1902 Winter on the Norfolk Broads 49 



plumes by the wintry weather of the past few weeks ; the 

 remaining stalks are dried to a much paler brown than they 

 were a week ago. The sea in the distance has " lost the 

 wind," and the moaning it makes in consequence is con- 

 veyed to our ears by the whisper which remains of yester- 

 day's north-easter. A score or more of boats, and men 

 ready to shove them, mostly clad in guernsey and crotch 

 boots, line the bank — for to-day is the annual coot-shoot. 

 Not half the invited gunners turn up, thinking, no doubt, 

 that it will be impossible to get at the birds which are now 

 congregated in a large *' wake " or open piece of water at 

 the farther end of the broad, which, however, is not con- 

 nected with either of the arms of the still unfrozen Y-shaped 

 channel which spans the broad. Those shooters who have 

 arrived are not keen to return home without having killed 

 something ; the boatmen, too, are all anxious to earn a trifle, 

 for the cold snap has stopped their usual marsh-work. Con- 

 sequently the ever-obliging keeper, Alfred Nudd, volunteers, 

 with his copper-nosed punt and trusty quant, to break a 

 roadway for us into the channel. This, of course, takes 

 time, but eventually the boats, ten in number, are able to 

 slowly follow him in single file. They distribute themselves 

 at about equal distances apart in the roadway, channel, and 

 open patches of water communicating therewith, whilst 

 Nudd shoves on ahead to put up the coots. On this 

 occasion only about 150 are slain, and after lunch we give 

 up the pursuit. In spite of the bright sunshine which pre- 

 vails, so intense is the frost that two or three birds which 

 have fallen on the ice and been lying there for about half an 

 hour are frozen stiff when picked up, a thing which had I 

 not seen I should scarcely have believed possible. 



A few words now concerning the coots on Hickling Broad, 

 their manners, and the method of shooting them. Hickling, 

 besides being the largest of all the broads, and, with the 

 exceptions of Horsey and Somerton, the nearest to the sea, 

 is also, in spite of its shallowness, the last to become frost- 

 bound. Hence in severe frost the coots from all the neigh- 

 bouring smaller broads assemble before the accumulating 

 ice compels them to resort en masse to Breydon mudflats 

 and the sea. It is very interesting to notice how tenaciously 



VOL. I. — NO. I. D 



