THE ORIGIN OF DECOYS. 3 



All writers agree — and there is no question — that the word Decoy came 

 from Holland, where Decoys originated. It is an abbreviation of "ende- 

 kooy," i.e., in Dutch, " the Duck Cage," and not merely of the word 

 " Kooy," as stated by our lexicographers. 



Some old writers speak of the Duck-Coy, a word which would also 

 soon be shortened into Decoy ; others allude to the Duck traps, i.e., Duck 

 cages, the latter being a truthful rendering of the Dutch word. 



There is no doubt that at first the word " kooy," otherwise " coy " (the 

 cage), was used to represent the cage of net into which the fowl were 

 driven in the early years of fowling, and in the later enticed. 



I have no hesitation in saying that the first Decoys made, at all 

 resembling in principle those at present in use, were ponds or lakes fur- 

 nished with tunnels or cages of network into which latter the fowl were 

 enticed by food and, when in, secured by a dropping framework of netting 

 that was lowered by a cord, and closed the entrance. 



One of our most ancient Decoys is precisely on this jsrinciple — that 

 at Haughton, Notts. It is essentially a kooy or cage for catching ducks. 

 Though doubtless such a cage was highly successful with hordes of wild- 

 fowl on all sides as in days of yore, still the more perfected pipe Decoy as 

 at present in use is an immense improvement on it, though maybe sug- 

 gested by its forerunner the cage Decoy. The cage Decoy was, I consider, 

 a simple device (driving the Ducks having gone out of fashion or being 

 prohibited) in use by the Fenmen before they took lessons from the Dutch 

 in the formation of a better contrivance. {Sec plans of a Cage Decoy, 

 pages 71, 72.) 



The Origin and Age of Decoys. 



The Jiist and most reliable description of a Decoy in England for 

 catching ducks by enticing them, is, in my opinion, that referred to by 

 Evelyn which Charles II. made in St. James's Park. Evelyn writes 

 in his Memoirs, March 29th, 1665, "His Majesty is now finishing 

 the Decoy in the Park." It is highly probable that this was one of 

 the first real Decoys made in England, and that " Sydrach Hilcus," who 

 constructed it, was a Dutchman imported from Holland for the purpose. 



