of Hunstanton,
from which I have previously given extracts on the subject
of falconry, and here the pheasant is specially mentioned
both as a "quarry" for the hawks and an occasional
article of luxury for the table. Thus in the 11th year
of the reign of King Henry the Eighthf (1519) appears
amongst other '^ rewardes for bryngyng of p'sents."
^^Itm to Mr. Asheley svnt for bryngyng of a fesaunt
cocke and iiij woodcocks ye xviijth daye of Octobre in
reward iiijd ;" also " Itm a fesand of gyste" (articles
received in lieu of rent) ; and twice in the same year we
find the following record : — " Itm a fesant kylled wt ye
goshawke." Singularly enough for the next thirteen
years no farther reference is made to this species,
although other game birds appear frequently, and pea-
cocks are brought in as articles of " store," with a reward
given to '^ye vicar of Thornhm svnt for bryng-yng of a
pehenne and iij young pehennys and vj plov's." In
1532, however, it again reappears in the following entry:
*' Itm in reward the vij day of Jun to Fulm'ston svante
for bryngynge iij fesands." These were, I presume,
for breeding purposes or to turn off amongst others on
the estate, as we can scarcely imagine that even in those
days roast pheasant was usual in the month of June

* lu a similar publication, entitled "The regulations of the
Household of the Fifth Earl of Northumberland," begun in 1512,
the following are the comparative prices of fowl and other bu-ds
supplied for the table : — Cranes, IG**- ; herons, 12'*- ; woodcocks, l"*-
or 1^"^- ; sea gulls, l"^- or If"^- ; quails, 2''- ; snipes, 3*- a dozen ;
partridges, 2^- ; bitterns, 12"*- ; pheasants, 12'*- ; mallard, 2^- ; teal,
1^-; stints, 6''- a dozen; lapwings, l*"-; redshanks, 1*^-; curlews, 12**
At the present day it seems strange to find curlews, bitterns, and
pheasants all estimated at the same value for edible purposes.

f Thompson, in his " Birds of Ireland," says of the Pheasant,
" The period of its introduction is unknown to me ; but in the year
1589, it was remarked to be common."

PHEASANT. 363

with strawberries for desert, that delicious fruit being
kindlj presented in the next "Itm" by a "Doktere
Dosyns," whose servant receives the accustomed douceur.
It was, moreover, too well thought of as an object of
sport, even then, to be killed out of season, as in 1533
we again find " ij fesands and ij ptrychyes kylled wt the
hauk ;" and amongst certain amounts " allowed in
bylls," ^^Itm pd the xij day of June to Towars for
money that he leid out at div's tymes when he went
to take fesaunts." At this period, no doubt, though
partially under the protection of man, the pheasant was
a denizen of the woods, finding its own sustenance to a
great extent, and in weight would probably have con-
trasted strangely with our present highly fed specimens,
which not unfrequently, when killed high up in the air,
burst ojDon on the ground from the force of their fall.
Although the requirements of the " battue," on highly
preserved manors, necessitate a thoroughly artificial
state of hatching and rearing, yet there are also many
portions of the county where the pheasant exists in a
perfectly wild state, and thrives well under the protec-
tion of the game laws, both soil and chmate being alike
favourable. It is in such districts, almost exclusively, that
one still meets with the pure Phasianus colcMcus, free
from any trace of the ring-necked or Chinese cross in its
plumage, but offering at the same time a poor contrast
to those hybrid birds both in size and weight. Beaides,
the thick undergrowth in woods and plantations, phea-
sants are particularly partial to low damp situations,
such as alder and osier carrs, by the river side. In this
county, also, stragglers from some neighbouring coverts
are not unfrequently found on the snipe marshes
surrounding the broads, where the sportman, following
up his dog at a '^^runnmg point," is suddenly startled
by the whirr of a noble " long-tail," when never dreaming
of any larger game than rails or water-hens.
3a2

364 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Regarded, however, simply in a sporting sense, tlie
numbers reared each year througliout tliis great game
preserving county must be something enormous, and
statistics drawn from the game-books of some only of the
principal estates, would show figures not more startling
as to the number of " head" than as considered in
connection with the cost of preserving on a really
grand scale."^ As before stated, the impossibility of
rearing a very large " head" in any one locality, except
by the adoption of artificial means, has brought
pheasant-hatching of late years to a thoroughly
organised system. Hen pheasants, as is well known, do
not brood readily in confinement, and are liable to drop
their eggs at random, the produce, therefore, of such
birds as have been reserved for "stock" are placed
under domestic hens (being the closest sitters), and
all outlying birds are also carefully watched, and
their eggs taken lest rooks, crows, or other depre-
dators should find and destroy them. Incubation then
takes place in well planned wooden lockers, fitted up
in buildings erected for the purpose, and so admirable
are the arrangements, for this particular purpose,
on many of our large estates, that the inspection
of the pheasantries and a description of the " process"
from an intelligent head keeper, whilst the young
are "coming off," cannot fail to be interesting to
the visitor. In this manner a very large proportion of
the birds, in our principal preserves, are reared every

* Dr. Wyntor, in a paper on "the London Commissariat"
(Curiosities of civilization, p. 223) says, " Pheasants and partridges
mainly come from Norfolk and Suffolk," and gives some 70,000
as an approximate estimate of the number of the former, 125,000
of the latter, annually sent to the London markets. To these must
also be added the large quantity sold by our local poulterers, and
those disposed of as presents; the latter, however, by modern
custom, need not be set down at too high a figure.

PHEASANT. 365

year, and the jovmg when hatched are placed, with their
foster parents, under chicken coops, in some convenient
locality near the keeper's cottage, and a glance at the
number of these wooden nurseries is a pretty fair
criterion of the sport intended should the season prove
favourable. Now, however, is an anxious time for the
gamekeeper, if the weather becomes either too wet or
too dry for any lengthened period; and, frequently, in
spite of every care, the dreaded "gapes" decimates
the young broods and renders the prospect of a "big
day" at Christmas time extremely improbable. I have
even known a hydro-incubator employed with success
to facilitate these abnormal hatchings, requiring, of
course, the greatest watchfulness on the keeper's part,
who, "in loco jparentis,^^ should be instantly aware of
each nestling's birth ; it being obviously impossible for its
own mother to be, under the circumstances, acquainted
with the fact.

In its semi-domesticated state, like our pigeons
and poultry, the common pheasant crosses readily
with its kindred species, and to so great an extent
has this been carried in Norfolk that except, as
before stated, in the wholly unpreserved districts, it
is difiicult at the present time to find a perfect speci-
men of the old English type (P. colchicus), without
some traces, however slight, of the ring-neck and other
marked features of the Chinese pheasant (P. torquatus),
and in many localities of the Japanese (P. versicolor)
to be hereafter noticed.^ In looking over a large
number of pheasants from different coverts, as I

* Yarrell lias figured the pure Englisli pheasant, but Bewick's
exquisite woodcut is evidently taken from one of the ring-necked
cross, though described by him as merely a variety " met with in
the neighbourhood of Alnwick, whither they were brought by his
Grace the Duke of Northumberland."

366 BtKDS OF NORFOLK.

have frequently done of late years in our fislimarket,
I liave noticed every shade of difference from the
nearly pure-bred ring-neck^ with its buff-coloured
flanks and rich tints of lavender, and green on the
wing and tail-coverts, to the common pheasant, in
its brilliant but less varied plumage with but one
feather in its glossy neck just tipped with a speck of
white. The chief points of difference in the plumage of
the common and ring-necked pheasant will be best seen
by an examination of the museum specimens, which pre-
sent a very fair series of both true and cross-bred birds,
as well as white and pied varieties, No. 172 being a fair
type of the pure P. colcJiicus, and No. 172.h a nearly
perfect specimen of P. torquatus. Some birds of the
first cross are scarcely distinguishable from the true
P. torquatus, and are most gorgeous objects when flushed
in the sun light on open ground ; but as the " strain"
gradually dies out, the green and lavender tints on the
back begin to fade, and the rich orange flanks are toned
down by degrees ; though still, the most marked feature
of all, the white ring on the neck, descends from one
generation to another, and the hybrid origin of the
bird is thus apparent long after every other trace of
its mixed parentage has entirely passed away. I am
informed that no little difficulty is sometimes experi-
enced by gamekeepers, from the fact of the eggs of
the ring-necked pheasant hatcliing more quickly than
those of our common pheasant, and hence should a
mixed ^^ clutch" of eggs be placed under a hen, which
is very likely to happen when supplies are purchased
from different places, she comes off with her first
hatched young, leaving perhaps a majority of good eggs
still unincubated in the nest.

Another very beautiful cross, between the green
Japan pheasant (P. versicolor) and P. colchicus, was
introduced into this county some few years back by

niEASANT. 367

Mr. J. H. Gurney, who has kindly supplied me with
the following particulars : — Several years ago a pair of
pure Japan pheasants reached Amsterdam, where they
were purchased at a very large sum for the late Earl of
Derby. On their passage to Liverpool the hen bu-d
unfortunately died, but the cock reached Knowsley in
safety. A cross was soon effected between the old
Japan male and the common hen pheasant, and in two
or three seasons those birds which had been kept closest
to the pure blood of the male, assumed as nearly as
possible the appearance of pure Japanese specimens. At
the sale of the Knowsley collection m 1851, the old
Japan cock was purchased at a high price by a foreigner,
and at the same time Mr. J. H. Gurney procured some
of the young bu-ds. These bred most successfully, at
Easton and Northrepps, with the common pheasants
(though chiefly, I believe, with the ring-necked cross),
and produced magnificent specimens ; the eggs also being
greatly sought after by other game preservers in this
district, the race soon spread throughout the county.
From personal observation and enquiry, however, during
the last two or three years, it appears that evidences
of this cross, even in the coverts where these hybrids
'^flvere most plentiful, are now scarcely perceptible; the
strong characteristics of the Chinese bird apparently
absorbing all the less marked, though darker tints of
the Japanese. One of these birds killed in 1853,
weighed upwards of four and a half pounds, and many
examples, which were stuffed for the beauty of their
plumage, will be found in the collections of our county
gentlemen. The Norwich museum does not possess
a specimen of the true P. versicolor, but No. 172.g, a
good example of the cross with P. colchicus, is strongly
suffused with green over the neck and breast. The
so-called Bohemian pheasant, but in reality only a
pale buff-coloured variety and not a species, is also

S6& BIEDS OP NORFOLK.

occasionally met with in Norfolk, and like certain light
varieties of the common partridge seems confined pretty
nearly to particular localities ; but whether affected or
not by any peculiarity in the soil, or the nature of their
food, I am unable to say. They have been found in
different seasons in some coverts at Cranmer; and in
the autumn of 1861, I saw three fine examples killed, I
believe, in Mr. Hardcastle's preserves, at Hanworth, near
Cromer, one of which, even in its abnormal plumage,
showed a decided relationship to the ring-necked cross,
by the white mark on each side of the neck. A specimen
of this curious variety will be found in the museum
collection (No. 172.i). Pure white and pied birds are
by no means uncommon.

In November, 1848, a hybrid between the pheasant and
black grouse was killed at Snettisham, in West Norfolk,
supposed to have been bred between a cock pheasant
and a grey hen ; and the three following instances of
hybridism between pheasants and domestic fowls have
come under my own observation during the last ten or
twelve years : — In December, 1854, a very singular
looking bird, apparently a cross between a pheasant
and Cochin China fowl, was shot in a wild state in the
woods at Wolterton ; and on the 31st of January, 1863,
an equally remarkable specimen was brought to a bird
preserver in this city (Mr. John Sayer) to be stuffed
for a gamekeeper, from whom I afterwards learnt the
subjoined particulars. It had been bred wild in a plan-
tation, at Methwold, as was supposed between a cock
pheasant and a domestic hen, the fowl being a cross also
between the game and Dorking breeds. This strange
bird, which proved to be a male, had been repeatedly seen
amongst the pheasants in the wood when the beaters
were driving the game towards the guns, but as it ran
with great swiftness, and never attempted to rise on
the wing, it always managed to escape, and was at last

PHEASANT. 369

netted to ascertain what it was. It measured thirty-
two inches from the tip of its beak to the extremity of
the tail, stood nineteen inches from the sole of the
foot to the crown of the head, and weighed seven and
three-quarter pounds. In its general appearance it had
a strange admixture of both pheasant and fowl, and
was not unlike a capercally cock about the head and
neck. The legs were clean and strong without spurs,
and decidedly gallinaceous in character ; the beak large
and powerful, and the tail long and rounded, with the
middle feathers somewhat the longest. The plumage
may be described as of a rich glossy green about the
head, neck all round, and the upper part of the
breast ; back and wings mottled with rich dark chesnut,
glossed here and there with green and each feather
tipped with a metallic shade of green. The lower parts
of the back and upper tail-coverts more green than
black; under parts brown, dashed with buffy-white in
places. Tail feathers black, slightly marked on some
of the webs, longitudinally, with dull white, or slightly
freckled. In November of the same year, Mr. Sayer
had also, from Lord Eendlesham's preserves, another
strange hybrid, apparently a cross between a pheasant
and a black bantam fowl. Its plumage was black
all over, with dark green reflections, the tail being
shaped like a pheasant's, but the legs and feet resemb-
ling those of a common fowl. Hen pheasants assuming
the cock's plumage, commonly called "mules," are not
unfrequently met with. This abnormal condition being
observable in immature as well as adult females is not,
as was formerly supposed, the result of extreme age,
but is attributable no doubt, as stated by Tarrell, to
a diseased condition of the generative organs. Mr.
J. H. Gurney, in the " Zoologist" (p. 4252), has recorded
an instance in which a red-breasted merganser, with
much black about the head, and externally presenting
3b

370 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

the appearance of a young male in change of plumage,
proved on dissection to be a female; yet this bird
exhibited no " signs of disease or exhaustion of the
ovarium.""^ May not this, and similarly exceptional
cases, be accounted for by the supposition that such
*' mules" have not had time to moult their abnormal
plumage, since their organs of generation have acquired
a healthy condition. That this view is not an improbable
one is shown, I think, by the following interesting fact
(recorded by Mr. Gurney in the same note), with refer-
ence to a " mule" pheasant taken alive in his preserves
in 1852 : — " The bird was placed in a large cage in my
garden, and in the course of last autumn (1853) quite
lost the male plumage it had previously attained, and
resumed its ordinary female dress." A bird of this
kind, which was brought to one of our bird-stuffers in
December, 1864, to be preserved for Lord Rendlesham,
besides the usual dark head and neck of its borrowed
plumes, showed a most unmistakeable white ring,
plainly denoting its own descent from the ring-necked
as well as from the common type.

Few subjects, of a like nature, have excited warmer
discussions, or tended to the exhibition of more violent
prejudices than the ^^ battue," and, as usual in such
controversies, supporters and opponents, in their bitter
hostility, have been so given to exaggeration and the
use of hard words, that the true merits of the case must
be looked for apart from the arguments of either faction.
Undoubtedly, as far as pheasantf shooting is concerned,

* Mr. Thomas Dix informs me that he recently examined a
female of the common redstart, in the possession of Mr. Doubleday,
of Epping, which had a mottled black throat like young males in
autumn, and, in this case also, the ovaries were quite perfect and
full of eggs.

t I have no intention by these remarks to uphold the excessive
rearing of -running game, an only too just cause of complaint, in
many instances, on the part of our tenant-farmers.

PHEASANT. 371

if a large number of birds are reared for sport — and why
should not landed proprietors provide such amusement
for their friends at a time when partridge shooting is
well nigh over? — there is no means so effectual for
obtaining an equal amount of shooting for several guns,
as the "battue;" whilst the most inveterate opponent
of the "slaughter" system (if a sportsman at all) will
not venture to deny that pheasants, as well as running
game, in large quantities, can be shot down by no other
means. There is every reason, however, to believe that
the majority of those writers who are loudest in their
denunciations against the ^^ battue," and can find no
milder epithets than "blood-thirsty and unsportsman-
like," to mark their abhorrence of it, are either practically
unacquainted with the working of the system, or are
deficient themselves in that necessary coolness and skill,
without which even pheasants, big as they are, will
escape from a perfect volley of double barrels. Such
individuals seem wholly unable to associate the enjoy-
ment of a "heavy" day's covert shooting with skill in
the use of firearms and physical endurance; quite
overlooking the fact that, amongst the sportmen
accustomed to congregate towards Christmas-time at
the country seats of noblemen and wealthy squires,
for the pui-pose of joining in these great ^'battues,"
are some of the very best shots in the world ; men for
whom no day, on the open moors or in the treacherous
snipe marsh, is too long; no sport, in any quarter
of the globe, too hazardous, though pursued by them
merely for pleasure and excitement. If such men as
these, and there are many, can enjoy, for a change,
a "big-day" in some well-stocked coverts (when hunt-
ing probably is stopped by the frost), one would
scarcely term it an " uusportsman-like" diversion, even
though carried to excess in the niimber of head killed
in a single day. There is not certainly much bodily
3 b2

372 BIRDS OF NOKFOLK.

fatigue, yet the necessity for being always on the alert,
always ready for a chance shot in the "thick" or the
" open" durmg many consecutive hours, to say nothing
of incessant firing from the shoulder for a like period, is
somewhat trying to the head and nerves ; and if any
one is inclined to despise the amusement on the ground
that pheasants are so easy to kill, let him try his hand,
late in the season, at a few old cocks, flushed some two
hundred yards from the post of the shooter, so that
the bird is in full flight when he passes over : the
pace is then tremendous ! In short, the truth is
that the "battue" affords every opportunity for the
display of good as well as bad shooting, and he is
no ordinary shot who can account satisfactorily in
"feathers" and "felt" for one in every three of his
empty cartridges, provided always he shoots fair and
does not pick his shots. Again, if "battue" pheasant
shooting is only the "wholesale slaughter of tame
pheasants, driven up by the beaters like barn-door
fowls," how comes it that, on many of the more highly
preserved manors, the best shots only are invited ? Is it
no honour to be named for the "outer ring" at
Holkham, to stop those "rocketers" which only crack
shots can hit? and even the "bouquet" at a "hot
corner" requires, for a successful personal result, a
certain amount of cool self-possession which might
prove invaluable under more trying circumstances.
Thus much, then, in defence of a system, to my mind
objectionable only when carried to excess ; but that it
is so, both in this and other counties, is evident enough
from the records of game killed to a limited number of
guns.

