70 THE BIRDS OF ESSEX. 



Woodward ' ceased to be ' Duckoyman,' and in his stead one ' Ben Carter ' was 

 employed ; but either he was not so skilful as his predecessor, or wild-fowl were 

 never afterwards so plentiful. He never succeeded in taking more than 4,500 

 Wigeon in a season (this was in 1722), while Woodward never took less than 

 5,200 of these birds, and once captured 6,296 in five months. The months of 

 December, 1718, and Januar}', 1719, were, so to say, singularly un'^xochicf kji\\Q. 

 During the former month, the decoy was worked only'on two days, the 22nd and 

 the 30th, when only 40 birds, all Ducks, were taken. In January four days' work 

 only produced 53 Ducks and 12 Wigeon. » * * In 172 1 the price of wild-fowl rose 

 to I2s. per dozen. •» * * The following year. Deal gave 12s. per dozen to 

 Michaelmas, and 14s. per dozen from that date to the end of the season." 



"In 1723, the price from Mr. Wm, Foster was i6s. per dozen, and in 1725-6 

 Messrs. DarnoU and Basset paid the same price. With the close of this 

 season the MS, ends, and we are left in ignorance as to whether the decoy 

 was then given up, or whether the owner died and it changed hands, or 

 what its fate was. It would be interesting to know when and why it was finally 

 abandoned. * 4t * To judge by the following summary, which we copy from the 

 last page of the MS. (which is all in the same handwriting) it would appear as 

 if one reason for giving up the decoy was the gradual falling off in numbers of 

 the fowl observable during the last three years in which it was worked, or at least the 

 last three years in which an account has been preserved, and the consequent fall- 

 ing off in profits, which dwindled from £?,i to ;^69, and eventually to ;^33 only, 

 but no reasons for this decrease are given." 



An Account of Wild Fowl ketcht att Steeple Duckoy. 



* From this it appears that the reckoning was kept in 'dozens, birds and " half-birds," just as . 

 it might be in pounds, shillings and pence. Thus in the thirteen years in question no less than 

 50,787 birds were taken, or an average of about 3,907 a year. But of these only 4,714 fthe Ducks 

 and Pintails) were "whole birds," giving 393 dozen and 10 birds over. The remaining 46,073 

 birds (the Teal and Wigeon) were only " half birds," giving 1,919 dozen and 8 bii-ds and i " half 

 bird " over, or a total of 2,312 dozen, 6 birds and i half bird, as shown above, allowing for a 

 slight error in calculation somewhere. In the Ashby Decoy, South Lincolnshire, from 1S33--4 to 

 1867--8 were captured : Wild Duck, 48,664 ; Teal, 44,568 ; Wigeon, 2,019 ; Shoveller, 285 ; Pintail, 

 278 ; Gadwall, 22. Total 95, 836, an average of 2,741 birds per annum for the thirty-five years (see 

 Field \o\. xxxii. p. 73). Thomas Pennant records 31,200 Ducks having been sent to London in 

 one season from ten decoys, near Wainfleet, Lincolnshire {British Zoology, vol. ii. p. 595). 



