BIRD NOTES 99 



On one occasion an old and noted punt gunner 

 known as " Silky " Watson was sculling up in a 

 " wake " in the ice, with intent to try a shot at a 

 parcel of ducks asleep on the top of the ice on 

 the edge of a flat. The gunner was, however, to 

 be baffled, for at a most ticklish moment a Peregrine 

 made a dash at the fowl. With precipitate haste 

 they dived into the drain, rising at some distance 

 ahead, and so escaping. My informant would have 

 repeated the "broad Norfolk" made use of by the 

 disappointed Watson, but well knowing what a 

 vocabulary the old school of Breydoners had at 

 their command, even on ordinary occasions, I 

 preferred to imagine it instead. 



Some years ago, during an exceptionally hard 

 winter, Breydon was pretty well covered with ice, 

 except where here and there a "creek" kept open 

 a wake. In one of these openings several gunners 

 were on the lookout for a shot at the fowl, which 

 in numbers flew around overhead, anxious to feel 

 the water beneath them. Presently a Peregrine 

 loomed up and drove the fowl hither and thither. 

 Suddenly from a great height he was seen to 

 descend, and in a moment struck a fowl with such 

 force that it was killed outright, falling from under 



