BIRDS 



The omission of the Canada goose and of 

 the Egyptian goose has been already axplained. 



153. Whooper Swan, 

 stein. 



Cygnus musicus, Bech- 



18 70-1 and 1 890-1 were both great 

 ' swan years,' in the former of which more 

 than twenty whoopers were shot near Alde- 

 burgh, and in the latter a good many were 

 obtained. One gunner shot five in the 

 river Aide at one discharge of his punt gun, 

 and another shot three swans, of which the 

 species was not recorded, at one shot with a 

 shoulder gun. A fine old cock whooper will 

 often turn the scale at over 20 lb. and there 

 seems always to be a sale for swans of any 

 kind in the London market. Probably all 

 are utilized for food in some form or other. 



154. Bewick's Swan, 

 rell. 



Cygnus bnvicki, Yar- 



This bird shares with the whooper the 

 popular name of ' wild swan,' and though not 

 so common as its larger congener, when 

 whoopers arrive in unusual numbers Bewick's 

 swan may always be expected. An adult in 

 the Tostock rectory collection was shot in the 

 river Aide as late as March, 1891, and before 

 it was skinned the bright yellow of the bare 

 skin round the eyes (technically called the 

 orbit) was very conspicuous. Bewick's swan 

 is a much smaller bird than the whooper, and 

 13 lb. is a good weight even for an old male. 



155. Mute Swan. Cygnus olor (J. F. Gmelin) 



Though many mute swans stray from 

 private waters and lose their lives Mr. 

 Saimders has suggested [Manual, p. 417) that 

 it does not follow that all which are shot are 

 escaped birds, ' for the mute swan still breeds 

 in a perfectly wild state at no greater distance 

 from us than Denmark and the south of 

 Sweden, whence it is forced by cold to 

 migrate in winter.' These countries it may 

 be pointed out are a good thousand miles 

 nearer the east coast of England than any 

 known breeding-place of Bewick's swan. 

 Swan-breeding has never been carried on in 

 Suffolk on so large a scale as in Norfolk, and 

 the fattening of cygnets for the table has not 

 often been attempted. The late Rev. W. G. 

 Tuck, who as a Norfolk man well knew the 

 edible value of the swan, had one or two 

 young ones fattened and killed in the early 

 ' sixties,' and though the experiment was 

 entirely successful from an edible point of 

 view it was hardly so as a matter of expendi- 

 ture and result. 



156. Common Sheld-Duck. Tadorna cornuta 



(S. G. Gmelin) 

 Locally, Burrow-Duck. 

 This fine wildfowl is a resident breeding 

 in rabbit holes in several localities near the 

 coast, though the birds which remain all the 

 year are few in number compared with the 

 winter migrants. Of these Mr. Hele says 

 (Notes about Aldeburgh, ed. 1870, p. 151) : 

 * Almost every winter many shieldrakes visit 

 us, they fly together in large flocks, and most 

 beautiful they appear. The white of the 

 wings reminds one strongly of a patch of the 

 purest possible snow having fallen upon their 

 backs.' Being entirely shore and mud- 

 feeders they are utterly valueless for the table, 

 and it is a pity to shoot such interesting and 

 ornamental birds unless they are required as 

 specimens. The eggs, which are white and 

 glossy, are sometimes as many as twelve in 

 number, and the drake and duck are much 

 alike. 



157. Ruddy Sheld-Duck. Tadorna casarca 



(Linn.) 



Till 1892 a single bird shot in the mere 

 near Aldeburgh in July, 1886, was the only 

 Suffolk specimen of this rare south-eastern 

 duck, but in the summer of 1892 a remark- 

 able migration occurred of which Mr. F. M. 

 Ogilvie has given full details in the Zoologist 

 for that year (pp. 392-8). Three more were 

 then shot in the meres near Aldeburgh and 

 others seen, but there is no record of any 

 having been obtained or even observed since 

 that date. 



158. Mallard or Wild Duck. Anas boscas, 



Linn. 

 Locally, Wild Duck, Grey Duck. 

 A resident throughout the county, breeding 

 in marshes, on heaths, and occasionally in a 

 place as high and dry as the head of an old 

 pollard tree. The resident birds pair in 

 February and often have eggs in March, and 

 these should be spared after 10 February at 

 the latest. Many ' foreigners ' come over in 

 winter, which are smaller and slimmer birds 

 than the resident race. At least three decoys 

 are still worked in Suffolk, of which one is 

 at Fritton Lake near Lowestoft and another 

 at Iken near Aldeburgh. In the former 2,765 

 fowl were taken in the season of 1 900-1 

 and about half that number in the following 

 year, but some sixty years ago when decoys 

 were worked at both ends of the lake the 

 numbers were from twelve to fifteen thousand 

 annually (Col. H. M. Leathes). The present 

 owner of the Iken decoy (Mr. A. H. E. 



199 



