126 BIRDS OF NORFOLK. 
or young cranes was made in the fens of that county, 
with which we know the fens of Norfolk had so much 
in common that one cannot imagine a species like this 
to have constantly bred in the one without the other; 
and often as I have read that wonderful description by 
the late John Wolley of the breeding of the crane in 
Lapland (Ibis, 1859, p. 191), in which he describes. 
so graphically his nocturnal watch, the question has 
occurred again and again to my mind. His minute des- 
cription of the general character of that Lapland marsh, 
the nature of the soil, and the surrounding trees and 
herbage, all so vividly remind me of the wilder portions 
of our “broad” scenery, as they still exist, that in 
former times with a far wider area, wholly unaffected 
by drainage, one can conceive no closer resemblance 
(excepting only in climate), to that “Isa Uoma” of 
the far North. 
To return, however, from mere speculation to the 
few scattered facts that remain to us respecting the 
history of this species in Norfolk, we find five entries in 
the “Household Book” of the L’Estranges’, of Hun- 
stanton, of cranes supplied to their larder between the 
years 1519 and 1533,* the last being one of thé few birds 
recorded in this list as “ killed with the gun.” Of these 
* 1519. “The vth weke” [after the 25th of September; about 
October 30th.]  ‘“Itm pd for a crane and vi plovs xx4, and ij 
conyes iij4- — i178. — 
“The ixth weke” [about November 27th.] “Itm a goos, a 
pygge, a crane, ij conyes, and a loyn of veile of gyste (articles 
received in lieu of rent.)” 
1526. “The xxxixth weke” [after the 25th of March, about 
December 23rd]. “Itm iiij malards and a crane kylled wt the cros- 
bowe.” 
1533. “The xxvjth weke” [after the xxixth day of March, about 
September 26th]. ‘“'Thursdaye, Itm a crane, vj4-” 
1533. “The xxxviij weke” [after 29th of March, about December 
19th.] “Tewysdaye, Itm a cranne kyllyd wt the gun.” 
