8 THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. 



Maxwell in 1830 is as good as any, and being an energetic sportsman 

 and favoured writer, no doubt had means of personally inspecting a Decoy. 



In the " London Encyclopaedia," 1839, is a short but accurate notice 

 of a Decoy, and how it is worked. 



Some other references to Decoys are as follows : " England Illus- 

 trated " (R. & J. Dodsley, London, 1764). " Itinerarium Curiosum " 

 (William Stukeley, M.D. Second edition, 1776). This author gives an 

 excellent account of a Decoy, together with an accurate plan of a five-pipe 

 Decoy almost exactly similar to one given herein. " Bradley on Garden- 

 ing" (1726). "A Natural History " (John Bigland, 1806). 



In more modern times came Lubbock with his charming account of 

 the " Fauna of Norfolk " ( 1 845). He described a Decoy as he knew it and 

 saw it, the one that belonged to his friend Mr. Kerrlson at Ranworth Broad. 

 He simply gave the result of his own observations and borrowed from 

 nobody. Next we have Folkard, who, devoting several pages to the subject 

 in his " Wildfowler " (first edition, 1859), epitomized and criticized many 

 previous writers about Decoys, collected information as to their history 

 and construction, and faithfully described them in a general way from his 

 personal acquaintance therewith. 



Then we have Mr. Thomas Southwell of Norwich, who contributed 

 to " The Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society " in 

 1 88 1 an excellent paper on the Decoys of his own county. He took great 

 pains to gain particulars of the Norfolk Decoys, and I am much indebted 

 to him for the privilege of using the results of his researches in Norfolk, as 

 well as for his interesting notes of the " Skelton Family." 



Next, in 1883, Mr. C. Davies published a work on the " Norfolk 

 Rivers and Broads," with some excellent sketches of the Decoy pipes at 

 Fritton Lake, reproduced in " Peter Penniless," by the same author (1884). 



In " Yarrell's British Birds" (fourth edition, 1885) is a faithful though 

 brief description of a Decoy, furnished by the Rev. Richard Lubbock, 

 author of the " Fauna of Norfolk," for the first edition of the " History of 

 British Birds." 



As I have said, many other references to Decoys exist in various 

 works which I have not quoted, but they are one and all either too absurd 

 or too meagre to deserve mention.* 



* A long and curiously ridiculous plan and description of a Decoy occurs in " Loudon'g 



