182 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 



ANAS CRECCA, Liu^seus. 

 TEAL. 



As a resident this species is fairly numerous and 

 generally distributed over the county, although not 

 found in such large numbers as formerly, when a greater 

 extent of country suitable to its habits existed. Sir 

 Thomas Browne speaks of the great abundance of teal 

 in East Norfolk in his time, and in more recent days, as 

 will be seen, they were also numerous. In October and 

 November large numbers of teal arrive from abroad, and 

 in these months they are most abundant ; after that 

 time, should the weather prove severe, they continue 

 their journey southward, and comparatively few are met 

 with till the return of open weather. 



On the Holkham lake Mr. Napier tells me the teal 

 begin to arrive towards the end of September, but he has 

 never observed them there in large numbers. 



On their first arrival they are very easily taken in the 

 decoys, no bird working better to a dog than the teal, 

 and very large numbers used formerly to be secured. 

 In 1834 the following note occurs in Miss Anna Gurney's 

 journal : — " October 14th. The decoyman at Hempstead 

 reports that nearly 1,000 teal have come over ; " and 

 in January, 1835, " Above a thousand teal taken this 

 winter in Hempstead decoy." I have already mentioned 

 that Skelton, at the Winterton decoy, took in six con- 

 secutive days 1,010 of these birds, and at the same place 

 he caught more than 200 at once in a single pipe. In 

 Mr. Dowell's notes on Langham decoy, he states that up 

 to December 8tli, in the year 1851, Capt. Marryatt had 

 already killed 300 of these birds. The numbers caught 

 in the decoys at the present day are very much smaller 

 than formerly, although, perhaps, not less in propor- 

 tion than those of other fowl, but the greatest takes are 

 still made in the month of November. 



Hunt does not seem to have had any certain know- 

 ledge of the teal breeding in this county, but he states 

 that he has not the least doubt that they do so in several 

 places. Sheppard and Whitear say that a few breed in 

 Norfolk, and give an instance, near Eudham, in 1817 ; 



