A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



to orange. Albinos, among pure bred wild 

 rabbits, are rare. In an article on the ' Mam- 

 malia and Reptilia of Norfolk' (ZW. 1871, 

 p. 2757), Mr. Southwell refers to a very 



curious variety shot by Mr. J. H. Gurney on 

 Corton Denes, Lowestoft, which was decor- 

 ated with alternate black and grey markings 

 like a Cyprus' cat. 



UNGULATA 



35. Red Deer. Cervus eJaphus, Linn. 

 Among the eleven Suffolk deer parks enu- 

 merated by Whitaker in his list, published in 

 1892,' two only are mentioned as containing 

 red deer, viz. Helmingham Park (72 head) and 

 Somerleyton Park (20 head). 



Judging by the number of antlers which 

 have been found, this must formerly have 

 been a common animal in this county. Several 

 of these have been dredged up from the beds 

 of the Orwell and the Aide, and there are 

 now in the Ipswich Museum specimens from 

 the former river in various states of preser- 

 vation. Mr. Norgate has seen antlers of the 

 red deer, stated by their owner to have been 

 obtained from Undley Fen, Mildenhall. 



36. Fallow Deer. Cervus dama, Linn. 

 The following herds of fallow deer are 



mentioned in Mr. Whitaker's list, published 



in 1892 : — 



Ickworth Park . . 300 head, formerly 600 



Livermere Park . . 120 „ (about) 



Flixton Hall Park . 220 „ „ 



Helmingham Park . 260 „ small, black in 



colour 



Shrubland Park . . 150 „ 



Woolverstone Park . 400 „ 



Orwell Park ... 200 „ 

 Redgrave Park . . 60 „ (about) 

 Polstead Park . . 80 

 Campsey Ashe Park 60 

 Somerleyton Park . 35 



Besides the above, Ampton Park also con- 



tains a herd of fallow deer. Some were kept 

 in Christcliurch Park, Ipswich, until some 

 forty or fifty years ago. The ' dappled herd ' 

 of Euston Park, immortalized by Robert 

 Bloomiield in the Fakenham Ghosty disappeared 

 from there, as I am informed by Mr. W, G. 

 Clarke, about the year 1845 or 1846. 



37. Roe Deer. Capreolus capreoluSy Linn. 

 Bell — Capreolus caprea. 

 Though this animal has long been extinct 

 in Suffolk, its remains, found in more than 

 one part of the county, show it to have been 

 formerly not uncommon.' It has in one dis- 

 trict been re-introduced, and there are at the 

 present time roe deer living at large and 

 breeding within the Suffolk boundary. Mr. 

 Heatley Noble, in an interesting article en- 

 titled ' The Birds and other Animals of Thet- 

 ford Warren' {Zool. April 1903, p. 157), 

 quotes a letter from the owner of the warren, 

 W. Dalziel Mackenzie, Esq., where it is 

 stated that ' Roe Deer obtained from WUr- 

 temberg have been turned down in the young 

 Warren woods, and have increased consider- 

 ably.' Mr. Noble, in a letter dated 30 April 

 1903, has been good enough to supply the 

 following additional information : ' Queen's 

 Wood, where the deer were turned out, was 

 planted by Mr. Mackenzie. It is about 800 

 acres in extent, and runs down to the river.' * 

 He further adds : ' I have not heard of one on 

 the Norfolk side yet.' 



CETACEA 



38. Common Rorqual. Balanoptera muscu- 

 lus, Linn. 



'A much decayed specimen was cast ashore 

 at Kessingland about the 29th of October 

 1899.' (This was seen and identified by Mr. 

 Southwell.) The Rev. J. G. Tuck, in an 

 article which appeared at the time in Land 

 and Water recording this occurrence, says : 



The village of Kessingland was in a state of 

 excitement, the whale having been cast upon the 

 shore there and left high and dry, exhaling an 



' A Descriptive List of the Deer Forks and 

 Paddocks of England, Joseph Whitaker, F.Z.S. 

 (1892). 



odour which almost made the neighbourhood un- 

 bearable. The local authorities decided to cremate 

 it, and this with some difficulty was at last effected. 



39. Lesser Rorqual. Balanoptera rostrata, 

 Fab. 



* A female was captured in the river at 



' In East Anglia tabby cats are almost univer- 

 sally so called, the two words 'tabby' and ' Cyprus' 

 having a similar origin. 



' Mr. F. Norgate possesses a horn from the peat 

 at Burnt Fen, Mildenhall, and has been shovni 

 others, stated by their owner to be from Undley 

 Fen, Mildenhall. 



• The Little Ouse, which here divides Suffolk 

 from Norfolk. 



232 