Without attempting here to discuss this vexed
question as affecting the interests of landlord and
tenant, it would seem as though, of late years,
the enjoyment of sport had become subsidiary, on

PHEASANT. 373

the part of our larger game preservers, to tlie desire
to outvie one another in the amount killed on their
respective estates."^ The rivalry of the masters extends
to the keepers, till, in many cases, the impression
on the minds of the latter appears to be that game
preserving is the end and aim of existence, and that
corn crops are sown in the first instance for game,
the surplus, only, to go towards the necessities of
man. Eggs must be procured at any price, losses
made good at any cost, and the young pheasants,
when fairly turned off, watched night and day till
near the end of the season, to afford, probably, after
all the trouble and expense, only two "big days,"
though the game killed would be sufficient for at
least double the number, with more real enjoyment
and better shooting. Inasmuch, also, as the coverts
will not again be disturbed, and the cock pheasants
must of necessity be killed down close, none but the
best shots can be entrusted with that important duty,
the credit of the estate, as a gigantic game-preserve,
resting on their skill. Such is the *' battue" on a
large scale at the present time. That fashion, with
all its changes, will ere long, even in this case, induce
moderation, and a "hecatomb" of slain be regarded
in "high" quarters as no longer *'the thing" is more
than probable ; but if not, I believe the same desirable
end will be shortly attained by very different means.
Game birds, like poultry, in an artificial state of exist-
ence are liable to several very troublesome maladies,
and in the rearing of pheasants in such immense

* Here, after all, the main grievance consists in the ravages of
hares and rabbits when extensively preserved, the pheasants doing
comparatively but little harm ; whilst they destroy, in large
quantities, many noxious weeds and insects. Amongst other
grubs, to say nothing of caterpillars, the pheasant is particularly
partial to the wii-eworm, one of the farmers' greatest enemies.

374 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

numbers, the difficulty must arise of finding fresh

breeding grounds for tlie young birds, free from all

*' taint," so fruitful a source of disease, and affording

the necessary amount of insect food. The latter, I

suspect, in many of our over-stocked coverts must
be already scarce, if not wanting altogether in some
localities.

TETRAO TETE-IX, Linnaeus.

BLACK-GEOUSE.

The Black-Grouse is a resident in Norfolk, though
entirely confined to one district in the neighbourhood
of Lynn, where alone the various attempts to naturalise
this species have proved successful, the birds either
dying in a natural way, or being killed off, beyond
the scope of their preserved boundaries, owing to the
want of a sufficiently extended range of wide open
country. In that neighbourhood, however, it seems
probable that this species has existed for a very long
period, fluctuating in numbers, but never wholly
extinct; and, of late years, they appear to have
increased considerably about Snettisham and Der-
singham, on the L'Estrange estate, and on property
of Mr. Hamond at Bawsey, and Leziate, in the same
neighbourhood, where an ample extent of wood and
heath, wild in the extreme, and but slightly preserved
for other game, has afforded the three most essential
conditions of space, food, and quiet. In this locality
several couple are annually killed during the shooting
season, and they are also found in the autumn at
Sandringham, on the estate of His Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, though I am not sure that they also
breed there. Through some notes on rare Norfolk birds.

BLACK-GEOUSE. 375

kindly supplied me by Mr. George Master, of London,
I learn tliat a hybrid between a cock pheasant and a
grey hen was shot at Snettisham about the year 1850,
by Luffman, Captain Campbell's gamekeeper, which is
still preserved at the hall. From the occurrence of this
bird, Mr. Master procured a blackcock from Norway,
which was turned off on Captain Campbell's estate, and
some few years later, he says " that part of the country
was full of black game, and I have seen as many as
twenty blackcocks in a flight at Sandringham myself,
when shooting with the former owner." I have looked
in vain for any mention of this species in the " House-
hold Book" of the L'Estranges, but it is somewhat
remarkable that Sir Thomas Browne, though stating
that "the heath poult (black-grouse), common in the
north, is unknown here, as also the grouse," still adds,
^* though I have heard some have been seen about
Lynn." The late Sir Fowell Buxton, as I am informed
by his old gamekeeper, Lawrance Banwell, better
known as "Old Larry," to those Cromer visitors who
" picnic" on the Beeston Hills, had a few pairs turned
off in that neighbourhood; but, although the soil was
well suited to them, and the heathery hills, bordered
by fir plantations, a very promising locality, yet the
range of these hills was far too circumscribed, and they
soon died off or were shot on adjacent manors. In
mentioning the name of " Old Larry" I cannot help
alluding to the great event of his life, and one of which
he is justly proud, in having been entrusted by the late
Sir Fowell Buxton, in the year 1838, with the arduous
and responsible task of bringing over from Sweden a
splendid collection of capercally or wood-grouse to
Scotland ; a present from Sir Fowell to Lord Breadall ane.
These fine birds had been collected with much trouble
and expense by Mr. L. Lloyd, as stated by Yarrell
(Brit. Bds., vol. ii., 2nd ed., p. 331), and thus com-

376 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

menced tlie re-introduction of that noble species to
the Highlands, where, by strict preservation and care
in breeding, they have since become more and more
plentiful. Having, occasionally, heard rumours that
red-grouse were also turned off, some years ago, at
Sherringham, near Cromer, I am happy to be able, on
Mr. Upcher's authority, to state positively that such
is not the case ; the error has most probably arisen
from the fact that blackcocks were turned out on the
Sherringham Hills at the same time, I believe, as those
on Sir Fowell's property. These birds, as Mr. Upcher
informs me, "lived for several years, but gradually
became extinct, some being accidentally shot, mistaken
for other game (only a glimpse of them being caught as
they flew behind trees), or, straying away, were killed,
as strange birds, on adjoining properties." Mr. Upcher
has also communicated the following interesting note
with respect to the wood-grouse : — " A cock and hen
capercally bred in confinement, but unfortunately, from
some cause or other, the hen and Httle ones died. The
cock was turned out in my woods, where he lived for
about six months, and then was found dead with a
fir-cone stuck in his throat. He had a collar with his
direction round his throat, which probably was the
cause of his choking."

SYRRHAPTES PARADOXUS, (Pallas).

PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE.

No ornithological event, whether in our own or in
earlier times, of which we have any record, appears to
have excited such universal interest as the irruption of
this Tartar species into Europe, during the summer of
1863. The extraordinary numbers observed in various

PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE. 377

localities, the strange beauty of their form and plumage,
added to the extreme rarity of specimens up to that time,
in either pubhc or private collections, rendered them
objects of peculiar attraction to naturalists ; whilst the
frequent notices of their occurrence by the press, in all
parts of the kingdom, made the public generally familiar
with their abnormal migration. But few, however, of
those who, in 1863, took so warm an interest in the
appearance of these birds on our eastern coast were
probably aware that the Lynn museum contained a fine
male specimen, killed in that neighbourhood in July,
ISSO,"^ one of the first if not actually the first example
obtained in the United Kingdom. The occurrence of
this extreme rarity was at once made known to the
scientific world in a letter to the "Ibis" (1859, p. 472)
by the Rev. F. L. Currie,t who was at that time residing
in the neighbourhood of Lynn, and took a lively
interest in its museum collections. From this com-
munication it appears that the above specimen, in very
perfect plumage, was shot early in the month of July,
in the parish of Walpole St. Peter's, about two miles
from the Wash, and, as Mr. Currie remarks, *^we must
congratulate ourselves upon our good fortune in securing
the bird at all, considering it was shot by a labouring

* On the 9th of the same month, as has been stated by Mr.
T. J. Moore and Mr. Alfred Newton in the "Ibis" (1860 and
1864), a second was killed near Tremadoc, in North Wales; on
the 23rd, a third, near Hobro, in Jutland ; and at the beginning of
October a fourth, being " one of a pair which had haunted the
sand-hills near Zandvoort, in Holland, since July, was shot at that
place." A fifth example was also killed at New Romney, in Kent,
in November ; and a pair are recorded, on good authority, to have
been procured in May of that year (1859) "in the government of
Wilna, on the western frontier of the Russian empire."

t Mr. Currie also inserted a shorter notice in the " Zoologist"
(p. 6764), in which journal the Welsh specimen had been previously
recorded by Mr. T. J, Moore (p. 6728).
3c

378 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

youth wholly unacquainted witli its value, and who was
quite as likely to have plucked and eaten, or thrown the
prize away (the fate of many a valuable specimen), as to
have placed it in the hands of the Eev. E. Hankinson,
to whom the Lynn museum is indebted for this most
interesting specimen, beautifully mounted by Mr.
Leadbeater." It had been previously skinned, however,
by a local bird-stufier, and the carcase unfortunately
was not preserved. It was solitary when shot, but
at least one other, apparently of the same species,
was observed in the neighbourhood about the same
time, though not procured. Mr. Currie's letter respect-
ing this remarkable addition to the avi-fauna of
Norfolk, was followed by a most elaborate and
interesting paper^ in the same journal ("Ibis," 1860,
p. 105), by Mr. T. J. Moore, keeper of the free public
and Derby museum, Liverpool, accompanied with a
description and coloured plate of the Tremadoc bird.
From the above source, and the comprehensive and most
admirable history of the "Irruption of Pallas's Sand-
Grouse in 1863," published by Mr. Alfred Newton in the
"Ibis" for 1864t (p. 185), I am enabled to give the follow-
ing brief particulars of the true habitat of this Asiatic

* This had been previously read before section D of the British
Association at Aberdeen.

"|- This paper is accompanied by a " sketch map" of Europe, on
which is marked the name of each locality where this species had
been observed, the date being affixed in some cases, and the
probable direction of flight indicated by faint dotted lines. The
large mass of names (almost too densely crowded to be properly
legible), thus fringing, as it were, the entire eastern coast of Great
Britain, the "confusion worse confounded," in the counties of
IsTorfolk and Suffolk, is very remarkable ; and considering the extent
and value of the statistics contained in this paper, collected and
arranged in a geographical series with no small amount of labour,
it is much to be regretted that it has not since been re-published in
a form more accessible to the general reader.

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 379

species and the earliest records of its appearance in
Europe. "This species (says Mr. Newton) was first
brought to the notice of Pallas by Nicolas Rytschof as
a dweller on the Kirgish Steppes, which may be taken
as extending eastward from the northern half of the
Caspian sea to the regions round Lake Balkach. In
1809, Professor Fischer, of Moscow, received through
the then Governor of Irkoutsk, Von Treskine, two well
preserved examples of this species from a much more
eastern locality — the great steppes of Gobi (Mem.
Mosc. iii., p. 271). It was from a drawing and
description of one of these birds, sent him by Fischer,
that Temminck (Hist. Pig. et GaUinac. iii., pp. 282—287;
took his account. In 1825, naturalists learned from
M. Drapiez (Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat. viii., p. 182) that
M. Delanoue had met with this species on the Chinese
frontier of the Russian empire." In 1853, Syrrhaptes
^paradoxus is mentioned as a rarity by Herr Moschler
(Naumannia iii., p. 305) in a list of birds met with at
Sarepta on the Lower Wolga, which seems, according to
Mr. Newton's statement, " to be the earliest authentic
record of its actual occurrence in Europe," although
its name was included by Prince C. L. Bonaparte in his
'* Geographical and Comparative List of the Birds of
Europe and North America," as far back as 1838. The
same author, however, in 1850, again omits it from
another list, " Conspectus Avium Europsearum," pub-
lished as an appendix to to his ^^Eevue Critique de
rOrnithologie Europeenne de M. Degland."

To the several specimens next in order of date, which
occurred in Western Europe in 1859, I have abeady
referred, and I may here add, on the authority of my
friend Mr. Swinhoe, and other consular and mihtary
ofB.cers engaged in the North China campaign, that in
the winter of 1860 this species occurred in great abun-
dance on the plains between Peking and Tientsin,
3c2

380 BIEDS 0¥ NORFOLK.

and on tlie banks of the river Peilio downwards, where
they were taken ahve in clap-nets, and afforded an
abundant delicacy for the An^lo-French forces. In his
'^ Notes on ornithology between Takoo and Peking,
North China" ("Ibis," 1861, p. 341), Mr. Swinhoe
writes, "The market at Tientsin was literally glutted
with them, and you could purchase them for a
mere nothing. The natives called them " Sha-chee"
or sand-fowl, and told me they were mostly caught
in clap-nets. After a fall of snow their capture
was greatest; for, where the net was laid, the
ground was cleared and strewed with small green
beans. The cleared patch was almost sure to catch
the eyes of the passing flocks, who would descend
and crowd into the snare. It only remained then for
the fowler, hidden at a distance, to jerk the strings,
and in his haul he would not unfrequently take the
whole flock." The natives also described them as
abundant in summer " on the great plains of Tartary
beyond the great wall, where they breed in the sand."
Several gentlemen attached to the above-mentioned
expedition brought over live specimens of these sand-
grouse to England, and amongst others Mr. James
Stuart- Wortley presented no less than thirty-four to
the Zoological Society out of seventy-three which he
had originally started with. One of these birds, as
stated by Mr. Newton, laid several eggs in confinement.
Mr. Moore thus clearly points out the differences which
exist between the genus SyrrJiaptes and other forms of
sand-grouse, though having a general similarity in
shape, length of wing, and shortness of foot. "The
legs, instead of being feathered only in front, are
entirely covered down to the extremity of the toes with
short dense feathers ; the hind toe is wanting ; the toes
in front are much expanded, being united together
throughout their length, and forming a broad flat foot^,

PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE. 381

the sole of wliich is thickly covered with strong horny
papillae ; they are terminated by equally strong, broad,
and flattened nails." Another and very marked feature
also consists in the first primary of each wing termin-
ating in a long filament like the two central tail-feathers
of other sand-grouse. The present appears also, on the
same authority, to have formed the only known species
of the genus SyrrJiaptes "until, in 1850, Mr. Goidd
figured and described a second, obtained by Lord Gifford
on the banks of the Tsumureri Lake, in the country of
Ladakh, under the name of Syrrhaptes tibetanusJ"

Thus much, then, as to the general history of this
remarkable species, whilst the subjoined list contains all
the particulars I have been able to collect, with reference
to its occurrence in 1863, in the counties of Norfolk and
Suffolk. Many of my readers will probably remember
that a large proportion of these local statistics were
published at the time in the " Zoologist,"'^ (pp. 8708-
8718, 8849-8852, and 8957), when, through the kind
assistance of various ornithological friends, I obtained
such an amount of information as it would have been
impossible to procure, even a few months later, after the
novelty of the occurrence had somewhat abated. Of the
completeness of the facts thus supphed me in the first
instance, I have the best possible evidence in the very
few specimens that have since come under my notice,
as omitted from the original list ; and though Norfolk
and Suffolk are unenviably notorious for the wholesale
destruction of these beautiful wanderers, yet a glance
at the localities on Mr. Newton's "Sketch Map" will
at least show that in no other portion of the United
Kingdom, were the records respecting them so folly
preserved. I have no doubt that the birds which

* They were also subsequently embodied by !Mr. Newton in his
geographical series, " Ibis," 1864.

382 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

appeared so simultaneously along tlie whole extent of our
eastern coast were members of one large flock, and, as
these evidently crossed and re-crossed the boundaries of
the two counties, when scattered into small parties by
constant alarms, it is better, I think, to adhere to my
original plan, and arrange my notes, of the various
individuals killed, according to the dates of their capture,
without reference to locahty.

May 23rd. — One female found dead on Yarmouth
beach. "The first intimation (writes Captain Longe)
of the Syrrhaptes paradoxus in this county was, as is
often the case, totally unheeded. On the 23rd of May,
Mr. Youell, the well-known nursery gardener, was
walkmg by the sea near the north battery, when he
saw a small bird washed up and down in the foam;
its beautiful markings attracted his attention and he
brought it home, but being very much knocked about
and shghtly decomposed, he did not think it worth
keeping. One of his men, however, by name Hunt,
skinned it and preserved the skin, and it proved to be
a female. There were no signs of shot marks about
it, and I do not doubt it dropped in the sea from
exhaustion, and was washed ashore by the tide." It is
particularly worthy of note, that this bird was first seen
the day following the capture of the pair, recorded in
the " Times" by Mr. E. J. Schollick, which were killed
in the Isle of Walney, on the 22nd of May ; the earliest
record on this occasion, of the appearance of these birds
in England. This one example, so accidentally observed,
marks in all probability the date of arrival on the
Norfolk coast of the large numbers subsequently met
with, and which no doubt remained unnoticed and
therefore undisturbed, till the first week in June.

May 28th. — ^A female, at Thorpe, near Aldboro'. A
notice of this, the first specimen procured in Suffolk,
was inserted by Mr. Hele in the " Field" of June 13th.

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 383

June 4tli. — One male and three females killed at
Waxham, Norfolk. Just twelve days from the appear-
ance of the first specimen, no others apparently having
been seen in the meantime, a small flock of eight or
nine birds were found by the Rev. Mr. Wheeler and Mr.
Gibbs, of Waxham, feeding in a grass field near that
village, which is situated on the coast, about fourteen
miles from Yarmouth. Four birds were shot, of which
two females were presented to the Norwich museum
(No. 176*) by Mr. Wheeler. These birds, singularly
enough, were the only females out of all that I examined
which exhibited any indication of a band across the
breast as in the males. In one it was very distinct ; in
the other, visible on each side close to the wings,
and indistinctly traceable across the chest. This may
probably denote the fully adult plumage of the female,
as the ovaries in each case were largely developed, some
eggs being about the size of a common hemp seed.

