174 THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. 



thoroughly drained, and so thickly planted, that traces of this formerly large 

 and successful Decoy are now hard to find. 



It has not been in use for 60 years, and is placed partly in Peas- 

 marsh and partly in Beckley parish, south of the River Rother, on the 

 property of Mrs. Pomfret. 



Decoys in the County of War\vick. 

 Decoys in use. Decoys not in use. 



Packington Flail. | Combe Abbey. 



Packington Hall, 3^ miles SSE. of Coleshill. 



At one end of a pool of 30 acres a Decoy with four pipes was con- 

 structed by Williams of Wrangle, in 1795. I am informed that the 

 average catch for the last twenty years has been about 1 40 head ; but the 

 Decoy is only worked to supply the owner's wants. It is the property of 

 the Earl of Aylesford. 



Combe Abbey, ^\ miles E. of Coventry. 



In the year 1845 a first-class Decoy was constructed here by William 

 Skelton. It has four pipes, and is placed close to the mansion, and is 

 surrounded by several acres of osiers and reeds, with a mixture of spruce 

 and other trees. The largest take in one year was 1,500 head, but of late 

 years the number of fowl taken has been much smaller. 



At the present time it is not worked, the lessee, Mr. Loyd, having 

 recently removed the nets from the pipes, and expressed his intention of 

 not using the Decoy during the continuance of his lease, which expires in 

 1889. There is an extensive lake at Combe much frequented by wildfowl, 

 and the Decoy in consequence formerly did well, though, like all other 

 Decoys, it fell off in its takes of late seasons. T. Gilbert Skelton, son of 

 William Skelton, told me he recollected his father, aided by himself, 

 once catching 106 Ducks at a drive in one of the pipes of this Decoy, in 

 the presence of the late Earls of Craven, and Sefton. This statement is 

 confirmed by Mr. R. W. Craven. 



