WILD-FOWL DECOYS IN ESSEX. 169 



enough to pay the whole cost of the decoy and have a profit in 

 hand of ;^ii5. 



As affording a good illustration of the prices paid for materials and 

 labour in Essex in the days of Queen Anne, the first page of this M.S. 

 is not without interest ; and those who care for further information on 

 the subject may be referred to the account which I have given of this 

 book in the " Field " of July 5th, 1879, ^^ account which has since 

 been reprinted by Sir R. Payne Gallweyin his recently published "Book 

 of Duck Decoys," wherein all the particulars which are now obtain- 

 able concerning the above-mentioned decoys in Essex, will be found. 

 " Tempora mutantiir et nos timtanuir in illis." 



The reclamation and cultivation of the marshlands, the formation 

 of railways, the improvement in guns, and the great increase in the 

 number of shooters, have each and all contributed to ruin decoys ; 

 while the large number of wild-fowl which are brought over from 

 Holland and other parts of the continent every winter render it less 

 than ever necessary for the owners of decoys in this country to incur 

 the expense of maintaining them and paying the wages of a decoy-man. 

 Moreover, in those counties where a large head of game is preserved, 

 and large shooting parties are out during the winter months, " decoy- 

 ing " is out of the question, since absolute quiet must prevail within 

 sight and sound of the decoy pond, or no ducks will stay to be caught. 



Now that the number of decoys in Essex has dwindled down to 

 one tenth of their original number, it is interesting to note their 

 former abundance and local position, as well as the causes which 

 have contributed to their gradual disappearance. 



Hobby Catching a Swift. — On Tuesday evening (May 15th) I caught a 

 Hobby which was feeding on a Swift. It is now in confinement and becoming fairly 

 tame. The Swift was alive when picked up. — Robert Brooks, The Mailings, 

 Mistley, Essex, in the " Field," June 2nd, 1888. [The speed of the Hobby is 

 very great compared with most birds. We have known one before now to catch 

 a swallow, and a friend had a trained Peregrine Tiercel which caught a Swift.-^ 

 Ed. "Field."] 



Musical Tastes in a Robin. — The following may interest some of the readers 

 of the Essex Naturalist ; I have never heard anything precisely similar to it. 

 For two successive days last week, while I have been playing the organ in the 

 school chapel, a robin has come in through the open door, attracted, I can hardly 

 doubt, by the music. The little bird, so far from being frightened, has come and 

 sat on a choir seat behind me, at the distance of about three treet from my shoulder, 

 and sang as if on a tree in the open air. The louder T played the more vigorously 

 it sang, and apparently thoroughly enjoyed it ; if ever I left off playing it ceased 

 singing also. This went on for some twenty minutes each time. Occasionally it 

 would fty down to the west end and then come up again and sing by my side. It 

 would be interesting to know if such a taste for music hiS been noticed in these little 

 songsters before. — Frank B. Rogers, Felstead School, Essex, October 7th, 1888. 



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