June 5th and 6th. — Two males and one female killed
at Walberswick, near Southwold, Suffolk. The first of
these birds (female), as I learned from Mr. Spalding, of
Westleton, was shot from a small flock by a labouring
man on the shingle close by the sea. A male, w^inged
at the same time, was afterwards caught ; and a third
V7as secured by the gamekeeper to Sir J. Blois. Mr.
Spalding also adds, '^I took my gun and had a walk
over the extensive heath of Walberswick, when I saw a
covey of about eighteen birds. They flew exactly like
golden plover, but I had no chance of a shot at them ;
another parcel contained seven, and another three
birds."

June 6th. — A male taken alive at Elveden, near
Thetford, Suffolk. Of the capture of this bird, Mr.
Alfred Newton has sent me the following notes. It is
one of the few instances in which these birds appeared
so far inland, in either Norfolk or Suffolk, Elveden being

384 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

situated near the border of the former, and about forty-
miles from the sea. *^It was brought to me (says Mr.
Newton) by a stable lad, who found it as he was exer-
cising a horse in the morning. He thought it had been
drenched by the previous night's rain, and so rendered
incapable of flight. But on inquiry I found that a
strange bird had been shot at and hit, two daj-s before,
by a man in the employ of our clergyman, and this
was doubtless the cause of its being unable to get away
from the lad. From another source I learn that several
sand-grouse, or at least unknown birds, were seen, and
some of them killed about the same time on Wangford
warren, between Brandon and Lakenheath. The tenant
sent them at once to London, saying nothing about
them to any one. These last were probably some of
those that found their way to the shop-boards of Mr.
Bailey and the other London poulterers." This bird,
being only slightly injured, was sent by Mr. Newton to
the Zoological Gardens in London, to be placed with
others of its species, obtained some time previously from
China.

June 6th. — One male shot on the beach at Yarmouth.
This bird, a fine old male, now in the possession of Mr.
J. H. Gurney, was killed by a man named Nudd, who
was walking on the north beach at Yarmouth, and
observed nine birds together, which he mistook for
plover.

June 8th. — A female on Breydon wall, near Yar-
mouth. " Two sergeants of the militia artillery (writes
Captain Longe) were shooting on Breydon, when they
marked down about nine grey plovers (Squatarola
cinerea), which alighted on the stone wall of the
embankment. It was nearly nine o'clock in the
evening, and Sergeant Crowther got on to the bank
and managed to get a shot into them ; he noticed
one bird larger than the rest, and, singularly enough.

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 385

this bird was the only one that fell to the gun. He
brought it to me, and it proved to be a female sand-
grouse, in very good condition. It did not, however,
possess the long tail feathers which all the other
specimens I have seen have done."

June 10th and 11th. — Eighteen birds, male and
female, shot on Horsey beach, near Yarmouth. Of
this, the largest flock observed in our eastern counties,
Mr. Rising has kindly supplied me with the following
particulars : — " On the 9th, while out walking on the
beach here, I saw a large flock of birds, more than
forty, which I mistook for golden plover. They rose
within fifty yards and flew seawards, returning back
over my head at about twenty yards high, quietly calling
out ^ click, click,' and returned to the spot whence they
rose. I felt strongly impressed from their cry that they
were a kind I had never seen before, although I had not
noticed then their peculiar tail feathers. On my way
home, the birds again rose, took a quiet circuit round,
making the same easy cry, and returned to the same
spot." On the following morning Mr. Rismg went over
to Yarmouth, where he heard of the sand-grouse just
killed there, and felt sure that the Horsey birds were of
the same kind. Later in the day, his son. Captain Rising,
went down to the beach, where he found the covey in
the same locality, and succeeded in bagging ten; of
which six fell to his second barrel, and two other winged
birds were afterwards found. On the same evening
three more were secured, and three on the following
morning (11th), making in all eighteen specimens,
males and females, in nearly equal numbers. Of this
fine series, all but four or five passed into the hands of
a game dealer at Yarmouth, by whom they were sold to
various collectors, both here and at a distance, which
accounts for the different notices of these Horsey birds
which appeared in the " Times" and " Field ;" and the
3d

386 BIRDS OF NORrOLE.

female, noticed in the latter journal (June 13tli) by
Mr. Ward, as " killed on a sand-hill, a few miles from
Yarmouth," was in all probability one of them.

June 10th and 13th. — Six brace, males and females,
all shot at Holme, near Hunstanton, Norfolk. The first
pair of these birds were noticed by Mr. M. Dodman, in
the "Field" (June 13th), as kiUed at Titchwell; but
they were actually shot on the sand-hills at Holme,
an adjoining village. In a subsequent letter to Mr.
Southwell, of Fakenham, Mr. Dodman says, " Two brace
more have since come into my possession, one of which I
gave to a friend (sent to Norwich on the 12th for preser-
vation), the other pair were too much shot for stuffing.
There have been as many as six brace or six brace and a
half shot at the same time, and at the same spot. A
pair are gone to the Wisbech museum, and the others
have passed into private hands. A pair were also seen
on the sand-hills at Brancaster, on Sunday last (June
7th)." In the "Field" of June 27th, Mr. Dodman
states, "A covey of sixteen were seen here (Titchwell)
on Sunday," the 21st inst. ; and those referred to by
Mr. F. Tearle (Hunstanton), in the "Field," of July 4th,
are evidently some of the birds above noticed.

June 11th and 13th. — Four females and one male
kiUed at Thorpe, near Alborough, Suffolk. Mr. Hele, of
Alborough, recorded these as well as the first Suffolk bird,
in the "Field" (June 13th and 20th); and Mr. Dix, of
Ipswich, also sent me further particulars, a pair of them
having come into his possession. As many as fifteen or
sixteen appear to have been seen in this locality up to
the 13th of June.

June 17th. — One male killed at Winterton, Norfolk.
This bird was no doubt one of the Horsey covey, which,
as I had previously heard, had been seen since the 10th
on Winterton warren, situated close to the sea between
Horsey and Yarmouth,

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 387

June 20tli. — One female from Yarmontli, in the
possession of Mr. Newcome, of Feltwell.

June 22nd ? — One male sliot at Morston, near
Blakeney. Of this bird, Mr. Woods, of Morston, kindly
sent me the following particulars : — " I shot a sand-
grouse in one of my ploughed fields, about three weeks
since. There were nine when I first saw them. I
thought from their habits and appearance they were
golden plover in their summer plumage. When I saw
the description in the papers of the sand-grouse, I took
my gun to look for these strange birds, but found the
covey had dwindled to three, out of which I was lucky
enough to shoot one, which is now being stuffed at
Mr. Alcock's, of Blakeney."

June 24th. — One male killed at Waxham, where
four of the earlier specimens were obtained. Mr.
Harvey, of Waxham, who shot it himself, says : — ^' This
bird was killed in a turnip field near the sea banks ;
another was seen the same day about the same place,
supposed to be a hen. On Friday (26th), about ten a.m.,
a flock of from twelve to fifteen flew over the sea banks
in a south-east direction. They fly in the same order as
wildfowl, and frequently utter a peculiar clicking noise."

June 24th. — One female at Kessingland, Suffolk.
This bird was sent up to Norwich to be stuffed for Mr.
Crowfoot, of Kessingland, who, in answer to my
enquiries, informed me that it was killed on that part
of the coast by a labouring man, out of a flock of twelve
or fourteen, which had frequented Mr. Bean's farm, near
the cliff, for a fortnight previously. Towards the end
of July, a flock of fifty or sixty strange birds, were also
seen flying to the southward in one flock, by some men
ploughing, near the marshes adjacent to the sea.

June 25th. — A male killed somewhere in Suffolk, on
the authority of Mr. Spalding, of Westleton.

June 26th, — Four females killed near the pit at
3d2

388 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Blakeney, out of a flock of about thirty, by Mr.
H. M. Upclier, and Messrs. T. W. and J. E. Cremer, of
Beeston. These birds were sent up to Norwich, to be
stuffed on the 27th, and on examination I found the
ovaries, in all but one, more developed than in any
previous specimens — some eggs as large as small hemp-
seeds ; and several of the quill feathers in the wings had
been recently moulted.

June?— In the "Field" of June 27th, Mr. Ward,
Taxidermist, of Vere Street, London, recorded a female
from Norfolk as recently sent to him, but this, I
have every reason to believe, was in reality a male, the
distinctive pecuharities of plumage not being sufficiently
known at the time.

July 1st. — One female at Holme, near Hunstanton.
This bird, which also came into the possession of Mr.
Dodman, of Titchwell, was, as Mr. Southwell informs
me, found dead on the beach at Holme. " Its death was
caused by a shot wound. The contents of crop and
gizzard were precisely the same as in others from the
same locality; and judging from its full and healthy
appearance, its food must have agreed well with it."
Mr. Southwell gives the weight of the first pair killed
in this locality as nine and three-quarter ounces each,
male and female. I have no doubt whatever that whilst
staying myself at Hunstanton, in the beginning of June,
I saw more than once a small flight of these birds on the
beach at Holme. On one occasion I tried to get near
about four or five birds, which at a distance I took for
grey plover. They rose wild, however, and came over
my head out of shot, and their flight and cry — the
latter quite new to me — made me wonder at the time, if
they could be anything I had never met with before.

July 7th.— Mr. Thomas Dix, of West Harling,
informed me that a male bird was kiUed at SizeweH,
in Suffolk, on the above date.

PALLAS'S SAND-GROTJSE. 389

July 8tli. — Male and female from Yarmouth. These
bu'ds, which are in the possession of Mr. Owles, of
Yarmouth, are supposed to have been killed near Caister.
They were sent up to Norwich on the 9th for preserva-
tion, when I exammed them in the flesh. They were
neither of them in such good condition as most of the
earlier specimens ; the keel of the breast-bone being
sharper to the touch; nor were they so fat internally,
though perfectly healthy. The colours of the plumage
in both male and female looked dull, and exhibited no
signs of moulting. In the former, the tail feathers were
half an inch shorter than usual; but both the tail
and wings in the latter were an average length. The
gizzards presented the same class of small seeds as in
others, with white flinty particles ; but these both
smaller and less numerous than in many I had dissected.
The female, probably a young bird, contained a large
cluster of very small eggs ; none larger than a common
rape-seed. The male was evidently an adult specimen.

July 9th. — Male and female. This pair, like several
previous examples, were killed on the sand-hills between
Holme and Hunstanton, and were purchased in a fresh
state at Lynn. Neither the crops nor gizzards presented
any variation from former specimens.

July 10th. — Of a male killed at Croxton, near Thet-
ford, Mr. Cole, for whom the bird was preserved, has
supplied me with the following particulars : — '' It was
killed on my farm by one of the boys, about the 10th
of July last. There were four of them together at the
time, feeding on turnip seed ; the three remaining ones
were seen often afterwards, but could not be shot. Once
or twice, when riding, I got within shot, but never when
walking. Their flight is peculiar — ^very sharp and quick,
with a humming sound."

September. — Mr. Newton, in his paper in the " Ibis"
(p. 204), records one specimen as kiUed at Methwold

390 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

sometime in the above montli, shot out of a flock in the
fen-lands, and others were supposed to have been seen
earlier about Feltwell, and Hockwold. Mr. Newton saw
this bird at Leadbeater's, in London, but the sex is not
stated. Mr. Dix also states, in a recent letter to myself,
" A flock were seen about the end of August or beginning
of September near Woodbridge, on some open heath-
land near the river towards Ofiford. There were eight
or ten in the flock, and were said to have been seen
there all the summer. These birds were in Lord
Eendlesham's neighbourhood, and I believe on his
property." To which I may add that two males,
probably obtained in that neighbourhood, were sent
late in the season to Mr. John Sayer, of Norwich,
to be re-stufied and cased up for Lord Rendlesham.
Mr. Dix has also furnished me with the following
particulars of three birds killed at Santon-Downham,
some time in June or July : — ^' They were shot (he
writes) by one of the keepers, and his son, who was
under keeper, told me of them. Though they were
thrown away, and no one saw them who knew what
they were, there can be no doubt about them, as,
without my describing the birds, he said — ^ They had
short hairy legs with little feet like rats ; long feathers
in the tail, and very sharp wings, and were light brown,
spotted with black.' "

From this last date until the beginning of October,
I could not ascertain that any more birds were killed
in either county, although small detached parties, too
wild to allow their persecutors a chance, still frequented
their old haunts. During the last week ici July, a flock
of about thirty were said to have appeared at Blakeney,
where others had been shot, but these disappeared the
following day ; and, about the end of July or beginning
of August, my friend Mr. Waters, of Arminghall,
near Norwich, saw some birds dusting themselves in a

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 391

road-way, crossing one of his fields, wliich I liave no
doubt, from liis description, were sand-gronse. They
were very tame, and allowed a near approach before they
flew up, so that he was well able to determine, being
accustomed to all kinds of game, that these were a species
unknown to him. This is the only instance, I know, of
their visiting the vicinity of Norwich, and one of the
few cases in wliich they appear to have penetrated so far
inland. In the Yarmouth district my latest accounts
were to the 3rd of August, on which day (writes Captain
Longe) " & small flock of twelve or thirteen were seen
near Winterton, on the beach; and in the "Field" of
Sept. 26th, Mr. Fenwicke Hele states that a single sand-
gTouse " was seen and shot at on the 18th instant," at
Alderton, near Alborough, Suffolk.

October 3rd. — Three males killed at Holme-point,
near Lynn, Norfolk. These birds came into the hands
of Mr. Howard, of Hingham, who informed me that
only four were seen together at the time; the
fourth bird being also wounded, and lost. After that
date no others were noticed, and he believes that they
then quitted entirely that part of the county. I had
certainly given up all idea of examining any more
sand-grouse during that year, when summoned by the
bird-stuffer to inspect the last three; and though
sharing with other naturalists and sportsmen a regret
that so many of these interesting birds should have
been slaughtered during the nesting season, I was
glad enough of the opportunity afforded me of
observing the autumn plumage of the species, and of
comparing the tints of their freshly moulted feathers
with those of the earlier specimens. This vivid coloui--
ing was particularly observable in the rich abdominal
band, the deep orange on the side of the head, the
dark markings on the back, and the sharpness of the
pencilled lines across the lower part of the breast. In

392 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

all of them the bar across tlie secondaries had a bright
chesnut hue^ and the wing-coverts — brighter and clearer
than in any previous examples — showed a dark buff
edging to each feather, looking like some delicate water
mark. The wing primaries and middle tail feathers
were light greyish blue, with some appearance of the
^^ bloom" observable on the feathers of herons and some
other birds. The first primary shaft, though beginning
to elongate, had not yet projected beyond the second
feather in any one of these birds, and the tail feathers,
of unequal lengths, had not attained their perfect
growth; varying from three inches to five inches, six
inches, and six and a-half inches. They were all in high
condition, indeed, more plump than any I had previously
handled ; one bird weighing ten and a-half ounces, and
two, together, exactly twenty-one ounces. Their crops
were filled with seeds, similar in character to those before
identified; and the gizzards, as usual, contained the
debris of such food, mixed with numerous small white
particles of flint. I could have wished that one at least
out of these three autumn specimens had been a female,
as the appearance of the ovaries so late in the season
might have shown some indication of the birds having
laid their usual number of eggs during the summer
months. The appearance of the testes in these adult males
certainly favoured the impression that although no nests
had been discovered in this district, yet that such might
have existed on the extensive sand-hills bordering our sea
coast, and the warrens of the interior ; more particularly
since these wanderers were known to have bred, during
that year, at certain places in Denmark and Holland."^

* Professor Eeinhardt supplied Mr. Newton with information
respecting some nests of this species, found at Eingkjobing and
ISTymiudegal, on the west coast of Denmark. Early in June the
Professor received several living bii'ds, which had been snared "on
their nests" in the above-named districts, together with four of their

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOITSE. 393

Mr. Southwell, of Fakenliain, informed me at tlie time
tliat *^a vagrue rumour" was current in his neio'hbour-
hood early in September, that a nest had been found
somewhere near Lynn; but adds, "I cannot discover
the slightest foundation for the report," and my own
enquiries failed to elicit anything satisfactory on this
point.

November? — There is little doubt, I think, that these
birds were not seen in either Norfolk or Suffolk after
the middle of Novenfber, the following being the latest
notices of their appearance, in either county, that I
could authenticate either at the time or subsequently.
Mr. Dodman, of Titchwell, near Lynn, informed Mr.
Southwell that one was procured about the last week or
end of November, and in a subsequent letter says,
" From what I could learn it was a male bird. It was

eggs, one of the latter having been laid in the box which conveyed
the birds. " On two of the nests both the birds (in each case the
hens first and then the cocks) were caught on the 6th of June.
These nests were near one another; and one, containing three
eggs, consisted of a sUght depression in the sand, lined with a
little dry marram. The other had only two eggs, was placed
among some ling, and furnished in a like manner. The thu-d nest
was similar to the first, and was half-way up a sand-hill." More
nests were found at that time, but were unfortunately not pre-
served ; but, on the 27th of July, the same person who had taken
the first eggs, discovered at Bierregaard, in the same locality, "a
nest among some stones in the sand, and containing three eggs."
Snares were set, and both old birds taken; and in this interval,
one of the eggs was found to have been hatched. The other two
eggs being placed in wool near a fire a second chick was hatched,
but the third egg proved rotten. The young hved but one day,
and were not preserved. Another nest was also found the same
day (July 28th), and the two old birds obtained. From these
facts, it appears that Sijrrhaptes is not polygamous, both sexes
sharing the duties of incubation, and that the normal number of
eggs is three. Whether these birds are " double brooded" seems
somewhat doubtful.
3e

394 BIRDS OF KOEPOLK.

sliot on a salt marsli, a different locality to that where
all the other birds were obtained in this district, which
were found on the marram or sand-hills ; but this may-
be attributable to the birds having been disturbed from
the latter during the mornmg previous to being found
in the marshes." This specimen was killed at Holme,
near Hunstanton, where so many had been obtained
in the summer ; indeed, a certain number remained
about those preserved sand-hills from their first arrival,
and there, if any females did nest in this county, it is
quite possible they might have done so, without being
observed. The only other record of their appearance so
late in the year was contained in a communication to
the " Field" of November 28th, 1863, by Mr. Hele, of
Aldborough, in which that gentleman says, "a pair
were seen by Colonel Thellusson at Thorpe (Suffolk) one
day last week."

