520 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



antiquarian^ than of the pure ornithologist. That it will be 

 read by many of the latter, and deserves to be read by all, 

 there can be no doubt ; and if those whose means allow of 

 their keeping up decoys without a view to profit will avail 

 themselves of the practical experiences of one w4io is both 

 sportsman and ornithologist, considerable advantage may 

 accrue to our favourite branch of science. Even from the 

 present volume, devoid of all pretension in this respect, there 

 is a good deal to be leai'nt respecting the various Ducks 

 w^hich frequent or are absent from certain localities ; and the 

 details of the way in which some species have replaced others 

 is interesting and instructive. For instance, at the Hale 

 Decoy in Lancashire, Mallard predominated from 1801 to 

 1875 ; but in the latter year Teal suddenly ajipeared in large 

 numbers, and the result of this " lead " of fowl has been that 

 numbers of foreign-bred Teal now resort to this favourable 

 locality, replacing the Mallard, wdiose bieeding-haunts in the 

 " moss-lands " of the county are decreasing through drainage. 

 It will be an agreeable surprise to many of our readers to 

 learn that even at the present time, in spite of cultivation, 

 drainage, railways, and trespassers under the Ground Game 

 Act, there are still upwards of forty decoys in working order 

 in England and Ireland, while there are many disused ones 

 which could easily be re-established. We by no means share 

 the gloomy and desponding views expressed by the reviewer 

 of this work in the ' Athenaeum ' ; and even if the majority 

 of decoys can no longer be worked so as to produce an 

 ample livelihood, they can surely be so managed as to afford a 

 good deal of pleasure, with little, if any loss. The sea-boai'd 

 counties of Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex are, from 

 their position, the most favourable ; but inland Nottingham- 

 shire, owing to its large lakes and the winding Trent, is 

 believed to contain at times more wildfowl than any other 

 county of its class ; while next to it, perhaps, comes Bucking- 

 hamshire, which formerly boasted several decoys. At present 

 only one of the latter is worked ; but we understand that a 

 younger member of the Rothschild family takes an active 

 interest in ornithology, and he has now every opportunity for 



