448 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



The Redcar fishermen and professional fowlers at that 

 period were in the habit of stationing themselves on the 

 sand-hills between the marshes and the sea to await the Ducks 

 as they flew to and from the Decoy at evening and morning 

 flight, and in stormy weather, when the birds were reluctant 

 to leave the sanctuary of the pool, one of the gunners fired 

 a marble into the Decoy in order to flush the birds and induce 

 them to fly. The shooters in the other parts of the Tees 

 estuary adopted the plan of concealing themselves in tubs 

 sunk in the " slems," from which points of vantage they could 

 carry on warfare against the wily fowl. 



An illustration is here given, reproduced from a water- 

 colour drawing painted by order of Mr. Vansittart in 1850, 

 shewing the Decoyman, Faith, in the act of taking the Ducks 

 out of the tunnel net. In the year 1872 the erection of blast 

 furnaces within a few hundred yards of the pool effectually 

 destroyed the utility of the Coatham Decoy, which from that 

 time fell into disuse. I have frequently visited the site 

 when all that remained to indicate the previous condition 

 were a few stunted trees and bushes, the relics of the shrubbery 

 that sheltered the pool from the north, and stumps of posts 

 to which the hoops spanning the pipes had been fixed. Even 

 these have now disappeared and the pipes are scarcely dis- 

 cernible. 



On the summit of Yearby Bank, four miles south of Redcar, 

 and one mile from Kirkleatham, also on Mr. Newcomen's 

 estate, is a marshy pond, almost grown up with vegetation, 

 and surrounded by trees, called the Old Decoy, but no records 

 exist as to its origin, or whether it was ever in actual operation. 



Of the two Decoys now in use one is at Hornby Castle, 

 and the other at Thirkleby Park. 



Hornby. — In the park at Hornby Castle, five miles 

 north-west of Bedale, are two Decoy Ponds, one disused, and 

 the other, until 1885, the only example of a Decoy in use 

 in the county. The original Decoy was constructed for the 

 seventh Duke of Leeds, in 1854. ^^ is seven acres in extent, 

 and has the remains of four pipes. In 1882, the present 

 Duke moved the materials of the pipes from the old Decoy 