The total number of specimens, therefore, known to
have been obtained in the counties of Norfolk and
Suffolk, in 1863, amounts to just seventy-five birds,
the numbers of each sex, as far as ascertainable, being
very nearly equal. In the case, however, of the four
examples from Methwold and Santon-Downham, the
sex not having been recorded, I have reckoned them in
the subjoined table as two males and two females : —

Norfolk 60 (^^1^« ^^

(.Females 30

Suffolk 15 (^^l^s ^

C Females 7

75 75

Excepting only in one or two instances, these birds
were found, in the above counties, either close to the
sea on the sand-hills and shingle, or in the immediate
vicinity, feeding in grass fields, or on open waste lands.

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 395

In all cases tliey appeared in good condition, the
internal parts exhibiting signs of perfect health, and
the crops in most cases were filled with green food;
some few, however, had empty crops, but their gizzards
(extremely muscular) were filled with the debris of seeds
and small fragments of flint. No trace of animal or
insect food was, I believe, found in any of them, either
in our eastern counties or in other parts of England. Of
the first female picked up on Yarmouth beach. Captain
Longe says : — '^ The gizzard contained an enormous
quantity of sma,ll stones and sand, some of the stones
were nearly twice the size of mustard seeds, and weighed
three-quarters of a dram." This I found the case in
most of them myself, but in some much more sand than
flints. The contents of the crops (in one case filling two
table spoons) were various, consisting, in the opinion of
several local botanists, chiefly of small yellow grass seeds,
mixed with the seeds and cases of black medick or non-
such (Medicago lupuUna), sedge (Carex), dock [Rumex),
chickweed [Stellaria and Cerastium) , and in some
instances, small sprigs of the biting stonecrop (Sedum
o,cre), so abundant on the sand-hills of our eastern coast.
Those taken from one of the Yarmouth birds, being of
four different kinds, were sown in pots under the care of
Mr. Youell, at his nursery grounds, and were proved
by this experiment to belong to Medicago minima,
Chenopodium album, Polygonum convolvolus, and Poa
annua. The plants were submitted to the editor of the
"Gardeners' Chronicle," who concurred as to their
identity. Three of the birds shot at Horsey, on the
10th of June, by Captain Rising, contained no other
seed in their crops than the Sagina procumbens (pearl-
wort). The seed of the Polygonum convolvolus was
probably mistaken for Rumex in the first instance. Mr.
Southwell, of Fakenham, who most kindly placed
his own notes on this species at my disposal, took
3 E 2

396 BIEDS OP NORFOLK.

considerable pains to ascertain accurately the plants on
wliicli such birds as came under bis personal observation
bad been feeding, and tbe following statement was
received by bim from no less an authority than Professor
C. C. Babington, of Cambridge, after an examination of
the different seeds from the crop of one of the Holme
specimens : — " Most are the fruit and seeds of Arenaria,
or rather Lepigonum ruhrum, numbered 1 on the
paper ; 2, is a seed of Polygonum ; 3, the tip of a
moss ; 4, seeds of another kind of Polygonum (they
must have been some time in the bird's crop, for they
have commenced growing) ; 5, appear to be fruiting
flowers of Poa j 6, I fancy belong to Sagina or Arenaria^
but I have not succeeded in naming them to my own
satisfaction. All these names are, of course, open to alter-
ation, but I quite think that they are correct." Besides
the above, Mr. Southwell also distmguished the seeds of
Le;pigonum marinum, of which there appears to have been
none in the crop submitted to Professor Babington ; and,
in a letter to myself, he adds, " I think we may consider
that their food in this country consisted entirely of the
seeds of plants proper to the sandy coast upon which
they were found. The fact of the seeds being all those
of British plants, probably shows that they had been
on the coast some days." Mr. Alfred Newton, to whom
the carcases of two of the Holme specimens were sent
by Mr. Southwell for the purpose of dissection, proposed
a careful examination of the small flinty substances
found so abundantly in the gizzards, suggesting that
some mineralogist might recognise in them " fragments
washed down into the Kirghish Steppes from the Altai
mountains ; or that the birds might have renewed their
stock of grindstones as they crossed the Ural." Acting
upon this hint, Mr. Southwell submitted some of them
to a geological friend, who writes as follows : — " As to
the stones found in the gizzard, I do not think they

PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE. 397

were obtained on tlie Norfolk coast. I doubt wbetlier
the sand tbere would afford such large grains. They
may have been picked up on their native steppes, and
probably the same stones may remain in the gizzard for
an indefinite length of time. The stones, so far as one
can see, seem to be fragments of quartz and felspar,
and are therefore probably granitic. I have shown them
to one of our best geologists, an F.G.S., who concurs
with me, and thinks that notliing decisive can be pre-
dicted from them. They could all be easily matched in
England." I may here add that the later specimens
dissected by myself, had fewer flinty particles in their
gizzards, and those much smaller in size and more
mixed with sand. In the early examples, the size, and
peculiarly angular appearance of these white fragments,
would attract the notice of any one accustomed to
examine the internal economy of granivorous birds ; and
as it is generally understood, that such stones are
retained in the gizzard so long as their triturating
powers remain unimpaired by the action of the stomach,
it is most likely that on their first arrival our Tartar
visitants contained their native grindstones.

From an examination of just thirty specimens,
consisting of fourteen males and sixteen females, I
was particularly struck with the general similarity
of the specimens according to sex. The less matured
males differed only from those more adult (judging from
the largely developed state of the testes) in having the
ground colour of the plumage somewhat duller, and
their darker markings less clearly defined; but the
extremely dark tints of some old males, especially in the
deep grey of the breast, and more clouded appearance
of the wing coverts, were, I imagine, attributable to old
and somewhat soiled feathers, which in a few weeks
would have been replaced by others. In one or two
fine old males, very recently killed (for the brighter

398 BIRDS OF NOEPOLK.

portions of the plumage soon faded in the stuffed
specimens), the reddish orange of the head and neck,
the delicate pencil markings across the breast, the rich
buffj colouring of the wing coverts, bordered by a
reddish bar above the secondary quills, and the broad
abdominal band of blackish brown, mingled with buff,
were all extremely vivid ; as also the bars and spots on
the back and wings. But I did not find that such
specimens had in all cases the longest tail or wing
feathers, which are, doubtless, much subject to accident.
Amongst the females, the same degree of difference
exists, the young birds having a more mottled appear-
ance on the upper parts, the kestrel-like bars on the
back and wings being less clear. In old females the
black ring round the throat and the yellow tints of the
neck were extremely bright. In two only, as before
observed, was there the slightest trace of the pencilled
lines across the breast, so marked a feature in all males.
These, probably, were very old hens, though not more
brilliant in plumage than others ; and the one with the
pectoral band most distinct, had the gular rmg very
faint, the yellow tints less vivid, and the first quill
feather of the vrings scarcely elongated at all. In some
examples the quill feathers had been recently moulted,
as in the four females from Blakeney (June 26th),
and Mr. Dix informs me that in two he received from
Horsey, he found the secondaries and tail feathers full
of blood and about three parts developed, and some of
the back feathers were brighter and evidently new.
The following are the variations in length, of the tail
and wing feathers in both sexes, as far as I was able to
take them ; but the difference in length of the first
primary quill is owing more to the size of the bird (the
wing itself bemg larger or smaller), than to the elonga-
tion of the filaments. Thus, in one female, the wing
from the carpal joint measured nine inches, yet the

PALLAS'S SAND-GROUSE. 399

primary shaft projected but very little. Tlie females
have the same bright reddish hue above the secondary
quills as in the males, and the abdominal band is in
some even deeper in colour and less mixed with buff.
All but one female I examined had elongated tail
feathers, and in this case they had evidently been shot
away: — Tail feathers in males: 6| inches, 7 inches, to
7^ inches. First primary of wing, measured from the
carpal joint : 8^ inches, 9 inches, 9| inches, 9t^- inches,
to 10 inches. Tail feathers in females : 3^ inches,
4 inches, 4 J inches, 5 inches, 5^ inches, to 6 inches.
Wings measui-ed as above : 8 inches, 8| inches, 8f inches,
to 9 inches.

Tastes seemed to vary much respecting the edible
qualities of these strange birds, which, as far as my own
experience went, were in this respect, as much entitled
to their specific name of paradoxus, as for any of their
external peculiarities. Served up as " a delicious salmi"
at a dinner of the Acclimatisation Society, they were
said to have been pronounced " admirable," but here
at least they were tried under the most favourable
circumstances, being cooked to perfection by a master
of the culinary art. Without all these advantages, and
with the great drawback of wanting their natui-al skins,
the first brace I tried were undoubtedly dry eating and
somewhat taseless, but presented from the great depth
of the sternum, a fine "breast" in quantity if not
in quality. On the next occasion I had them baked,
with the addition of a beef- steak to assist in preserving
their natural juices, and found them much more tender
and palatable ; the flesh suggesting the flavour of majiy
things, though scarcely one in particular. I should
say, however, that they resemble the French partridge
as much as any other game bird, as they want the
pungency of the quail, to which they have been likened
by some who have eaten them. Their only resemblance

400 BIRDS OV NORFOLK.

to grouse consists in the two colours of the flesh; the
outer portion being very dark^ and that nearest to the
bone white.

To revert once more to the general history of this
strange invasion, as given in Mr. Newton's European
summary, the course of the invading host is there
traced " through more than thirty-three degrees of
longitude, from Brody in Gallicia, to Naran on the west
coast of Donegal; and it will be seen that towards
the western limits of Europe it extended over some
five and twenty degrees of latitude, from BiscaroUe, in
Gascony, to Thorshavn, in the Fseroes.^ * * "^ ^^I
rather doubt (says Mr. Newton) if the main body ever
reached England. Nearly one hundred is the largest flock
recorded as having been observed in this island at one

* "With regard to the date of their appearance, the same author
writes, " Unfortunately I am at present ignorant of the exact times
of its first appearance in the most eastern localities. The earliest
date given with precision is the 6th of May, at Sokolnitz, in Moravia.
A week later the right flank of the advancing army had reached
Tuchel, in West Prussia ; on the 17th its centre was observed at
Polkwitz, in Silesia. On the 20th of May birds occurred at "Wohlau,
in Anhalt, and on the Danish Island of Laaland. The following
day (the 21st) they had not only over-run the British dependency
of Heligoland, but had established themselves on the shores of
England, at Thropton, in Northumberland. The next day they had
penetrated to Eccleshall, in Staffordshire, and crossed the country
to Walney, on the coast of Lancashire. By the end of the month
they had arrived at the Feeroes." With the exception, therefore, of
the lapse of observations between the 6th and 14th of May, " the
Tartar horde seems to have swept uninterruptedly onwards in an
almost uniformly north-western direction, small bands detaching
themselves from the main body at intervals, and these again often
separating into pairs throughout the entire transit. Once arrived
at the borders of the ocean, if one may judge from the evidence
before us, many were driven back. Then they seem to have spread
themselves over the surrounding countries, seeking out, as was
natural, districts most agreeable to their habits."

PALLAS'S SAXD-GROUSE. 401

place, namely, Oswestry. The bulk of tlie invaders
seem to have been checked in their onward course by
the North Sea, and to have passed the summer on the
flat and sandy coast extending from Holland to Jutland,
both of which countries witnessed, as I have related,
attempts on the part of the colonizers to increase and
multiply. In Holland we have flocks of a couple of
hundred spoken of as frequenting the sand-hills in
June. (J. f. O., 1864, p. 69). At the beginning of Jul}',
Professor Eeinhardt informs me there were large flocks
in Jutland and Slesvig. About the middle of Aug-ust
Dr. Altum tells us that bands of from ninety to a
hundred were still seen on the Frisian island of
Borkum. A month later, in September, a great flock
was observed at Pinneberg, in Holstein, and some time
in autimin a large flight on Nordemey ; while the
latest notice I can find of a numerous company being
seen together is on the 3rd of October, when a flock of
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred were seen at
Wittow, in Piigen, flying high in air from north-
west to south-east, and making probably for the land
of their birth." This last date, it will be observed,
corresponds exactly with the latest record of the appear-
ance of these birds in Norfolk. With regard to the
numbers which actually visited the Eui'opean continent,
and those which are known to have met with an untimely
end, Mr. Newton is inclined to estimate the former,
from all sources of information, at not less than seven
hundred, the latter at about three hundred and forty-
five, adding ^'another hundred and fifty-five for birds
which, falling into the hands of ignorant persons, have
been altogether lost sight of." No wonder that so
extensive, and in every respect remarkable, an immigra-
tion of a strictly Asiatic species into western Europe,
should have led to a strange diversity of opinion
amongst naturalists as to the actual cause; some
3p

402 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

attributiug it to atmosplierical iuflneiices, sneli as "the
coutiimance of a week's violent nortli-east wind;"
others, " to the colonization of the valley of the Anioor
by the Eussians, and the probably increased amount of
land sown with seed along the roads leading fi-om
thence to European Eussia;" others, again, to the
effects of a supposed di-ought in the coimtries where
this species mostly abounds. After reading, however,
Mr. Newton's very plausible reasons for not attributing
the "exodus" to any of the above causes, or at feast
for not receiving any one of them as the primary cause,
I think that most people will concur in his own
expressed opinion, that this "wonderful movement" is
attributable " to the uatui-al overflow of the population
of SyrrJiaptes, resulting from its ordinary increase." In
support of these views he refers to the habits of this
species as observed in the basin of the Tarei-nor, a
lake situated in Dauria, about fifty degrees north and
one hundred and sixteen degrees east (from GreemArich),
under most favoui'able cu-cumstances, by Herr Eadde
in the spring of 1856. There it arrives as one of the
earliest migrants by the 10th (22nd) of March, and two
immense flocks discovered in the island of the Tarei,
consisting each of at least a thousand birds, after
frequent disturbance, suddenly left the district altogether
to appear no more dui-ing that season, showing, as Mr.
Newton remarks, " that Syrrha;ptes is subject to sudden
movements on a very large scale, and of a kind which,
at first sight, appear almost capricious." Its wondrous
powers of flight must protect all but the weaker members
from the attacks of falcons, while it is also known, from
Herr Eadde's observations, that the time of incubation
and the growth of the young is " short in compai'ison
with what it is in most ground-breeding birds," all points
indicative of a considerable and rapid increase of the
race, and the necessity from time to time of extending

PALLAS'S SAND-GEOUSE. 403

the limits of tlieir range, and ** seeking pastures new."
This was by no means also the first occasion in which
examples of this species had been known to penetrate
so far to the westward of their normal range, for on
this point Mr. Newton writes as follows : — " It got its
foot in Europe as long ago as 1853, it may be longer;
we must allow for the imperfection of our record.
In 1859 it comes again, the stress being now, with
time, severer : possibly more birds start, and the birds
that start reach a greater distance. In 1863, from the
same increasing pressure from within, still more come,
and come still further. If this notion be correct, unless
some physical change occurs in the Tartar steppes, which
may have the effect of relieving the pressure, another
outpouring may be safely predicted, and probably
the already thrice-found channel will be again used by
the emigrating population." It is not, however, Mr.
Newton's impression that the immense flock which in
1863 visited Eui'ope, or the smaller flights which had
preceded it, started from Dauria, or the frontiers of
China. " On the contrary," he says, " a little reflexion
will show that it is of course far more probable that the
birth-place of the European invaders was the western
extremity of their ordinary range — the country imme-
diately on the other side of the Caspian Sea, whence, as
I have said, the species was first obtained and described.
But this is quite far enough off to make such a Scythian
exodus in these days sufficiently remarkable. Some
4,000 geographical miles is a pretty long journey, even
for a bird blessed with such powerful organs of aerial
locomotion, as Syrrhaptes paradoxus.'' Whether or not
any portion of these large flocks would have located
themselves permanently on our shores, if encouraged
thereto by a protective rather than a destructive policy,
remains an open question. It is I know a favourite
belief with many that they would have done so, and
3f2

404 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

there are not wanting localities both on our coast line
and in the interior of the county highly favourable to
their ascertained habits. In the "Ibis," however, for
1865 (p. 340), the editor remarks — "There can be no
doubt that those ill-used voyagers entirely failed to
estabhsh themselves in Europe. The last recorded
occurrence of a Pallas's sand-grouse that we can find is
by Dr. Opel, who, writing on the 20th of July, 1864,
states (J. f. O., 1864, p. 312), that a live example, which
had flown against the telegraph wires, near Plauen, in
Saxony, was sent to the Zoological Garden, at Dresden,
about a month previously."

I have selected this species for illustration in the
present work, as one of the rarest and most beautiful
additions of late years to our local fauna; and those
who have had the opportunity of studying the actions
of these birds, either in a wild state or in confinement,
will at once recognise the master hand of the artist in
his perfect delineation of form, colour, and attitude.
The male is represented by the figure in the foreground,
the female by that crouching.

PERDIX RUFA (Linn^ns.)

EED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE.

Sir Thomas Browne, writing on the ^^ Birds of
Norfolk" some two hundred years ago, remarks —
" Though there be here very great store of partridges,
yet the French Red-legged Partridge is not to be met
with." How sincerely would a portion, at least, of our
local sportsmen wish that the same could be said at
the present day; but as "ill weeds grow apace," so
the French partridge, once fairly introduced into this
country, is not easily got rid of, now that its qualities

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 405

as a game bird are not found to answer tlie expecta-
tions of its importers in the exact way they anticipated.
Its introduction into the Eastern Counties dates only
ft'om the close of the last century, when, about
the year 1770, the Marquis of Hertford and Lord
Rendlesham are recorded'^ to have had large quantities
of eggs imported from the continent, and the young
birds, hatched under domestic fowls, were turned off
at Sudbourn and Rendlesham, in Suffolk, on the
respective estates of the above noblemen. From thence
they soon spread to other portions of the county, and
the adjoining parts of Norfolk ; and in Daniel's " Eural
Sports" we find the author speaking of a covey of
fourteen, discovered by himself in 1777 within two miles
of Colchester, which, in a very thick piece of turnips,
** baffled for half an hour the exertions of a brace of
good pointers to make them take wing, and the first
which did so immediately perched on the hedge, and
was shot in that situation without its being known what
bird it was." Others are also described by the same
writer as having been killed in 1799, at Sudbourn,t
where they were originally turned off. During the

* See an article by Dr. W. B. Clarke, of Ipswicli, in Charles-
worth's " Magazine of Natural History" for 1839 (p. 142). In this
paper, which contains a most accui'ate description of the habits of
the red-legged species, the date of its introduction by the Marquis
of Hertford is given as about the year 1790, but, judging from
other records, it most probably occurred from fifteen to twenty
years before.

t I am not aware that any specimens of the Barbary partridge
(Perdix fetrosa) have ever been met with in this county, but
Yarrell, who includes it amongst his " British Birds," states
that " two or three years ago, a bird of this species was shot by a
nobleman when sporting on the estate of the Marquis of Hertford,
at Sudbourn, in Suffolk, where it was considered that a few of the
eggs of the Barbary partridge had been introduced with a much
larger quantity of those of the more common red-legged bird."

