174 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 



till he was behind the fowl, and showing himself, hand- 

 kerchief waving in liand, in the rear of the birds, up 

 they all rose in haste, still heading- up the pipe, rapidly 

 followed by the man, who showed himself at every screen 

 in succession, till they had rushed headlong into the 

 tunnel net, which, by a rapid motion of his hand, the 

 decoyman disconnected from the tail of the pipe, at the 

 same time giving it a twist, and, barring their retreat, 

 the poor birds were thus hopelessly entrapped. There 

 they lay, nineteen teal and two ducks, with, I fancied, a 

 curiously dazed expression in their beautiful bright eyes, 

 as though the whole tlimg were too sudden and con- 

 fusing for their comprehension. An amusing anecdote 

 is told of the late Eev. John Fountaine at; the opening 

 of Didlington decoy. The Duke of Leeds being pre- 

 sent, Mr. Fountaine was anxious to make a successful 

 catch ; but, alas ! by some unfortunate mistake, he 

 forgot to attach the tunnel-net, and all the fowl 

 rushed out at the tail of the pipe ! The duke is said to 

 have remarked encouragingly, "Well done, Mr. Foun- 

 taine ! now, can you put them through again, may I 

 ask ?" I must plead guilty to a wish, when I saw the 

 poor birds in durance vile, that Page had made the 

 same mistake ; but no, there they were, and from the 

 last scene of all I turned away with the consolation that 

 the operation would be performed so skilfully as to inflict 

 the minimum amount of suffering. 



Of course the mallard, the wigeon, and the teal form 

 the chief product of the decoys, although various other 

 species are occasionally taken. Thus, in 1864, at the 

 lianworth decoy, now disused, there were secured eight 

 hundred and seventy-seven ducks, seventy teal, eight 

 wigeon, three shovelers, one pintail, one tufted duck, 

 and one goosander, an unusually great variety. Occa- 

 sionally garganey were taken at Ranworth in the month 

 of March, and various other strange fowl sometimes 

 entered the net, as, for instance, woodcocks and phea- 

 sants. The winter of 1879-80 was a very favourable one 

 for decoys, and at Fritton that season 2,218 ducks, 123 

 teal, and 70 wigeon were netted, 1,013 of these in 

 December, 1879. As a rule a few home-bred ducks are 

 taken in October and November, as, should food be plen- 



