A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



Wood) has kindly furnished details of the 

 number of fowl taken from 1878-9 to 

 I go 1-2, the total for the twenty-four seasons 

 amounting to 43,318, which includes fowl 

 shot on the estate and adjoining tidal waters. 

 Of the total 20,382 were wild ducks, 17,169 

 teal, and 5,464 wigeon, the balance being 

 made up of ' various.' The number of fowl 

 in the season of 1902-3 was 3177, which 

 beat the previous record of 2,964 in 1899- 

 1900 (A. H. E. W. in litt.). The third 

 decoy is on the Orwell Park estate near 

 Ipswich, and yields an average of about 2,000 

 fowl in a season. 



159. Gadwall. Anas strepera, h'mn. 



This game-duck breeds regularly in Norfolk 

 but the nest has not yet been found in Suffolk, 

 though in May, 1901, a clutch of ten eggs 

 was taken near Diss within a mile of the 

 boundary river and put under a hen. In 

 Suffolk it is a rather uncommon winter 

 migrant. During a short period of hard 

 weather in February, 1902, a female was 

 shot at Bardwell and preserved by Mr. Travis 

 of Bury. The gadwall can be recognized 

 by its yellowish legs and white wing-spot. 



160. Shoveler. Spatula clypeata (Linn.) 

 For beauty and variety of colouring the 



shoveler drake is excelled by no British water- 

 fowl. This bird is a resident and ' about ten 

 or twelve couple breed annually in one 

 district in east Suffolk where I have seen four 

 or five nests. Sometimes they are to be found 

 among dead reeds : at other times high up 

 on commons among gorse and bracken and 

 right away from water. One nest contained 

 eleven shoveler and three pheasant eggs ' 

 (Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain). The broad bill is 

 a distinguishing mark of this bird in any 

 plumage. 



161. Pintail. Dafila acuta (Linn.) 

 Locally, Sea-Pheasant. 



A winter migrant sometimes arriving in 

 September and occasionally remaining as late 

 as 13 May [Zoologist, 1875, p. 4536), but 

 never breeding in England. 



162. Teal. Nettion crecca (Linn.) 



A resident which ' breeds in fair numbers 

 in east Suffolk. I have seen the nest in 

 woods as well as on the commons ' (Rev. F. 

 C. R. Jourdain). 1879—80 was a great teal 

 year, and 1,661 were captured or shot at 

 Iken out of a total of 2,846 fowl (A. H. E. 

 Wood). 



163. Garganey. ^erquedula circia (Linn.) 

 This summer migrant is now so rare that 



the local name of ' summer-teal ' is practically 

 obsolete. In the ' seventies ' Mr. Hele found 

 it breeding in the marshes near Aldeburgh, 

 and Mr. G. T. Rope in the reedland at 

 Leiston [Zoologist, 1874, p. 4036, for details 

 of the latter), but there are no more recent 

 records. In 1872 several young birds were 

 shot near Aldeburgh during August, and 

 there are one or two local eggs in the Ipswich 

 Museum. The duck in hand can be dis- 

 tinguished from the teal by the absence of 

 the bright green wing-spot. 



164. Wigeon. Mareca penelope (Linn.) 



A common winter migrant of which many 

 are taken in the decoys and also shot. The 

 record of wigeon in the Iken decoy was 771 

 in 1 900-1 (A. H. E. Wood). They have 

 been seen paired in the Aldeburgh meres in 

 May, and Mr. Hele thought they occasionally 

 bred, having once had a duckling brought to 

 him still partly in the down, but it is perhaps 

 possible that this may have been a gadwall. 



165. Red-crested Pochard. iJetta rufina 



(Pallas) 



A very rare visitant from the south of 

 which Dr. Babington records one perfectly 

 satisfactory specimen shot at Easton Broad by 

 Mr. Spalding 'some years before 1864.' It 

 was a drake in full plumage, and at Mr. 

 Spalding's sale was secured by the late Mr. 

 H. Greenwood [Catalogue, p. 245). 



' 166. Pochard. Fuligula ferina (Linn.) 



A winter migrant sometimes plentiful 

 enough and believed to have nested once at 

 least near Aldeburgh (Hele). Some eggs 

 were taken and from them were hatched 

 ducklings with very large feet, but they died 

 and were not preserved. ' I have seen a few 

 in the spring with other duck and believe 

 them to breed, though I have not found the 

 nest ' (Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain). 



167. Ferruginous Duck. Fuligula nyroca 



(Guldenstadt) 



A rare visitant which has only been 

 obtained a few times in SufiFolk and not very 

 recently. 



168. Tufted Duck. Fuligula cristata [Ltach) 



This is a bird whose nest, like that of the 

 pochard, could probably be found if searched 

 for, as it breeds abundantly in Norfolk and 

 its range as a resident species is extending 

 throughout the country. As a winter migrant 

 it is very well known on the coast and in the 

 rivers. 



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