A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



uttering a peculiar whining cry, and in a 

 minute or two dashed straight at my head. 

 The blow inflicted was very like that of a 

 moderately hard snowball, and putting up my 

 hand I found my forehead bleeding freely in 

 several places, while my cap (a soft grey wool- 

 len one) was carried off as a trophy, and found 

 the next morning under a tree about 70 or 

 80 yards away. Since then I have given my 

 protegh a wide berth after sunset.' 



111. Tengmalm's Owl. Nyctala tengmalmi 



(J. F. Gmelin) 

 A rare autumn and winter visitant from 

 Scandinavia and Lapland, of which about 

 half a dozen Suffolk occurrences are re- 

 corded. Two were caught alive and un- 

 injured at Southwold in the autumn of 

 1 90 1, both of which lived for some time 

 in confinement. Tengmalm's owl and the 

 little owl could be distinguished even in the 

 dark by their legs, which in this species are 

 covered to the claws with thick downy 

 feathers, while in the little owl the toes 

 are nearly bare. 



112. Little Owl. Athene noctua i^co'poW) 

 Little owls have been turned out in 



England on several occasions and have bred 

 in a state of perfect liberty, so it is difBcult 

 to decide whether those which are met with 

 from time to time are genuine migrants. The 

 late Mr. Bilson of Bury had one in the flesh 

 in February, 1865, which was shot at Hen- 

 grave, and a very perfect specimen was caught 

 at Cavenham about 22 April, 1902, which 

 was stuffed by Mr. Travis of Bury. 



113. Snowy Owl. Nyctea uandiaca (Linn.) 

 This splendid northern species is very rare 



in East Anglia, and only occurs in winter. 

 One, now in the Norwich Museum, was shot 

 near Bungay in February, 1847, which was 

 for a long time in Mr. Spalding's collection, 

 and a second is reported to have been shot 

 near the Languard lighthouse 9 February, 

 1886, but its possessor is not known. A 

 third was seen by Colonel Leathes within 

 20 yards on a tree near Fritton Lake, 30 

 September, 1902 (Leathes). 



114. Scops-Owl. Sfij^i ^iK (Scopoli) 



This, the smallest of the British owls, is a 

 very rare visitor, but there seems to be a 

 genuine record of one shot at Haughley in 

 1865. It can be at once recognized by its 

 ear-tufts. Like the little owl this species is 

 very often imported alive from the continent, 

 and can usually be obtained through the Lon- 

 don dealers. 



115. Marsh-Harrier. Circus arugtnosus (Linn.) 

 The marsh-harrier is the largest of the 



three British harriers, and has for many years 

 been the most uncommon in Suffolk. There 

 can be no reasonable doubt that it formerly 

 bred in more than one locality, but all en- 

 deavours to establish a definite record have 

 been unsuccessful. One was picked up dead 

 near Aldeburgh in May, 1 869, but Mr. Hele 

 was never able to procure a specimen, and the 

 one in his collection in the Ipswich Museum, 

 which is cased up with a peregrine and a rough- 

 legged buzzard, came from Norfolk. 



116. Hen-Harrier. Circus cyaneus (Linn.) 



Females and young males of this species 

 occur in the county almost every year, but 

 the old male in his grey and white plumage 

 is practically unknown. It doubtless bred till 

 the early part of the last century, but the nest 

 found on Cavenham Heath in 1 871, in which 

 there were three broken eggs, but no bird be- 

 longing to which was seen (Babington's Cata- 

 logue, p. 38), was far more likely to have been 

 that of Montagu's harrier. A fine young 

 male was shot on the outskirts of Bury in 

 October, 1899, which was said to have just 

 killed a partridge. 



117. Montagu's Harrier. Circus cineraceus 



(Montagu) 

 A spring and autumn visitant, of which 

 there are no records of the breeding since 

 1889. In that year two nests were found, 

 each containing three eggs, one at Westleton, 

 the other on Dunwich Common, of which 

 somewhat melancholy details are published in 

 the Zoologist for 1890 (p. 77). Montagu's 

 harrier is the smallest of the three species, in 

 colour more resembling the hen-harrier than 

 the marsh, and occasionally an almost black 

 variety is met with, a specimen of which is 

 in the Dennis collection at the Bury Museum. 



118. Buzzard. Buteo vulgayis, hach. 



The local name of ' puttock,' which really 

 belongs to this species, is applied in Suffolk to 

 any large hawk. The buzzard is now only 

 a visitant, usually occurring in autumn, but it 

 used to breed in the county. The last eggs 

 taken and preserved were probably a clutch 

 taken at Tostock about 1853 '"^ * wood well 

 known to hunting men as ' Cindron Hills,' but 

 buzzards bred in Monk's Wood near Felsham 

 in 1874, where Dr. Babington saw the nest. 

 One of the birds was shot and thrown away 

 for the foxes, and in the following year the 

 hen was wounded on the nest {Catalogue, p. 

 33). Like the ravens, the buzzards bred in 

 trees for want of suitable rocks, and the 



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