186 BIRDS OF NOEPOLK, 



At the Lang-ham Decoy, which was closed about 

 the year 1854, Mr. Dowell tells me very large num- 

 bers of wigeons were taken ; he estimated the propor- 

 tions as three wigeon to every two mallard and one 

 teal, but since the closing of this decoy the wigeons 

 have resorted to Holkham Lake as their day quarters, 

 and may be seen there in thousands all through the 

 winter. Prior to 1854, Mr. Dowell says that only mal- 

 lards and a few stray teals and tufted ducks resorted 

 to the Holkham Lake, but now at times the surface 

 of the water is almost covered by fowl, chiefly wigeons. 

 Mr. Alexander Napier has been kind enough to furnish 

 me with the following particulars with regard to the 

 wigeon which frequent the lake at Holkham. The lake 

 itself, which is about 34 1 acres in extent, filling the 

 bottom of a narrow valley for about a thousand yards, 

 and with varying width, is fed by springs at the south 

 end, and is less than a mile distant from the sea in a 

 straight line ; the banks are sloping and in parts wooded, 

 and there are four small wooded islands, otherwise there 

 is not much shelter for the fowl, which are quite visible to 

 those walking or driving through that part of the park. 

 The wigeon begin to arrive, says Mr. Napier, " early in 

 November in very small companies, the main body not 

 putting in an appearance until well on in December, and 

 I should say there are always more to be seen on the 

 lake from the middle of January to the end of February 

 than at any other time of the year, but their movements 

 are largely governed by the weather. If the weather be 

 fine and open they do not show up so early, but sit out 

 at sea. They begin to leave the lake at the commence- 

 ment of March, but not in great numbers, the main body 

 staying until quite the end of March, and there are 

 always a few which stop well into May. At the pre- 

 sent moment [21st April] there are from two to three 

 hundred wigeon on the lake. After leaving the lake they 

 sit out at sea for a day or so before taking their final 

 departure to their breeding haunts. They do not leave 

 the lake in severe weather until night time, unless there 

 is a very severe frost, and the whole of the water is frozen 

 over. As long as there is an open piece of water they 

 remain on the lake, and I can assure you that in severe 