406 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

next twenty years, they would seem to have increased
rapidly as, in 1826, they are thus referred to by Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear — "These birds are now very
plentiful in some parts of Suffolk. We have seen at
least one hundred and fifty brace in a morning upon
Dunmingworth heath ; and they are found in greater or
less numbers from Alborough to Woodbridge ; a few are
also sometimes seen in Norfolk.""^ It appears, however,
that other game preservers, in both Norfolk and Suffolk,
following the example of the Marquis of Hertford,
procured eggs from the continent, and were equally
successful in extending the breed. Mr. Alfred Newton
has furnished me with the following additional par-
ticulars, as communicated to him by his late father: —
" The year after Lord CornwaUis died (1823) Lords
Alvanley and De Ros hired Culford; they had a
large number of red-legged partridges' eggs sent over
from France, which they distributed about the neigh-
bourhood, keeping, however, some at Culford. The
Duke of Norfolk had a good many at Fornham, so
also had Mr. Waddington at Cavenham. The eggs
were set under hens, and nearly all of them hatched.
This was the first introduction of the red-legged
partridge into West Suffolk. They had been plentiful
in the eastern division of the county several years
before, where Lord Hertford had introduced them."
Mr. Newton refused to have any eggs, but in a few
years the birds spread to Elveden, and thence, of course,
very readily into the adjacent parts of Norfolk.

At the present time, however, so altered are the
feelings of many game preservers with regard to this
species, that the destruction of their nests is in some
places as rigorously carried out as of crows or magpies ;

* The late Mr. Utting, of Ashweltliorpe, was, I believe, the
first to introduce them into East Norfolk.

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 407

and the destruction of the old bii'ds, any how or at
any season, is regarded, at least by such individuals, as
anything but an unsportsman-like act. Much of this
antipathy originates in a very general belief that the
red-legs during the breeding season drive the English
bu'ds from their nests, and appropriate them to their own
use ; but, although the French birds are undoubtedly
pugnacious, and both species have been observed fighting
and scuffling together in the spring of the year, I am
not aware that the charge of approj)riation has been
fully proved. The red-legs commence laying earher
than the grey partridge, and, as Mr. Newton informs
me, "are accustomed to drop their eggs in a desultory
way like guinea fowls;" yet, whilst the eggs of both
French and English birds (as occasionally, also, of
pheasants and partridges), are found in one nest, it is
seldom, I think, that the French bird is, in such cases,
the usurper.^ On one occasion John Gaily, of North-
repps, gamekeeper to Mr. J. H. Gurney, saw a French
partridge stand and peck at the head of an English
bird when sitting, and at last drive her from the nest,
but even in this instance there is no evidence that the
red-leg afterwards took possession of it. In like manner
Mr. Edwards, of Keswick, was once witness to a strange
contest between a French partridge and a common hen,
ai)parently for the possession of a nest placed on the
side of a straw stack, f but, although the Frenchman

* The French partridge is the earliest to lay (though, from her
irregular habits, she is the latest to hatch her brood), and grey
partridges or pheasants will very often "lay to her eggs," as the
keepers express it.

t Mr. A. Newton has recorded in the " Zoologist" (p. 4073) the
discovery of a nest of the French partridge at Elveden, placed on
the thatch of a barley stack. The old bii'd was found sitting on
thirteen eggs, and would probably have hatched her young, had
it not been necessary to remove the stack before that time. In

408 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

here proved tlie victor, it is doubtful whicli was the
rightful owner. If, however, to this grave charge, we
return the Scotch verdict of "not proven," the shy,
restless nature of this species, continually "footmg it"
before the guns, and taking wing only when closely
pressed, or far out of reach of any ordinary fowling
piece, renders it particularly obnoxious to sportsmen
in the more closely cultivated and enclosed portions
of the county. In such districts, many are the voUies
of something more than small shot, called forth by the
provoking habits of these birds in the early part of the
season. No sooner do the guns enter the turnips at one
end of the field, than the wary Frenchmen are seen
topping the opposite fences one after another, alightmg
again on the adjoining stubbles, and, with heads erect,
making off at a most incredible pace. Scattering them-
selves in all directions, they unsettle the English birds
that would otherwise lie well in good cover, and, of
course, from their running before the dogs, were still more
objectionable under the old style of partridge shooting
with pointers or setters. Thus trying his patience in
every possible way, it is no great wonder if the sports-
man, under such circumstances, delights to bag every
red-leg he can, and considers no distance too far, to " let
fly" at his feathered tormentors. Nor is he repaid, after
all his trouble and many disappointments, by securing
a delicacy for the table, the chief attraction of this
species consisting far more in its handsome plumage
than its edible qualities. Undoubtedly a fine old

the " Field," of June 20th, 1865, there is also a note by the Eev.
James Shirley, of Frettenham, describing the nest of a French
partridge placed about twelve feet from the ground on the top of a
haystack. Although the stack was being constantly disturbed,
fifteen young birds were hatched, and were seen in the act of
tumbling doYpn the stack, when they were safely led off by the old
birds.

red-lectGed partridge. 409

male, witli its vermillion-coloured beat and legs, its
dark gorget, and lovely feathers on tlie flanks and
thighs, is a very striking object, and contrasts -well with
the more sombre and uniform tints of the common
partridge, when the day's " bag" is laid out for inspec-
tion. TJnsuited, however, as is the usual style of shooting
to the habits of French partridges, they afford fine sport
in November and December, when most of the beet and
turnips are off the lands, as they then congregate on the
ploughed fields, and can be driven over the gunners,
placed under cover at convenient distances. In fact,
the " driving" system, now so generally adopted on the
large estates, is imquestionably the proper method of
shooting red-legs, and one which tries well the mettle
of the sportsmen, as they mount up higher than the
English bii'ds, and fly, when well on the wing, at an
ahnost incredible pace. Yet, at the same time, it must
be remembered that such sport can be enjoyed only
with impunity on extensive manors, well stocked with
bii'ds, since, if attempted too often within a limited
area, the partridges may be thus driven off the land
altogether, as surely as by the too frequent use of
the "kite" towards the latter part of the season. A
very effectual time also for reducing their numbers
is immediately after a good fall of snow,* before a
night's frost has hardened the surface. No longer
able to run, and still unwilling to fly till obliged to
take vdng, they seem deprived for the time of their
usual sagacity, and seeking shelter in the thickest
hedgerows, if in the enclosed parts of the county, or
in the gorse and broom coverts of the light land
districts, afford excellent sport for a couple of guns,

* Dr. Clarke, in the paper before referred to, remarks —
"Instances have been known of these birds aUghting in the
middle of a field deeply covered with snow, into the depths of
which they sunk, and were afterwards taken out ahve by hand."

3 G

410 BIRDS OF NOEFOLK.

"doubling" tlie fences with a steady dog to flnsli the
birds. Advantage is likewise taken by some persons of
the altered character of the red-legs when the snow is
on the ground, for by flushing them again and again,
and following them up directly, the birds become
sufficiently exhausted to be run down, one after the
other ; a method not unfrequently adopted by poachers
in districts not strictly preserved. Under similar
circumstances our English birds, if they seek cover
at all, betake themselves to the thickest plantations,
frequenting the hedgerows even less than at other
times, but they prefer, for the most part, the open fields,
where their dark forms are plainly visible on the white
ground, and where they are more difficult than ever
to approach within shot. There is no reason, however,
to suppose from this habit, that the red -leg is more
susceptible of cold than the grey partridge, as, with the
same opportunities of procuring food, I have never
found their condition affected by the sharpest weather ;
indeed, they come to us from a country where the
winters are uniformly more severe than our own.

They frequent both heavy and light lands; and I
have frequently found them plentiful on heavy-land
farms, where the English birds have been comparatively
scarce, thus filling a void; for as French birds thrive
well where, before their introduction, the grey partridge
was not found, it is unfair to suppose that the absence
of the latter is now owing to the pugnacity of the
red-legs. In such localities, by pursuing them in wet
weather, when the sticky soil prevented their running,
I have been pretty successful in making a bag; and
they may be readily killed during a drenching shower,
if the gun-caps or cartridges will but go off when
required. Strong on the wing, and not often affording
a close shot, they require very hard hitting, and will
frequently carry off the best part of a charge to die

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. 411

of their wounds after a prolonged fliglit ; wliilst many
a bird, wlien finally brought to bag, shows evidences
of former injui-ies from the long shots, so frequently,
though somewhat cruelly, made at them at almost
impossible distances. There is one other particular in
which the French partridge differs entirely from our
common species — namely, in its habit of occasionally
perching in trees, flying up into the thick foliage like a
pheasant or wood-pigeon ;* an action which at first not
a little astonished our local sportsmen, many of whom
most probably entertained the same opinion as an old
veteran partridge-shot, who assured me that the first
time he met with a covey of red-legs, and some of them
took to the trees, " he fully believed the birds had gone
mad." On one occasion, whilst shooting on a farm
where they were very numerous, I observed this course
adopted by single birds in three instances on the same
day, and more recently I have known a good-sized covey
flushed from the top of an oak timber, and single
birds, when chased from place to place in snowy
weather, fly up to and settle in the tops of oak pollards.
They may also be seen sitting occasionally in a long
row on the top of a wall, the ridge of a barn roof,
or on an ordinary park fencing. It is not an unusual
custom in this county, when nests of the grey par-
tridge have been mown out, or discovered in too exposed
situations, to transfer the eggs thus taken to a
French partridge's nest, and in several instances I have
known them successfully hatched, and the young birds
treated in every respect as her own by the foster

* M. Temminck was evidently unaware of this peculiarity,
when, in his "Manuel D' Ornithologie," he included the red-
legged partridge in his second section of " Perdrix proprement
dites," giving the following as the chief characteristics of that
gi-oup : — " Us vivent dans les champs et ne se perchent point sur
les arbres."
3 g2

412 BIKDS OP NORFOLK.

parent. It is said, however, that the running habits
of the French birds'^ are generally fatal to the English
nestlings, which, to use a thoroughly Norfolk expression,
are " drabbled" to death in attempting to keep up with
such untiring pedestrians. I mention this, only as a
common belief amongst game-keepers, being unable
to vouch for its accuracy ; but I have more than once
observed, in the shooting season, a pair of old French
bu-ds rise from the turnips at the head of a covey of
English, though, of course, it is quite possible that
in such cases the red-legs had "run up" the grey
partridges, and thus all had risen together.

French partridges, both on the wing and in the
field, are easily recognized at a distance by their larger
size and darker tints of plumage, to say nothing of the
difference in the noise of their wings in flying. When
alarmed they carry their heads erect, turning them in
all directions to catch the sound of any approaching
danger, and continue this even when running at their
greatest speed. If undisturbed, however, and feeding
leisurely, their appearance (as seen through a glass)
is very different, and with feathers puffed out and
rounded backs, whilst slowly searching the ground for
grain and insects, they look almost as large as pheasants.
They are partial to the shelter of thick hedge-rows and
plantations, but unless driven into such cover, are seldom

* M. Julian Deby, in his " Notes on the birds of Belgium,"
published in the "Zoologist" for 1845-6, makes the following
statement respecting the red-legged partridge : — " The habits of
this species differ materially from those of the common partridge,
the males leaving the females and assembhng in coveys, while the
latter are sitting and rearing their young." I know of no English
author that has noticed this peculiarity, but red-legs at that
particular season are frequently seen consorting together on the
lands, whether aU males or not I cannot say, and are then more
easily ridden down than at any other time.

RED-LEGGED PAKTRIDGE. 413

found far from the outer fence, through, which they can
run on the slightest alarm; and in "walking quietly
up a wood side, where these birds are plentiful, it is
very usual to see one or more red-legs issuing from
the hedge bottom, and hurrying along imder the bank.
They are fond also of basking in thick rushy carrs ;
and in low meadows will hide in the sedgy margins
of the watercourses, where I have shot them late in the
season when looking for snipe.

Both Mr. Lubbock and Messrs. Gurney and Fisher
have alluded to the supposed migratory habits of the
red-legged partridge, and my own enquiries amongst
naturalists and others residing in the vicinity of the
sea certainly confirm their statements as to small
coveys of these birds, generally in an exhausted condi-
tion, being regularly met with in the spring of the
year on various parts of the coast. My friend Captain
Longe, of Yarmouth, who has for several years paid
particular attention to the ornithology of that neigh-
bourhood, informs me, that in many successive springs,
about March or April, he has found French partridges
early in the morning, running about on the beach close
to the water; and, on one occasion, when the sands
were perfectly covered with their footmarks, he flushed
a covey of from twenty to thirty, which flew round
once or twice and then out to sea, still keeping on in a
direct course until he lost sight of them, although using
a good glass. Every year, about the same time, many
of these birds are captured under the boats or fish-
baskets lying on the beach, and others are run down
by lads in the gardens near the Denes, and sometimes
even within the town itself. In the spring of 1865,
I was told by Mr. Horace Marshall, also a resident
at Yarmouth, who has on more than one occasion
drawn my attention to this subject, that about the
first week in April (the usual time, he says, for their

414 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

appearance) lie assisted in running clown a fine male
bird close to tlie Britannia Pier, and one or two
others were captured on the same day. They have
been observed in like manner on the SuiFolk coast, near
Lowestoft, so exhausted as to allow themselves to be
picked up by hand. Mr. William Barclay, of Leyton,
who has taken much interest of late years in tliis
enquiry, also sends me similar information from Cromer
and adjoining villages on that part of the coast. In
a recent letter he says — "I have shot a good deal
in the neighbourhood of Cromer the last few years,
and we always find the ^ Frenchmen ' very abundant
near the cliff", more particularly between Overstrand and
Trimingham, on shooting belonging to the Hoares and
Buxtons, where they breed extensively." A keeper, in
the employ of Mr. H. Birkbeck, who looks after the
game upon the Lighthouse Hills and adjoining lands,
informed Mr. Barclay that in 1865 they were particu-
larly numerous, and accounted for the fact by saying
" that more had come over than usual." At Cromer,
also, the beachmen seem to be fully aware of the annual
appearance of these birds on the coast about the end of
March, and the boys run them down on the sands, and
sell them in the town for sixpence each. On this point
both Mr. Barclay and myself have received reliable
testimony from one of the most experienced and intel-
ligent fishermen at that favourite watering place. In a
recent letter, in answer to my own questions, William
Mayes writes, "All the information I can give you
about French partridges is, that they come over about
the middle of March or beginning of April, some ten
or twelve in a flock; the wind mostly south-east and
south. I have seen them when I have been out to sea
four and five miles from land. There are none come over
in the autumn." That all these concurrent testimonies
are indicative of some migratory movement on the part

KED-LEGGED PAETKIDGE. 415

of tlie red-legged partridge there can be no doubt, but
whilst it is by no means easy to decide from what
portion of the continent we might look for an influx
of this species — and there is really no place abroad that
these birds could have come from to alight on the
Cromer beach, the above statements are by no means
incompatible with the idea that emigration and not
immigration is the true explanation of this somewhat
difficult subject. In this view, I know, Mr. Alfred
Newton, who has paid much attention to the habits of
these birds, entirely concurs with me, and the very
fact that the French partridge was unknown in this
county till artificially introduced is one of the strongest
arguments against its vernal immigration at the present
time. On the other hand, after the success which has
attended the importation of this species and its rapid
increase throughout the Eastern Counties, it is far from
improbable that a certain portion should annually seek
to extend their area, and finding themselves stopped
by the Cerman Ocean attempt to cross it. These
birds, or a portion of them at least (some, probably,
falling short and being drowned at sea), misjudging the
distance and their own powers of flight, would return
again to our shores in an exhausted state, and when
picked up under such circumstances, would very
naturally be regarded as foreigners just arrived on the
coast. Both Mr. Longe's account of the large covey
which, when disturbed by him in the early morning on
the sands, flew straight out to sea until lost to sight,
as well as the statement of William Mayes, that he has
seen these birds when four or five miles from land, are
quite in accordance with this supposition ; and though
it is by no means an unusual circumstance during the
shooting season for partridges, when shot at in the
vicinity of the coast, to continue their flight out to sea,
returning in an extremely fatigued condition to the

416 BIRDS OF NOEPOLK.

beachj there seems nothing to account for such marine
excursions in the spring of the year but some such
voluntary impulse as I have here suggested. Again,
these returned voyagers, failing in their attempt to
emigrate from their island home, would locate them-
selves, in all probability, in the vicinity of the coast, and
thus account for the large proportion of the red-legs
which, as Mr. Barclay remarks, are known to breed
by the sea at Cromer and adjoining villages ; whilst a
more than usual movement from the interior, in any
particular spring, would in like manner account for the
remark of Mr. Birkbeck's keeper " that more had come
over than usual.'*

It is not unusual to find the feet of these partridges
much clogged with dirt after continued wet on the heavy
land farms, but the most extraordinary instance of this
I ever met with, came under my notice on the 3rd of
December, 1860, and consisted of a French partridge's^
foot and leg, perfectly embedded in a lump of earth.
The poor bird had been observed limping about in a
very strange manner, and was, without much difficulty,
run down and secured, when it was found that the
lower half of one leg, with the foot, was embedded
in a mass of earth, which raised it considerably from
the ground, and necessarily kept the limb in a bent
position. This lump, measuring seven and a-half inches
in circumference, and weighing six ounces and three-
quarters, had become as hard as stone, and certainly
in that state accounted for^ the sufferer not having
been able to free itself from its incumbrance. Two
toes only were visible on one side, of which one

* This curious specimen was brought to Mr. Sayer, bird-stuffer,
St. Giles', in this city, by a gentleman who resides on a heavy land
Suflfolk farm, where the bird had been taken, and when shown to
me the leg, from the fresh state of the sinews, had evidently been
but recently severed from the body.

