1 66 



WILD-FOWL DECOYS IN ESSEX. 



mouthful as the grain drifts by them or towards them, gradually dis- 

 cover that the nearer they swim towards the mouth of a pipe the 

 more plentiful does food become. Unsuspectingly they enter the 

 wide mouth, so wide as to convey no suggestion of a trap; and then 

 the decoyman's little dog comes into play. Taught to dodge in and 

 out of the reed screens to fetch a piece of bread or biscuit, he shows 

 himself momentarily to the ducks in the pipe, and disappears when 

 returning to his master. Wild-fowl are eminently curious, and their 

 curiosity proves fatal to them. They behave towards the dog exactly 

 as cattle would do— as long as he retreats from them they follow him. 

 Perhaps from his colour they take him for a fox, their common enemy, 

 and fancy they are driving him away. At any rate they follow him 

 up the pipe until, having passed the first reed screen, they are virtually 

 cut off from the rest of the flock. At this juncture the decoyman 

 shows himself to the ducks in the pipe, though not to those on the 

 pool. He makes no noise, but merely waves his arms, and the 

 frightened fowl, afraid to return past him to the open water, instantly 

 rise on the wing and fly up the pipe, following its curve in the vain 

 hope that it will lead to freedom. Instead of that, however, it leads 

 to the bag net ; and the reason of there being no " hereafter " for 

 wild ducks is explained by their having their necks tzvirled in this ! 



Such, briefly speaking, is the modus operandi. The whole business 

 is conducted so quietly that the wild-fowl on the main water are never 

 alarmed, and time after time the bag net is filled and emptied. 



In hard winters when there may be several hundred ducks upon the 

 pool in a day, great execution take place if the decoyman knows his 

 work and has a good dog. At a celebrated decoy at Ashby, in Lincoln- 

 shire, which I visited in 1886, as many as 113 ducks have been taken 

 at o?ie time, and altogether 248 were taken there the same day. 



At the present time, as above stated, there are existing in different 

 parts of England about forty decoys which are still used, while as 

 many as 140 others are known to have existed formerly, and to be 

 now dismantled or out of repair. The counties in which the greatest 

 number of decoys existed are, as might be expected from their situa- 

 tion, Lincolnshire (39), Norfolk (26), and Essex (29). 



The position of those in Essex may be seen on referring to the map 

 which I have prepared to illustrate these remarks (see Plate L) ; the 

 sites of former decoys being marked by a red spot, and the only three 

 now existing being indicated by a small cross.^ 



5 We are indebted to Mr. Harting for a contribution towards the cost of this map, and also 

 for having the red dots inserted at his own expense.— Ed. 



