BIRDS 



136. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula bassana 



(Linn.) 

 A rare autumn and winter visitant to the 

 coast, sometimes driven inland by rough 

 weather. Most of those obtained have been 

 young birds in the spotted plumage, and an old 

 white bird is quite a rarity. 



137. Common Heron. Jrdea cinerea,Liinn. 

 Locally, Harnser or Heronshaw. 



From a fancied resemblance of its cry to 

 the word, the heron is often alluded to as 

 ' Frank ' or ' Old Franky.' It is a resident 

 having several colonies in the county, of 

 which those at Orwell Park near Ipswich and 

 Blackheath on the river Aide were the largest. 

 Recent inquiries have elicited that both these 

 heronries are sadly diminished, as in 1902 

 neither had more than about six nests. In 

 1893 and 1894 the herons at Blackheath 

 were much disturbed by rooks, which per- 

 sistently sucked the eggs and left the ground 

 under the trees strewn with shells (Rev. 

 F. C. R. Jourdain). These two seasons were 

 unusually dry and the rooks possibly had 

 difScuIty in obtaining food. There are how- 

 ever more recently established but flourishing 

 heronries at Broke Hall near Ipswich and at 

 Walberswick, both of which may be oflFshoots 

 from the older ones. Herons formerly bred 

 at Herringfleet, but not for many years past, 

 though there is a fine heronry at Reedham, 

 just over the Norfolk border, where the birds 

 are strictly protected (Col. Leathes). There 

 were sixteen nests in April, 1903, at Flixton 

 Hall near Bungay, where the herons are also 

 well looked after (Sir Fredk. Adair). In 

 west Suffolk there is one at Cavenham (Rev. 

 E. A. Jones) and in 1902 a few pairs nested 

 at Chimney Mills near Bury on the Culford 

 estate (Mr. L. Travis). In winter herons are 

 scattered all over the county, too often to 

 fall victims to the prowling gunner, and are 

 sometimes seen displayed as ' show-birds ' in 

 the game shops. In west SuflFolk the heron is 

 protected under the Wild Birds' Protection 

 Act and also its eggs, so it is to be hoped that 

 ^o fine and interesting a bird will always 

 hold its own and never be numbered among 

 the ' extinct breeders.* 



138. Purple Heron. J rdea purpurea, Li'mn. 



A rare visitant, hitherto only recorded from 

 the eastern side of the county and usually in 

 autumn. Those which occur are in most 

 cases young birds which have probably gone 

 astray when migrating from their breeding 

 grounds in Holland. A fine pair in the 

 Ipswich Museum were brought in the flesh to 



a bird-stuffer in that town (Babington), but it 

 does not follow as a matter of course that 

 they were killed in Suffolk or even in 

 England. 



139. Squacco Heron. Ardea ralloides,Scopo\i. 

 A very rare summer visitant, of which 



the only record for perhaps half a cen- 

 tury is that of a female shot in Thorpe 

 Mere near Aldeburgh on 14 June, 1882. 

 Mr. Hele had it in the flesh and writes, ' It 

 had been feeding on the Pandalus annuUcornis 

 or grey shrimp, also small eels. It was in 

 most perfect plumage. The ovary contained 

 impregnated eggs ' {Notes about Aldeburgh, ed. 

 1890, p. 82). 



140. Night-Heron. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.) 

 A rare visitant which has been obtained a 



few times, the last occurrence being in June, 

 1883 (Babington). 



141. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.) 

 Several little bitterns have been shot in the 



county, and many more may have come and 

 gone without being noticed, as its small size 

 and habit of frequenting reed-beds often 

 enable it to escape observation. Most of 

 those recorded have been summer visitants, 

 and there can be little doubt as to its having 

 formerly bred in the eastern counties. 



142. Bittern. Botaurus stellaris (Linn.) 

 Though eggs of the bittern were taken in 



Norfolk as recently as 1868 there is no posi- 

 tive record of its having bred in Suffolk, but 

 it was probably a resident both in the fen- 

 land near Mildenhall and also in the vicinity 

 of Lowestoft. Hardly a winter passes with- 

 out one or more being shot, and like other 

 winter migrants they are much more numer- 

 ous in some seasons than in others. Early in 

 February, 1901, a bittern was caught by a 

 dog at Ampton and conveyed to the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens, but it soon died and was 

 returned to the donors, for whom it was pre- 

 served by Mr. Travis of Bury. It was a 

 small bird but in beautiful plumage. 



143. White Stork. Ciconia alba, Bechstein. 

 A rare summer visitant which has not 



been obtained or seen for upwards of thirty 

 years. There is one in the Ipswich Museum 

 shot at Sudborne in 1830 and given by the 

 late Sir Richard Wallace, and one was seen 

 in the meres near Aldeburgh on several 

 occasions in the spring of 1875. 



144. Black Stork. Ciconia nigra (Linn.) 

 Even rarer than the white stork, but two 



or three have been recorded. One shot on 



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