RED-LEGGED PAKTJBIDGE.

417

had tlie nail torn off level with the edge of the mass
itself. From the upper part protruded a short bit of
bent or straw, and this being- entangled round the foot
had probably collected the soil by degrees, which had
hardened at night with the frost. I can only imagine
that the unfortunate bird, which was half starved when
taken, had been wounded in the leg, and was thus
unable to endure the pam of removing the earth when

it first began to attach itself. On subsequently showing
the limb, and its accumulations, to my friend Mr.
Newton, it struck him, at once, as a singular confirma-
tion of Mr. Darwin's theory of the transportation of the
seeds of plants by adhesion to the beaks and feet of
birds, and, as such, he exhibited and described it at a
meeting of the Zoological Society, on the 21st day of
April, 1863, a notice of which, with a very accurate
3h

418 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

illustration was publislied in tlie " Proceedings" for
that year. Through, the kindness of Mr. P. L. Sclater,
the indefatigable secretary of the society, I am now
enabled to transfer to these pages the original woodcut,
and I am the more obliged for the opportunity of doing
so, since the specimen itself is no longer in existence.

The posthumous honours, however, to be paid to this
remnant of a '^ Frenchman" were not to end here. Mr.
Newton further requested permission to forward the
curiosity to Mr. Darwin, that eminent naturalist, in his
"Origin of Species" (pp. 362, 363), having cited an
instance in which he had '^ removed twenty- two grams
of dry argillaceous earth from one foot of a partridge,"
in which earth " there was a pebble quite as large as the
seed of a vetch ;" whilst the above mass of clay, as
remarked by Mr. Newton before the Zoological Society,
was ^'enormously greater than the quantity of earth
mentioned by Mr. Darwin, and sufficient to hold the
germs of a very extensive flora." How fully this suppo-
sition was borne out by subsequent investigation will be
seen by the following extract from Mr. Darwin's letter to
Mr. Newton (March 29th, 1864;, detailing the results
of his investigation : — " I have examined (he says) the
partridge's leg; the toes and tarsus were frightfully
diseased, enlarged, and indurated. There wiere no con-
centric layers in the ball of earth, but I cannot doubt
that it had become slowly aggregated, probably the
result of some viscid exudations from the wounded foot.
It is remarkable, considering that the ball is three years
old, that eighty-two plants have come up from it,
twelve being Monocotyledons and seventy Dicotyledons,
consisting of at least five different plants, perhaps many
more. The bird limping about during the autumn would
easily collect many seeds on the viscid surface. I am
extremely obliged to you for sending me this interesting
specimen."

EED-LEGGED PAETEIDGE. 419

I never remember to have seen more tlian one
partridge that exhibited the slightest indication of a
cross between the French and English, and in this case,
unfortunately, the bird had been kept too long for
preservation. This specimen was killed at Holverstone,
in October, 1850, by a relative of mine, an old sports-
man, who quite concurred in my opinion, and I find
the following entry respecting it in my note book at
the time : — " Feathers on the flanks and wing coverts,
the legs and part of the head decidedly French, the
breast, back, tail, and upper part of the head English."
M. Temminck refers to one instance of a hybrid between
these two species, and it is perhaps somewhat smgular
that such should not occur more frequently.'^ Mr.
Lubbock has recorded a singular hybrid killed at Mi'.

* In the "Ibis" for 1864 (p. 225) wiU be found a letter
from M. Leon Olph-Galliard with reference to a peculiar race of
partridges, not improbably of hybrid origin, termed Starna
palustris by Demeezemaker, a celebrated ornithologist, who has
examined, during the last fifteen years, some thirty examples, old
as well as young, killed in the neighbourhood of Bergues and
Dunkirk on the northern frontiers of France and Belgium, Two
other specimens have been also obtained in the market at Lyons
by M. Galliard, who thus describes the immature plumage : —
"Meme disposition de couleurs que dans la Starna cinerea (grey
partridge). Les taches longitudinales du bas du corps sont mieux
marquees et plus apparantes, attendu qu'elles sont d'un blanc assez
pur, et rehaussees de chaque cote par une teinte noire assez foncee.
Les teintes generales sont un gris-cendre, un peu bleuatre. Gorge
d'un blanc-terne. Eectrices au nombre de 16, et tirant au cafe au
lait sombre." The old birds which are described as exactly
resembling one another, as do also the young " out le jaune de la
tete et de la gorge com me la Perdi'ix ordinaire, ainsi que le fer
a cheval de la poitrine; mais les couleurs en sont tres-pales."
They are known to the sportsmen of the country as the marsh
partridge (Perdrix de ifnarais), but though found singly and in
small coveys, " U semblait qu'elles ne recherchaient pas les Perdrix
ordiuaircs, ou qu'elles en ^taient rebutes."
3 ii2

420 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Gurdon's, at Letton, in 1845, whicli was beKeved to
be bred between a red-legged partridge and a pbeasant.
Varieties are also occasionally met with, though by no
no means common. A male shot at Saxlingham, in
September, 1863, had part of the breast white. The
rest of the plumage as usual ; and Mr. Newcome, of
Feltwell, has one nearly white killed in that neigh-
bourhood in 1865.

PERDIX CINEREA, Latham.

COMMON PAETEIDGE.

If Norfolk owes its celebrity as an agricultural county
rather to an improved system of farming operations
than to the kindliness of its soil, it is unquestionably
indebted for unrivalled partridge shooting to its native
^^ sands and gravels" even more than to the extended
cultivation of land. As before stated. Sir Thomas
Browne, writing on the "Birds of Norfollic," remarks,
^' There be here great store of partridges," and
such, no doubt, had been the case from time
immemorial; for, though the range of this species is
co-extensive vdth the inroads of the plough, it is
doubtful if the race is even now so abundant as when
the "staple products of the county were rye and
rabbits.""^ Though generally dispersed on both heavy
and light lands, it is on the "blowing sands" of the

* Mr. C. S. Bead, M.P., in a recent paper on "IS'orfolk Agricul-
ture," in " Wliite's Grazetteer" (3rd ed.), speaking of the triumphs
effected by modern farming operations, says, " Less than a hundred
years ago Norfolk did not produce enough wheat to maintain its
scanty population. It appears that its staple products were rye
and rabbits ; the cultivation of wheat being entu'ely confined to
fertile lands to the east of the county, and the hea^'y soils to the
Bouth and interior of the county."

COMMON PARTRIDGE. 421

western and south-western districts that the grey-
pai-tridge is found in such enormous quantities. There,
if not kept within due bounds by the sportsmen, this
prohfic race would overrun everything, nor is it possible
to estimate the numbers reared in any favourable season
in localities so suited to their natural habits.* Dry
summers, as a rule, are most favourable to the young
broods, but a long continued drought, such as has
been experienced more or less during the last three
years, proves fatal to great numbers when otherwise
strong and healthy; and in the wide open districts,
where the nests are most exposed to their depredations,
the rooks, unable to procure their natural food, will
hunt out and destroy the eggs of partridges and
pheasants, as well as those of peevdts, Norfolk plover,
and the smaller ground-breeding birds. In the
eastern and more enclosed portions of the county,
however, where the "birds" are more affected by wet
seasons, and are easier of access at all times to the
sportsman, it is scarcely to be wondered at if a
greatly increased number of gunners, combined with
the modern style of shooting and the improvements
in fire-arms, should have told to some extent on their
numbers of late years. In this neighbourhood, at the
present time, from twenty to twenty-five brace in a
day is considered a good bag for two guns,t and yet I

* Mr. Alfred Newton, writing from Elveden, near Tlietford,
"On the possibility of taking an ornithological census" ("Ibis,"
1861, p. 190), observes — " After some reflection, I have come to the
conclusion that the grey-partridge in this particular district is the
most abundant species we have ;" and, startling as this assertion
appears at first sight, I feel quite inclined to concur with him, the
wildness of the district being unfavourable to the claims of the
sparrow, whilst protection is in every way afforded to the partridge.

f We have had no very remarkable partridge seasons since the
autumns of 1858 and 1859, when the amoxont reared throughout the

422 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

am credibly informed that in tlie same localities, some
thirty years ago, from forty to fifty brace a day were
not unfrequently killed.

The testimony of all practical ornithologists is
unquestionably in favour of the useful qualities of
the partridge ;* indeed, as Mr. St. John remarks,
''most if not all granivorous birds amply repay the
farmer for their food by the quantity of weeds they
destroy during a great part of the year. An exami-
nation of the crops and gizzards of many examples,
and at different seasons, has proved their chief suste-
nance to be grasses and their seeds, the leaves of
various noxious weeds, insects, and even mosses,
but although most plentiful in cultivated districts and
extending their range with an increased breadth of corn
land, the cereal crops in summer and early autumn are
sought rather as a shelter for themselves and nestlings
than for the attractions of the soft grain. As soon,

county was almost unprecedented in modern times. In the former
year, within four miles of Norwich, two good shots killed forty-
six brace of birds, in one day, out of two fields of turnips of not
more than forty acres in extent and the adjoining stubbles.

* Thompson, in his "Birds of Ireland," quotes the following
passage from J. Burn Murdock's " Observations on the game and
game laws" with reference to this species : — " I do not behave they
even pull a single ear of corn from the stalk ; it is only after the
stubbles are cleared of the crop that they even feed upon grain at
all. In summer, insects and seeds of grasses, and in winter the
leaves of weeds and coarse grasses from below the hedges, consti-
tute their food; in the latter season they become upon such
nutriment exceedingly fat. During the continuance of a severe
frost, and when the ground has been covered to a considerable
depth by snow, I have repeatedly examined the crops both of
partridges and pheasants, and found them filled with the leaves of
grasses which grow by the edges of springs and water-rills that
have not been frozen ; and the birds on such occasions were in fact
fatter than at any other season of the year."

COMMON PAETHIDGE. 423

however, as the harvest is over, the partridge becomes
a gleaner in the stubbles ; and in hard weather, and
more particularly when the ground is covered with snow,
frequents the vicinity of the farmer's corn stacks, or
readily avails itself of any grain purposely scattered
for its use. Yet, even at such times, as shown by
Mr. Murdock's statement, it is by no means dependent
only on grain for support, but still seeks its favourite
green food by the side of springs and open watercourses,
and even in the longest and most severe winters
appears to suffer less privation than almost any other
species, and is then more than ever wary and difficult of
approach by the sportsman.

It is the custom, I know, with certain writers to run
down both the style of shooting ado]3ted and the large
bags obtained in Norfolk and Suffolk, but whilst in the
first instance no allowance is made for those agricul-
tural changes which have compelled the sportsman to
alter his tactics, in the latter case a superabundance of
game admits of a very large amount of sport, without
subjecting local partridge shots to the charge of excess.'^

* In these remarks I do not, of course, include exceptional cases
on some of our large estates where, for any special pm'pose such
as the decision of a wager, an almost incredible number of bii^ds
have been killed to a single gun. Of such days the Sporting
Journals supply many records, all tending to show the marvellously
prohfic nature of the partridge in Norfolk. On the 7th of October,
1797, the late Earl of Leicester, within an area of one mile on his
manor at Warham, bagged forty brace in eight hours, at ninety-
three shots, each bu'd killed singly ; and on the same ground the
day previously he killed twenty-two brace and a-half in three
hours. Mr. William Coke in his celebrated match with Lord
Kennedy, the former shooting in Norfolk and the latter in Scot-
land, on the same days in September and October, and in the same
season, bagged in the first day eighty and a-half brace on the
Wighton and Egmere manors, and on the second day eighty-seven
and a-half brace ; his opponent killing fifty and eighty-two brace,
at Montreath, on the same days respectively. [YarreU, Brit. Bds.,

424 BIRDS OP NORFOLK.

I had tlie good fortune to make my dehut as a sports-
mian in one of the midland counties, where, at that
time, the improvements in modern husbandry were
unknown. Well do I remember the tall reaped stubbles,
where the birds laid closer than in turnips now-a-
days ; how beautifully the dogs worked, and how
easy it seemed to an old hand to kill double shots
to a steady point. Many a weary and fruitless round
was saved by the ^^ quarterings" of the staunch old
pointer ; and when at leng-th, arrested by the " tainted
gale," his stiffening limbs bespoke "attention," his
attitude as plainly showed the exact position of the
game. In the turnips, also, the ^'broadcast" system
rendered flight more easy to the birds than running,
and with no red-legs to teach them vagrant habits, the
coveys laid well to a steady "point." Then, to crown
all as a paradise to sportsmen of the old school, there
were plenty of little "spinnies" at the corners of the
fields and thick double hedgerows so prodigal of space
that, but for the almost impenetrable undergrowth, a
donkey and cart might have been driven easily between
the fences. Woe to the unlucky covey marked down
in such strongholds, with a cool shot on either side
and a dog well up to his work.

That those who were accustomed in the " good
old days" to kill partridges after this fashion, more

vol. ii., 2nd ed., p. 376.] Of more recent and similar exploits,
I may also mention, on good authority, tliat the present Earl of
Leicester in a match with his brother, the Hon. E. Coke, killed
one hundred and thirty-seven brace, in one day, at Warham, and
the latter one hundred and one, on an adjoining farm. His lord-
ship has also killed in a short day at Egmere, one himdi-ed and
three brace to his own gun. In September, 1858, ten or twelve
guns divided into two parties on portions of the Holkham estate,
also shot the extraordinary number of four hundi'ed and fourteen
brace in two days.

COMMON PARTRIDGE. 425

especially since the cliief enjoyment at tliat time con-
sisted in watching and profiting by the sagacity of the
dogs, should regard the present system with but little
favour is natural enough; but why sneer at the taste
of younger men who have adopted from necessity, and
not from choice, the shooting en hattue of the last
twenty years? What sport, I would ask, with even
the best trained dogs, would be afforded now on our
closely mown stubbles ; or beyond a few " points" here
and there in a large field of turnips, what chance of a
bag when the birds, once alarmed, commence running
in all directions along the open drills ? There is but
little harbour in our highly cultivated lands, and the
trimmed fences, in many places, afford scarcely shelter
enough for a wounded bird. The " four-course" system
also, though a fine institution for farming purposes,
often puts the sportman to much difficulty, his success
depending greatly on the position of the crops ; a very
common answer to enquiries on any partridge farm, at
the commencement of the season, being " we have plenty
of birds but the turnips lie so awkward this year."
Under these cu'cumstances, then, the gunners have but
little chance of sport except by walking in line with
the beaters, and unquestionably there is no comparison
between the difficulty of such shooting and that under
the old system, as the birds rise unexpectedly and at
uncertain distances. By this method, now universally
adopted both in the enclosed and more exposed portions
of the county, very fine shooting is obtained on the wide
open heath-lands in the western and south-western
districts, when the birds, bred on the adjacent corn
lands, are either found basking on the outskirts, or are
driven on from the neighbouring stubbles. The guns
and beaters, advancing in line, drive the game forward
into the nearest coverts, and here and there, though
often at long intervals, thick belts of gorse and broom
3i

426 BIEDS OF NORFOLK.

offer a fatal shelter to the birds, and a hot fusillade
and a rapid addition to the bag repay the toil of the
sportsman. Later in the season, however, when the
birds become *^ packed," as it is termed (large coveys
consorting together for mutual safety), the "driving"
system, before referred to, is now commonly adopted
for both English and French birds. This is certainly
the perfection of sport for those possessed of the
necessary quickness and skill ; but to the uninitiated, at
least, it is nervous work, standing under shelter of a
fence or a lift of hurdles drawn with gorse, and peering
anxiously through the prickly screen to watch the
motions of the driving party. Coveys and single birds
are marked down at different points, and presently the
beaters, spreading out in line, are coming on. Now is
the time ! never mind that noisy heart of yours, that
will thump, thump, like an eight-day clock. Keep your
eyes open, grip your gun-stock tight. Whish ! Here they
come. Bang ! bang ! And the birds, killed high in the
air, fall dead some thirty yards behind the gunners. An
old hand, perhaps, bags his brace, though coming at
heaven knows what an hour ; for the pace of a partridge
thus flushed at a distance is something extraordinary.
Ask the novice, for instance, after such a flight, if
he got a shot that time ? " Shot ! What at ? I heard
you fire, and something came with a whish ! past my
head, but it was gone before I turned round." Yet
this style of shooting, which to sportsmen of the old
school would have appeared an impossibility, is now
accomplished with such certainty by the crack shots
of the day, that at Beechamwell, near Swaffham,
towards the close of the past season, a party of
guns killed four hundred partridges, in one day, by
^^ driving" only.

It is by no means an unusual circumstance for
partridges when flushed in the vicinity of the telegraph

COMMON PARTRIDGE. 427

wires to fly against them in their liead-long course.
At Larling, where the International Telegraph crosses
an extensive heath, preserved for sporting purposes, I
have known as many as six or eight birds thus killed
in one day when driven forward by the beaters ;* and
Mr. Alfred Newton informs me that when shooting at
Elden, near Thetford, he has seen five birds killed out
of a covey in the same way. They are also occasionally
found dead under the wires on foggy mornings, but this
more particularly in places where the wires have but
recently been introduced.

