328 BIRDS OP NORFOLK. 



Mr. E. C. Newcome ; and all who know the place will 

 recognise the faithful likeness which that masterly hand 

 has portrayed of the singularly beautiful scene presented, 

 one that can be paralleled in but few other spots in this 

 country. 



Professor Newton who, as just stated, was of the 

 party when this drawing was made, has sent me the 

 following notes upon it : — " Mr. Wolf was careful to 

 represent the gullery in a state of disturbance, for dis- 

 turbed it must be to some extent that all its charac- 

 teristic features may be brought out. Nearest to the 

 spectator's eye are the downy young, that have not left 

 the nest many days, seeking shelter among the water- 

 lilies, while their anxious parents strive to cover their 

 retreat by continually alighting for a moment on the 

 surface of the water. In the far distance is shown the 

 main body of the birds as they rise from the mere on 

 any one walking along its bank, thick as snowflakes, 

 and as white, when seen against the leafy screen of the 

 surrounding trees. In the middle distance is the hearth, 

 with its rough herbage, that hides half the birds which 

 have settled upon it, while others, perching awkwardly 

 on the stakes driven into its margin, or even on the 

 sallow-bushes that grow here and there, exhibit them- 

 selves prominently. Above all hover a few of the more 

 daring or more curious inhabitants, within easy gunshot 

 length of the intruder, and against the bright sky their 

 pure plumage shows dark by contrast. In one respect 

 Mr. Wolf failed, as every painter must fail. It is 

 beyond the power of the pencil to give an idea of the 

 tumultuous noise by which the scene is accompanied." 



Many years ago a gullery, probably by far the most 

 extensive in the county, existed at Horsey, on the east 

 coast. The late Mr. Rising pointed out to me the 

 former site of this numerous colony — once a vast tract of 

 wet marshes, now converted into fine grazing meadows 

 — and told me that the breeding-ground extended over 

 300 acres ; he related some very amusing anecdotes of 

 his father's encounters with poachers, and of the rough 

 and ready justice meted out to such robbers in those 

 days ; the number of eggs, he said, was enormous. It is 

 of this breeding-place that Sir Thomas Browne says. 



