BIRDS 



169. Scaup-Duck. Fuligula marila (Linn.) 

 A sea-duck seldom met with inland, never 



breeding in England and only very rarely in 

 Scotland, but common enough on the coast 

 in winter. The name is probably derived 

 from its feeding on mussel * scalps.' 



170. Goldeneye. Clangula glaucton (Linn.) 



Locally, Goldeneye Daver (= Diver). 



A winter migrant of which young birds 

 and females are not uncommon, but a good 

 old drake is quite a rarity. 



171. Long-tailed Duck. Harelda glacialii 



(Linn.) 

 A rather irregular winter migrant of which 

 Mr. Hele states that it ' has occurred in 

 flocks during excessively cold winters.' An 

 old drake in summer dress was obtained near 

 Orford about 23 July, 1872 (Ipswich Museum), 

 in which plumage it is extremely rare in 

 Britain. 



172. Common Eider Duck. Somateria mollis- 



sitna (Linn.) 

 A rare winter visitant, but one which will 

 perhaps be more often met with in East 

 Anglia now that its breeding grounds on the 

 Fame Islands are so strictly protected. 

 The very rare king-eider (S. spectabilis) has 

 been obtained more than once in Norfolk, 

 and if all eiders killed in Suffolk are examined 

 by a competent authority it may sooner or 

 later be recognized. It is a slightly smaller 

 bird than the common eider. 



1 73. Common Scoter. (Edemia nigra (Linn.) 

 This winter migrant is an essentially 



marine bird and very rarely seen inland. A 

 few, which are probably birds which have 

 not begun to breed, are sometimes observed 

 flying alongshore in the summer months. In 

 July, 1 89 1, large flocks were attracted to 

 Sizewell Bank to feed on the barley washed 

 out of a steamer sunk there (F. M. Ogilvic 

 in Zoologist, 1892, p. 1 09). 



1 74. Velvet-Scoter. (Edemia fusca (Linn.) 

 Though much less frequent than the last- 

 named species young velvet-scoters are not 

 uncommon in winter, but old drakes in the 

 handsome adult plumage are scarce. A very 

 perfect one was shot at Cockfield, which is 

 quite twenty-five miles from the sea, 26 

 November, 1892. The colouring of the 

 legs and beak was very bright. 



175. Goosander. Mergus merganser^ Linn. 

 Females and young birds are not uncom- 

 mon winter migrants, but a perfect male is 



always a prize 

 collection. 



and 



an ornament to any 



Mergus 



str- 



176. Red-breasted Merganser. 

 rator, Linn. 

 Locally, Saw-bill or Saw-bill Daver. 



This species shares with the goosander the 

 local name of ' saw-bill,' and the same remarks 

 apply to it, though it is perhaps the more 

 common of the two. 



Mergus albellus, Linn 

 rare winter visitant, which 



177. Smew, 

 A rare winter visitant, which occurs as a 



rule only in very severe winters. A fine 

 drake was shot near Ixworth during the frost 

 of 1 890-1. The Ipswich Museum (Hele 

 collection) possesses splendid old males of this 

 and the three last-named species, all obtained 

 at or near Aldeburgh in i8?o and 1871. 



178. Ring-Dove or Wood-Pigeon. Columba 

 palumbus, Linn. 



A common resident breeding twice if not 

 three times in the year, and often appearing 

 in enormous flocks in winter. Many are 

 shot by waiting for them in ' dow-houses ' 

 (dove is usually * dow ' in Suffolk), which are 

 huts roughly constructed of boughs in which 

 the shooter waits for the birds as they come 

 to the woods for the acorns and beech-mast. 

 On 9 February, 1903, a man was shooting 

 them in this manner near Ipswich and killed 

 a fine young white-tailed eagle which flew 

 down on a dead bird set up as a decoy 

 {Zoologist, 1903, p. 107). In the Newmarket 

 neighbourhood wood-pigeons swarmed in 

 December, 1902, and a local paper stated 

 that a punt gun was brought to bear on them 

 so effectually that in one case nineteen 

 were killed at a shot. These great flocks 

 probably come from Scandinavia, as they 

 have been seen crossing the North Sea, and 

 there is a record of one having been killed 

 by striking a lighthouse at Orford [Migration 

 Report for 1884, p. 59). 



179. Stock-Dove. Celumba aenas, Linn. 

 Locally, Stock-Dow. 



A resident never seen in flocks like the 

 ring-dove, but more numerous now than in 

 former years. It derives its name from its 

 habit of nesting in the ' stocks ' or trunks of 

 hollow trees, but it also breeds freely in rabbit 

 burrows on the warrens and sometimes in 

 church towers. The eggs, smaller and more 

 creamy-white than those of the ring-dove, 

 have been found as early as April and as late 

 as September. A nest with two almost fresh 

 eggs was found in the tower of Tostock 

 church, 26 August, 1900. The smaller 

 201 26 