Having referred to the supposed migratory habits
of the French partridge I may here state that, in the
"Zoologist" for 1848 (p. 1965), Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher have noticed the occurrence, in two instances,
during the autumn of that year, of small coveys of
English birds amongst the boats on Yarmouth beach,
and even in the town ; from which they infer an occa-
sional migration of the grey-partridge as well, quoting
Tarrell's remarks in favour of this opinion to the effect
that *^ though stationary all the year in central Europe,
this bird is said to be migratory in the countries that
are at the limits of its geographical range, thus M.
Malherbe, in his Fauna of Sicily, says it visits that
island every spring and autumn, when on its passage
from North Africa to Italy and back." Whether or not
small flights of these birds ever reach our coast from
more northern localitiesf I have no present means

* In the " Zoologist" for 1865 (p. 9467), a very curious instance
is recorded of a covey of six or seven partridges striking the roof
of a house when covered with snow, by which four were killed, and
the rest more or less injui'ed.

t The grey-partridge, found only in the southern parts of
Norway until the last few years, and even in 1851 unknown
further north than the latitude of Christiania (" Zoologist," 1851,
p. 3044), is now, as Mr. Newton informs me, rapidly extending its
area under the influence of increased cultivation.
3i2

428 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

of deciding, but I cannot consider the above instances
as any proof of a migratory movement, since, occurring,
as recorded, during September or October, the appear-
ance of partridges on the beacli under such circumstances
is, as I have before stated, easily accounted for. At
that season, if shot at in the vicinity of the coast, they
will occasionally, as is well known, fly direct out to
sea, and consequently return again to the shore in an
exhausted condition.

Some of my readers will probably remember amongst
the attractions at the Sydenham Crystal Palace in 1866,
a covey of thirteen grey-partridges, which enjoyed the
run of a commodious and well-constructed aviary in the
centre of the building. These birds (together with a
tame snipe in an adjoining cage) were of Norfolk origin,
having been presented by Mr. J. S. C. Stevens, of the
Manor House, Old Buckenham, and certainly in both
plumage and condition did credit to their native county.
Being liberally supplied with sand for the purpose, these
birds might be seen '^ busking" at all times of the day,
and exhibiting other traits which but rarely come under
the notice of even the naturalist or sportman. Occa-
sionally, also, the shrill call-note of the species seemed
to transport one far away from that busy scene, as some
member of the covey, with outstretched neck, gave forth
its well known cry.

Pied varieties are not unfrequently met with, and
some few years ago, during three or four successive
seasons, several beautiful specimens were shot on Colonel
Petre's estate, at Westwick, most exquisitely pencilled
with light-grey and delicate buff-coloured tints.

COMMON QUAIL. 429

COTURNIX VULGARIS, Fleming.
COMMON QUAIL.

Sir Thomas Browne alludes to there being " no small
number of Quails" in Norfolk in liis time, but although
still reckoned amongst our regular summer visitants, all
local authors, since the commencement of the present
century, agree as to the marked diminution in the numbers
of this species of late years. This change in its habits^
however, to whatever cause attributable, is by no means
peculiar to our own county, having been noticed by
Montagu, Selby, Jardine, Yarrell, and most other
British ornithologists, as observable throughout its
entire range in this country. Mr. A. G. More, who
has lately devoted much time and labour to ascertaining
the distribution, at the present day, of such species as
nest in Great Britain,'^ describes the quail as ^^ thinly
scattered during the breeding season from the south of
England to the North of Scotland, yet there are few
counties in which the quail is considered to breed
annually ; nor can these be grouped in any manner so as
to show where the species is most numerous. It has
certainly decreased of late years in several districts, and
this apparently not owing to any cause that can be
discovered. In the west of Ireland the same diminution
has been noticed, -h- -^ ^ jf there is any difference,
the range of the quail seems to incline rather to the east
side of Great Britain as well as of Ireland during the
breeding season."

As long since as 1826, Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear
thus mention the scarcity of quails both in Norfolk and
Suffolk, as compared with earher periods of which they

* " On the distribution of Birds in Great Britain during the
nesting season," by A. G. More, F.L.S. " Ibis," 1865.

430 BIRDS OP NOKFOLK.

had information : — " This species used formerly to be
very common in the neighbourhood of Diss. It is now
become scarce, but still occasionally breeds in that part
of the county; and not long since two quails' nests
were found by some workmen mowing clover. In one
of them there were seventeen eggs; in the other
twelve. We have also received its eggs from the
neighbourhood of Hunstanton, in Norfolk. These
birds are also become scarce in those parts of
Suffolk where they formerly abounded." Mr. Lubbock,
in 1845, says ("Fauna of Norfolk") :— "The quail has
become very scarce of late years. Formerly it was
common in the immediate vicinity of this city : often
found at Earlham, Thorpe, Plumstead, and other neigh-
bouring places. * -J^- ■5«- I have not seen one in flight
for many years." In the following year, also, Messrs.
Gurney and Fisher, in their " Birds of Norfolk,"
though including it amongst our regular summer
visitants, remark, that "its numbers are very limited,
and it is very local in its habits, showing a decided
preference to sandy soils. It was formerly a far more
numerous species in Norfolk than at present ; so much
so, that fifty years ago it was not uncommon for a
sportsman to kill on light lands, early in the month of
September, three or four brace of these birds in a day."
At present, although single nests are found from time
to time in almost all parts of the county, the great
stronghold of this species in Norfolk, during the summer
months, is in the rough fens of the south-western
district, in the neighbourhood of Feltwell, where, as
my friend Mr. Newcome informed me in 1860, he had
found them so plentiful that from ten to twelve couple
might be shot in a day; but he had only recently
discovered that they frequented those parts in such
large numbers. The birds are of course very difficult to
^'^get up" in such thick cover, and the nests are also

COMMON QUAIL. 431

hard to find, but Mr. Newcome has eggs brought to him
nearly every year from the same locahty.

With regard to this local abundance of a species,
elsewhere diminished very considerably in numbers, it is
well worthy of note that, as I learn from Mr. Alfred
Newton, the influx of quails to this particular locality
occurred subsequently to the drainage of the fen-lands
in that district, and thus the artificial change in the
nature of the soil, which expelled so many former
denizens of the swamp, would seem in its partially
reclaimed condition to have had unusual attractions for
this particular species. May we not find, in this one
fact, some clue to the cause of their scarcity of late
years both in this and other counties ? In Ireland, Mr.
Thompson describes them as most frequently flushed
by the sportsman " when walking across stubble fields
direct from one bog to another in pursuit of snipe ; and
Mr. Knox (" Birds of Sussex"), from personal experience
in the same country, speaks of them as "partial to
backward oat-stubbles on poor swampy soils, just verging
on the borders of the great red bogs," from which it is
evident that although partial to the vicinity of moist
grounds, a far drier soil is necessary to their existence,
with such shelter as would be afibrded by reaped stubbles,
or thick rushy spots on the borders of cultivation. Now,
it is just this particular condition of things which has
ceased almost entirely to exist in Norfolk. From the
time, as Mr. Lubbock has well observed, that "the
extravagant prices caused by continual war excited a
general eagerness to enclose all available land," the
rough grounds bordering upon the actual swamps have
been most readily adapted to agricultural purposes,
whilst clean short stubbles are the rule and not the ex-
ception under the modern system of farming operations."^

* Mr. Thompson (Birds of Ii'elaud, vol. ii., p. 69) remarking
(1850) on the increase of the quail in Ii'eland owing, as he believed,

432 BIRDS OP NOEFOLK.

It is thus then, I believe, that local changes, the
commencement of which was contemporaneous with
the earliest records of the diminution of quails in this
country, may be considered as having had no little
influence in rendering them so scarce as a summer
resident. At the same time it is quite possible that
the numbers annually visiting our shores from the
continent may have also diminished considerably of
late years ; and that, too, from causes which European
ornithologists would be better able to explain than
ourselves.

Of other localities, besides the Feltwell district, in
which the nests or young of this species have been
found during the last twenty years, I may mention the
following, as either recorded by Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher in the " Zoologist," or in other ways coming
under my own observation : —

1845. On the 15th of August a nest containing
eleven eggs, very recently laid, was taken in a grass field
near Yarmouth.

1848. On the 26th of August a female, with a
young one (quite small), was captured at Drayton, near
Norwich.

1851. On the 28th of August the Eev. E. W.
Dowell flushed a bevy of six or eight, on a farm at
Besthorpe, which had no doubt been bred in that
neighbourhood. They rose so close to him that he was
able to distinguish the cock bird.

1850 ? Mr. Knights, a bird-stufier in Norwich, in

to extended cultivation, also expresses bis surprise that under the
same conditions in England for the last half century, it should
have continued to decrease. This discrepancy, however, he accounts
for in the following terms : — " The slovenly system of farming,
unfortunately too common in Ireland, is, however, greatly in their
favour, as the seed of weeds amongst the stubbles supplies these
birds during winter, and at other seasons, with abundance of food."

COMMON QTJAIL. 433

the summer of this year, received a nest and eggs
from Little Ellingham ; and has had one since, but is
unable to remember the exact date or locality.

1861. A nest, mown out of the hay, was taken at
Northrepps, near Cromer. The eggs were subsequently
hatched under hens, but the young, unfortunately, were
destroyed by a weasel.

1862. A nest found in June, at Brampton, from
which two eggs in the museum collection were taken ."^

Many more instances have no doubt occurred during
the same period, either passing unnoticed or unre-
corded, but the above will at least show in what various
localities these birds are still met with, though scattered
here and there in detached couples.

The fi-equent occurrence of this species during the
winter months, although generally considered as a summer
visitant only, has been noticed of late years in this county
as much as in the more southern counties of England ;t

* In the adjoining part of Suffolk, Mr. A. Newton tells me that
he had eggs brought to him, taken in the parish of Barnham, in
1849 and 1854; and that in 1851 a nest with eleven eggs was
found at Elveden on the 25th of June. Some of these last were
put under a bantam hen, and the young birds hatched and
reared.

f Montagu, writing from the south of England, remarks, " In
October they leave us and return south, leaving some few (pro-
bably of a later brood) behind to brave the severity of our winter."
Pennant, however, in his " British Zoology" has the following
very remarkable note on this species, which he describes as
" birds of passage, some entirely quitting our island, others shifting
their quarters." He then states on the authority of a friend, that
" these birds migrate out of the neighbouring inland counties into
the hundreds of Essex in October, and continue there all the
winter ; if frost and snow drive them out of the stubble fields and
marshes they retreat to the seaside, shelter themselves among the
weeds, and live upon what they can pick up from the algce, &c.,
between high and low water. Our friend remarks that the time of
their appearance in Essex, coincides with that of their leaving the
3k

434 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

and some few of the latter hatched ones, I believe,
remain with us throughout the year. Mr. Newcome
considers that a portion of those reared at Feltwell are
to be met with at all seasons, and it is not improbable
that others, having dispersed during the autumn months,
are amongst those flushed from time to time by the
sportsmen, chiefly from the turnips, in the eastern and
more inclosed pa^rts of the county. In the winter of 1847,
as recorded by Messrs. Gurney and Fisher in the "Zoolo-
gist" (p. 1601), an unusual number of examples were
procured in various parts of the county during the month
of December ; amongst others, single birds being killed
at Reedham and Bawburgh, two near Norwich, and a
pair, male and female, near Loddon. In looking over
my own notes for the last sixteen years, I find records of
their appearance in every month of the year except May
and June (the height of the breeding season), but of these
by far the larger proportion were killed in October, as if
indicative of a migratory movement;* whilst the few
obtained in November, December, January, and February,
have occurred almost invariably during severe weather,
or just previous to some sudden change to frost or snow.f
These have been also, in almost all cases, either adult

inland counties; the same observation has been made in Hamp-
ehire." I know of no confirmation of this very interesting
statement in any subsequent author.

* On the 31st of October, 1862, a quail was taken alive in
Colonel Black's garden at Thorpe, near Norwich, in a very
exhausted state. This bird came into the hands of Mr. F. Norgate,
of Sparham, who kindly communicated the fact with several
valuable notes on other species.

f In Ireland, according to Thompson, the large number remain-
ing throughout the year, both in severe and mild winters, has led
to their being looked upon, for many years past, as an indigenous
rather than a migratory species, in some parts being considered
as common in winter as in summer.

COMMON QUAIL. 435

females or young birds of the year. Mr. Alfred Newton
informs me that his brother Edward, when shooting, on
the 18th of February, 1853, on the borders of the fen-
lands, the ground at the time bemg thickly covered with
snow, shot a couple of quails that rose quite close to
him; and on examining the spot from whence they
sprang was convinced, by their mutings and other
indications, that they had never stirred from the place
since the snow first began to fall, two or three days
before. On the following day another was observed
near the same place. Mr. L. H. Irby has also recorded,
in the "Zoologist" for 1853, the fact of a female,
which had been seen near some stacks for several
days, having been shot at Threxton, near Watton,
on the 1st of March, the snow being then quite
deep. To the localities previously mentioned, from
whence I have known these birds sent to Norwich for
preservation, I may add Plumstead, Cossey, Earlham,
Wymondham, Attleborough, Ketteringham, Horstead,
Eanworth, Wroxham, Toft Monks, Eainham, Cromer,
Salthouse, and Blakeney. At Morston, near Blakeney,
as Mr. Dowell informs me, a few couple were generally
killed every season, and the same gentleman has more
recently killed one at Langham, in October, 1852, and
another at Dunton, in November, 1858. The only
bird I ever saw on the wing in this county was
flushed from a turnip field at Earlham, on the 6th
of December, 1852, and though scarcely the season
for a " squeaker" partridge, I believe, but for its pecu-
liar cry, I should not have fired at it; as it chanced,
however, I made a long shot and bagged it. This proved
an adult female, and, oddly enough, by one of those
strange coincidences for which there is no accounting,
I had only a few minutes before (remembering Mr.
Lubbock's remark that they were formerly plentiful in
that neighbourhood) enquired of an old gamekeeper in
3k2

436 BIRDS OF NORFOLK.

Mr. Gurney's employ whether he had ever met with
this species about Earlham and Hellesdon, and his reply,
in the negative, was almost instantly followed by the
appearance of the bird itself.

I never remember to have noticed any particular
variation in the plumage of these birds, and was there-
fore more particularly struck with a specimen which
was killed on the borders of Household Heath, near
Norwich, in January of the present year. This bird,
which was at least one-third smaller than ordinary
examples, presented the same peculiarities as are said
to distinguish the small dark varieties of the common
partridge occasionally met with in heathery districts.
The whole of the ground colour of the plumage, com-
monly of a pale brownish yellow, was in this bird sooty
grey, particularly noticeable on the chin and throat ;
the usual light streaks, also, pervading the feathers of
the back and sides, forming two parallel lines on either
side of the shafts, were in this instance dark grey, and
the shafts of the feathers throughout, being pure white,
had the appearance of so many light hair lines standing
out in relief upon the dark back-ground.

Both Messrs. Gurney and Fisher and Mr. Lubbock
have included the Virginian Colin, Ortyx virginianus
(Linn.), amongst the birds of Norfolk, several pairs having
been turned off early in the present century at Holkham,
by the late Earl of Leicester, but these, although thriving
well in the first instance, and giving some promise of
becoming acclimatized, have long since died off, and I am
obliged, therefore, to omit this species from the present
^' List." Mr. Lubbock describes them as being of erratic
habits, scattering themselves about here and there, and
thus straying no doubt beyond the boundaries of the Holk-
ham estate, they were gradually killed off by persons
unaware of their history. The success which at first
attended the experiment is shown by the following extract

CALIFORNIAN QUAIL. 437

from a letter to Mr. Henry Denny,^ of tlie Philosophical
Hall at Leeds, from the late Rev. John Burrell, Rector of
Letheringsett, near Holt. After stating that two speci-
mens, killed in his neighbourhood, had recently come into
his possession, Mr. Burrell adds, "It is now (November
11th, 1825,) quite a colonized creature, and numerous
are the covies, which report says that the poachers
cannot destroy, its manners are so watchful and shy of
man." I may here state, however, that the supposed
nest of this species, " containing numerous white eggs,"
recorded by Yarrell and Hewitson, on the authority of
Mr. Lubbock, to have been found in a marsh at Barton,
and of which Mr. Salmon had sj)ecimens, did not belong
to this species, but were, as Mr. Newton informs me,
merely varieties of the eggs of the common partridge.
They were sold at first under the name of teal's eggs.
Mr. Henson, of Cambridge, is said to have possessed one
of these birds, killed at Holkham, and Mr. Thornhill,
of Riddlesworth, has also a pair obtained, soon after
they were turned off, in the same neighbourhood. A
pair or two of the Californian Quail, Lophortyx
californicus (Shaw), were also turned out a few years
back in the neighbourhood of Attleborough, but have
since died off or been shot down. A fine adult male,
with a perfect crest, was killed in a turnip field near that
town, in October, 1858.

* This letter, with a few introductory remarks, was published
by Mr. Denny in the 13th vol. of the " Annals and Magazine of Nat.
Hist." (1844).

END OF VOL. I.

INDEX.

A

Accentor alpinus, 90

„ modularis, 88
Accentor alpine, 90

„ hedge, 88
Accipiter nhus, 24
Agelaius phoeniceus, 244
Alauda aljtestris, 171

„ arborea, 179

„ arvensis, 175
Alcedo ispida, 314
Alpine Accentor, 90
Alpine Swift, 346
Ammer yellow, 196
American meadow Starling, 245
American mottled Owl, 44
Anthus arhoreus, 166

„ obscurus, 169

„ pratensis, 167

„ ricardi, 168

„ rupestris, 171
Aquila cJirysa'etus, 4
Archibufeo lagojms, 29
Ash-coloured Harrier, 35, 39
Astur jialumbarius, 23

B

Barbary Partridge, 405

Barn Owl, 51

Barr William, jun., hawking near

Norwich, 15
" Battue" shooting, defence of, in

moderation, 370
Bearded Titmouse, 150
Bee-eater, 313

Birdcatchers, practical knowledge of, 178
Birds — all do not pair in summer, 253

„ attracted in large numbers by
any accidental abundance of
food, 353

Birds — deformed beaks in, 11, 184,

239, 276
„ diflBeulty of distingnishiugcertaia

notes of, 126
„ hens assuming cock's plumage,

369
„ how to recognise by flight or

other actions, 129
„ imitating notes of others, 109,

128, 147
„ instrumental in transporting

seeds by means of their feet

and bills, 416
„ killed against telegraph wires,

11, 51, 54, 427
„ killed against light-houses, 11,

43, 135, 178, 198, 200, 251
„ large number of eggs laid by

some, 295
„ migration of, observed at sea, 93
„ migration of, arrested by strong

head winds, 137
„ perching on telegraph wires,

337, 342
„ plumage of, atfected by food

in confiuenient, 179, 224,

231, 234
„ plumage of continental examples

brighter than insular ones,

222, 234
„ protection of rare and orna-
mental species desirable, 73,

152, 233, 300, 315, 381,

403
„ remarkable instinct of some,

260, 262, 265
„ small, migration of, in large

numbers, 232, 281
„ trustworthy as weather-guides,

92
„ used for table, and prices of in

olden times, 361, 363

440

INDEX.

