INTRODUCTION. xlv 



still maintains those pretty features we have observed 

 throughout. A lofty range of grassy downs stretches 

 away from Snettisham to Dersingham and Wolferton, 

 covered with heather and gorse in parts, or thickly 

 planted with belts of fir, and though this district 

 abounds in sandy heaths and warrens, an ample mixture 

 of arable, pasture, and woodland, renders these other- 

 wise bleak portions a not unpleasing feature in the 

 landscape. Several small parks, surrounded with plan- 

 tations, adjoin the principal villages, and the preserves 

 at Sandringham, now the sporting residence of the 

 Prince of Wales, are of considerable extent. At 

 Snettisham the great Ken-hill wood is celebrated for 

 Woodcocks, and in this neighbourhood only, in Norfolk, 

 is the Blackcock (Tetrao tetrixj found as a naturalized 

 species. From Snettisham and Sandringham the range 

 of this Grouse extends southward as far as Bawsey and 

 Leziate, near Lynn, and, consequently, with a dry sandy 

 soil on the one hand, and rough moist grounds on 

 the other, comprises a wild tract of country peculiarly 

 favourable to its existence. The Lapwing, also, is still 

 very plentiful here during the breeding season, and more 

 particularly about Castle Rising. 



At Lynn, as may be seen by a glance at the map, a 

 perfect maze of sands and shoals, extending from the 

 mouth of the harbour to the open " deeps," are 

 traversed in all directions by the main channels, or the 

 outlets of mmor streams. Such feeding grounds are, 

 of course, at all times attractive to the oceanic Ducks 

 and other marine-fowl, but in severe weather, or when 

 heavy gales, outside, have driven them in for shelter, 

 enormous flocks of fowl and waders are collected together, 

 and large numbers are kiUed by the gunners. The 

 liftle Storm-Petrels (Thalassidroma pelagicaj during 

 autumnal gales, have been seen in the harbour '^flying 

 thick as Sand-martins," to use the words of an eye- 

 witness; and amongst other rarities obtained on this 