Birds — useful to farmers and gardeners,

23, 46, 52, 54, "79, 143,

196, 200, 206, 211, 233,

270, 272, 352, 422

„ varieties of — see Varieties

„ various notes of in each species,

124, 126
„ various temperaments of, in

confinement, 226
„ wholesale destruction of, depre-
cated, 143, 152, 196, 200,
210, 233
Blackbird, 83
Blackbird hawking 14
Blackcap, 125
Black-headed Bunting, 185
Black Grouse, 374
Black Redstart, 99
Black Woodpecker, great, 291
Blood Olf, 234
Blue-throated Warbler, 96
Blue Titmouse, 142
Bohemian Pheasant, var., 367

„ Waxwing, 154

BombyciUa garrulus, 154
Bi-ambling, 202

,, nesting in confinement, 204
Broads the, a summer's night on, 120

„ a summer's day on, 188

Brown Linnet, 227
Bubo maximus, 47
Bullfinch, 233

„ black variety of, in a wild

state, 234
„ pine or grosbeak, 234
Bunting black-headed, 185
„ cirl, 198
,, common, 184
„ laplaud, 181

ortolan (not Norf.), 199
„ snow, 182
„ yeUow, 196
Butcherbird or Shrike, 62
Buieo vulgaris, 27
Buzzard common, 27
,, rough-legged, 29
„ honey, 32

Californian Quail, 437
Calamophilus biarmicus, 150
Capercally, re-introduction of into

Scotland, 375
Cajmmulgiis europceus, 348
Carduelis elegans, 222

Carrion Crow, 258
Certhia famUlaris, 295
Chaffinch, 199
Chitfchaff, 133
Cinclus aquaticus, 68

„ melanog aster, 69
Circus cBrv.givosus, 35
,, cineraceus, 39
„ cy aliens, 37
Cirl Bunting, 198
Coal Titmouse, 146
Coccothraustes chloris, 218

,, vulgaris, 214

Coffin bird, 300
Colin Virginian, 436
Columba anas, 355
,, palumbus, 351
„ risoria, 360
,, turtur, 359
Common Buzzard, 27
Redstart, 98
„ Whitethroat, 128
„ Bunting, 184
Linnet, 227
Crossbill, 235
Starling, 247
„ Creeper, 295
Wren, 296
Swift, 343
Pheasant, 361
Partridge, 420
Coracias garrula, 3 1 0
Corvus comix, 260
„ cor ax, 256
„ cor one, 258
,. frugilegus, 264
,, monedula, 277
Coturnix vulgaris, 429
Coucou roux, 309
Creeper common or tree, 295
Crow carrion, 258

„ method of breaking the shells of

mussels, &c., 260
,, hooded, grey- backed, Danish, or
Royston, 260
Crossbill common, 235

„ European white-winged, 242
parrot, 239
Cuckoo, 303

„ laving in reed warbler's nests,

il7
„ singing by night, 121
„ titlarks and other small birds,
feeding young of, 167, 306
Ciiculus canorus, 303
„ hepaticus, 309

INDEX.

441

Curruca atricapilla, 125

„ cinerea, 128

,, hortensis, 126

„ sylviella, 129
Cypselns alpinus, 346

„ apus, 343

D

Danish Crow, 260

Dartfovd Warbler, 133

Dennis's, the late Rev. J. B. P. W.,

collection of birds, at Bury St.

Edmund's, 28
Devilin or Swift, 343
Dipper, 68

„ not destructive to fish, 71
Dove ring, or Woodpigeon, 351

„ rock, 358
Dove stock, 353, 355

„ tiu-tle, 359
Draw-water, 222
" Driving," new system of partridge

shooting by, 409, 426

E

Eagle golden (not known in Norfolk), 4

,, white-tailed or cinereous sea, 1

„ Owl, nesting in confinement, 47

Eggs, varieties in, more numerous in

some seasons than in others, 82
Emheriza cirlus, 198
„ citrineUa, 196
„ hortulana, 199
„ miliaria, 184
„ schsniclus, 185
Erythaca rtibecula, 90

Falco cesalon, 21

„ candicans, 7

,, gi/rfaico, 8

„ islandicus, 8

,, peregrinus, 9

,, rvfipes, 19

,, subbziteo, 18

,, tinmmculus, 21
Falcon Greenland, 7

„ great northern, three forms
of, 8

,, Iceland, 8

„ peregrine, 9

„ red-footed, 19
Falconry in Norfolk, 10, 12, 27
Fern owl, or Nightjar, 348

3l

Fieldfare, 75

Fire-crested Wren or Regnlus, 138

Fishing hawk, 5

Flycatcher pied, 66

,, spotted, 65

French Partridge, 404
„ perch in trees, 411
,, supposed migration of, 413
„ foot of, embedded in a lump of
earth, 416
Fringilla Calebs, 1.99

„ montifringilla, 202

Garden warbler, 126

Garruhis glandarius, 280

Goatsucker, or Nightjar, 348

Golden Oriole, 86

Golden-crested Wren, or Regulus, 1 34

Golden Eagle (not known in Norfolk), 4

Goldfinch, 222

„ cross with Canary (mnle), 223
Goshawk, 23
Grakle Minor, 255
Gracula religiosa, 255
Grasshopper warbler, 104
Greenland falcon, 7
Great black Woodpecker, 291
„ grey Shrike, 61
„ spotted Woodpecker, 288
,, Titmouse, 139
Greenfinch, or green Linnet, 218

„ cross with Canary (mule),

221
„ cross with brown Linnet,

220
Green Olf, 221
Green Woodpecker, 285
Grey Wagtail, 163
Grey-headed Wagtail, 164
Grey-backed Crow, 260
Grey Partridge, 420
„ Shrike, 61
„ Linnet, 227
Grosbeak, or Hawfinch, 214

,, green, or Greenfinch, 218

„ pine, or Bullfinch, 234

Grouse black, 374

„ red, not turned off in Norfolk,

376
„ Pallas's Sand, 376
Gyrfalcon, 8

H

Haliceetus albicilla, 1
Harrier ash-coloured, 35, 89

442

INDEX.

Harrier hen, 37
„ marsh, 35
„ moutagu's, 39
Hawfinch, 214
Hawkiug, sport of, 12, 27
Hedge Sparrow, or Accentor, 88
Hen Harrier, 37
Hirundo riparia, 338
„ rustica, 324
urUca, 328
Hirundines and CypselidcB, effects of
cold on, 345
„ diminution in numbers of,

and probable cause, 338
Hobby, 18, 25

„ laying in the nest of the raven,

257
„ orange-legged, 20
„ pairing with Sparrow Hawk, 25
Honey Buzzard, 32
Hooded Crow, 260
Hoopoe, 298
House Martin, 328

„ Sparrow, 209
Household Book, the L'Estrange's,
extracts from, 16, 84, 213, 357, 362
Hunstanton Hall, ancient hawking

establishment at, 16
Hybrid's Greenfinch and Linnet, 220
„ French and English Partridge,

419
„ Hobby and Sparrow Hawk, 26
„ Pheasants, 365
„ Pheasant and Black Grouse,

868
„ Pheasant and Barn-door Fowl,

368
„ Pheasant and Red-legged

Partridge, 420
„ wild and domestic Turtle
Dove, 360

I

Iceland Falcon, 8
Jackdaw, 277
Jay, 280

K

Kestrel, 21

„ laving in the nest of the raven,
257
Kingfisher, 314
King Harry, black cap, 224
„ red cap, 224

Kite, 26
„ artificial, used iu partridge
shooting, 409

Lanius colluiio, 62

„ excubitor, 61

,, rutilus, 64
Laplaud Bunting, 181
Lark shore, 171
„ sky, 175
„ wood, 179
Lesser Redpole, 230

„ White-throat, 129

„ spotted Woodpecker, 293
L'Estrange's, extracts from Household
Book of the, 16, 84, 213, 357, 362
Linnet common brown or grey, 227

„ summer plumage of, not re-
assumed iu confinement, 227
Little Owl, 59
Linota canescens, 228

„ cannabina, 227

„ linaria, 230

„ montium, 231
Lombe's, the late Mr. Edward, collec-
tion of birds at Wymondham, 20, 111
Long-eared Owl, 44

„ long-tailed Titmouse, 148

Lophortix calif ornicus, 437
Loxia bifasciata, 242

„ curvirostra, 235

„ pityopsittaciis, 239

M

Magpie, 280
Marsh Harrier, 35

Marsh scenery, beauties of, in summer,
118, 187
„ Titmouse, 147
Martin house, 328

„ sand, 338
Meadow Pipit, 167
Mealy Redpole, 228
Melanite varieties, 41, 234
Melizophilus dartfordiensis, 133
Mergauzer red-breasted, female assuming

male's plumage, 369
Merlin, 21

„ trained for hawking, 14
Merops ajiiaster, 313
Miller's, the late Mr. Steven, collection

of birds at Yarmouth, 60
Milvus ictinus, 26
Minor Grakle, 255

IKDEX.

Missel Thrush, 74
Montagu's Harrier, 39

„ melanite varieties of, 41

Motacilla boarula, 163
,, flava, 164
,, ro-yi, 165

,, yarrelli, 160
iliiscicajia atricapilla, 66

,, grisola, 65
Mules — cross-bred birds so called,
221, 223, 360
„ ditto, as applied to hens in

cocks' pliunage, 369

N

Nests, singularly constructed, or in
straneie localities, 56, 65, 81, 82,
84, 117, 140, 145, 219, 269, 296,
297, 302, 326, 407

Nightingale, 123

Nightjar, 348

Noctua passeri7ia, 59
„ tengmalmi, 60

Nucifraca caryocatactes, 281

Nutcracker, 281

Nuthatch, 301

0

Olf blood, 234

„ green, 221
Orange-legged Hobby, 20
Oriole golden, 86
Oriolus galbida, 86
Ortolan Bunting (not Norfolk), 199
Ortyx vircfinianus, 436
Osprey, 5
Otus brachyotiis, 50

„ vulgaris, 44
Ouzel ring, 84
Owl American mottled, 44

„ bam, 51

„ eagle, 47

„ little, 59

„ long-eared, 44

., scop's-eared, 42

„ short-eared, 50

„ snowy, 57

„ tawny, 54

„ tengmalm's, 60
Owls, catching fish, 53, 56

„ useful to farmers, 46, 52, 54

„ nesting in confinement, 47, 59

Pallas's Sand Grouse, 376

3l2

Pandion halicBetus, 5
Parrot crossbill, 239
Partridge, Barbary, 405

„ common or grey, 420

„ large " bags" of, made in

Norfolk, 423
„ red-legged or French, 404

„ shooting, old and new style

compared, 424
Parus ater, 146
„ caudatus, 148
„ ccBruleus, 142
„ major, 139
„ palustris, 147
Passer montanus, 206
,. domesticus, 209
Pastor rose us, 253
Pastor rose-coloured, 253
Pel John, the falconer, 14
Penrice's, the late Rev. C, collection

of birds, at Plumstead, 311
Perdix cinerea, 420
„ petrosa, 405
,, rufa, 404
Perdrix de marais, 419
Peregrine Falcon, 9

„ hawking with, 13
Pernis apivorus, 32
Phasianus colchicus, 361
,, torquatus, 365
,, versicolor, 365
Pheasant Bohemian, var., 367
„ common, 361
„ „ cross with Black

Grouse, 375
„ „ ditto with Barn door

Fowls, 368
„ „ ditto with ringnecked

Chinese, 365
„ „ ditto with Japanese,

365
„ shooting, the " battue," 370
Pkoenicura rziticilla, 98
„ suecica, 96

tithys, 99
Philomela luscinia, 123
Pica caudata, 280
Picus major, 288
„ martius, 291
,. minor, 293
,, vindis, 285
Pickcheese, 142
Pied Flycatcher, 66

„ Wagtail, 160
Pigeons, wonderful powers of flight of,
359

444

INDEX.

Pigeons breeding in church towers in

a half-wild state, 338
Pine Grosbeak, 234
Pipit meadow, 167
„ richard's, 168
„ rock, 169
,, tree, 166
Plectrophanes lapponica, 181

,, nivalis, 182

Tyrrhula enucleator, 234
„ vulgaris, 233

Q

Quail common, 429
„ californica, 437

R

Raptores migratoi-y; probable cause of
the young predominating, 1, 2
„ ditto, predominance of adult
females over males, 9, 21,
24
Raven, 256
Reed Pheasant, 1 53
„ warbler, 115
Red-backed Shrike, 62
Redbreast, 90
Red-footed Falcon, 1 9
Red-legged Partridge, 404
Redpole lesser, 230

„ summer plumage of, not re-
assumed in confinement, 231
mealy, 228
„ ditto, nesting in confinement,
229
Redstart black, 99
„ common, 98
,, female in male's plumage, 370
Redwing, 82

Red-wiuged Starling, 244
Regulus cristatus, 134
„ fire- crested, 138
„ golden-crested, 134
,, iffnicapillus, 138
Richard's Pipit, 168
Ring-dove, 351
„ ouzel, 84
Rock Dove, 358
Rock Pipit, 169
RoUer, 310
Rook, 264

Rose-coloured Pastor, 253
Rough-legged Buzzard, 29
Royston Crow, 260

Salicaria locustella, 104
„ luscinioides, 1 10
,, phragmitis, 108
,, strepera, 115
Sand Grouse, Pallas's, 376
Sand Martin, 338
Savi's wai'bler, 110
Saxicola aiianthe, 102
„ rubetra, 101
,, rubicola, 100
ScojJS aldrovandi, 42

,, asio, 44
Scop's eared Owl, 42
Sea Eagle, 1
Sedge warbler, 108
Short-eared Owl, 50
Shore Lark, 171
Shrike great grey, 61
„ red-backed, 62
,, woodchat, 64
Siskin, 224

„ breeding in confinement, 225
„ cross with canary (mule), 223
Sitta europcea, 301

„ ccesia, 301
Skylark, 175

„ " flown at" with merlins, 14
Snow Buntiug, 182
Snowy Owl, 57

Snow, first fall of in winter, 75
Song Thrush, 78
Sparrow hedge, 88
house, 209
„ „ takes possession of other

birds' nests, 249, 330,
340
tree, 206
Sparrow Hawk, 24

,, pairing with Hobby, 25
,, trained for hawking, 14
Spink or Chaffinch, 199
Spotted Flycatcher, 65

„ Woodpecker great, 288
„ Woodpecker lesser, 293
Starling American meadow, 245
,, common, 247
„ red-winged, 244
Starna cinerea, 419

,, palustris, 419
Stonechat, 100
Stock Dove, 353, 355
Strix jlammea, 51
Sturnus vulgaris, 247
Surlingham Broad, description of, 120,
188

INDEX.

445

Surnia nyctea, 57
Sylvia hypolais, 133

„ rufa, 133

,, sylvicola, 130

„ trochilus, 132
Syrnium striduhnn, 54
Syrrhaj)tes paradoxus, 376
Swallow, 324

„ eifect of cold late springs on,
345
Swift alpine, 346

„ common, 343

„ effect of cold on, 346

Tawny Owl, 54

Telegraph wires destructive to birds,

11, 5], 53, 427
Tengmalm's Owl, 60
Tetrao tetrix, 374
Thrush missel, 74

„ song, 78
Titlark, 167
Titmouse bearded, 150
blue, 142
„ coal, 146
„ great, 139
„ long-tailed, 148
„ marsh, 147
Tree Creeper, 295
„ Pipit, 166
„ Sparrow, 206
Troglodytes vulgaris, 296
Tardus iliacus, 82
„ merula, 83
„ musicus, 78
„ pilaris, 75
„ torquatus, 84
„ viscivortts, 74
Turtle Dove, 359

„ hybrid, 360
Twite, 231

U

Uptipa epops, 298

V

Varieties, 26, 41, 47, 53, 75, 77, 82,
83, 84, 90, 103, 133, 146, 179,
184, 186, 198, 201, 206, 214, 221,
228, 229, 234, 253, 277, 279, 286,

296, 297, 302, 342, 349, 367, 420,
428, 436
Virginian Colin, 436

W

Wagtail grey, 163

„ grey-headed, 164
„ pied, 160
„ yeUow, 165
Warbler blackcap, 125
,, blue-throated, 96

dartford, 133
„ garden, 126
„ grasshopper, 104
„ reed, 115
,, savi's, 110
„ sedge, 108

willow, 132
„ wood, 130
Waxwing, 154
Wheatear, 102
Whinchat, 101
White-tailed Eagle, 1
White-throat common, 128

„ lesser, 129

White-winged Crossbill (European),

242
Willow warbler, 133
Wind-hover, or Kestrel, 21
WoUey's, the late Mr. John, donation
to the Norwich Museum, 30,
156
„ discovery of the nidification of
the Waxwing, 156
Wood warbler, 1 30
Woodchat Shrike, 64
Woodlark, 179
Woodpecker great black, 291
„ great spotted, 288

„ green, 285

„ lesser spotted, 293

Woodpigeon, 351
Wren common, 296
„ fire-crested, 138
„ golden- crested, 134
Wryneck, 294

Yellow ammer, or Bunting, 196
Yellow Wagtail, 165
Yunz torquilla, 294

NOitwrcH:

MATCHKTT AND STEVENSON, PRINTERS,
MARKET PLACE.

AMNH LIBRARY

100105119