

Common Bittern Grey -Lag Goose 81 



6. Botaurus stellaris (Linn.). Common Bittern. 



Considerable numbers of the Common Bittern certainly 

 bred in this county in the eighteenth and up to the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century, a nest having been found near the 

 Cam so late as 1821. Probably it was once a more common 

 bird than is usually supposed in Britain, for records of such 

 matters were but seldom kept in earlier times, but since 1868 

 no nest has been actually discovered, although the booming 

 note has been heard in Norfolk in the spring season within 

 the last twenty years, and no doubt an occasional pair would 

 breed in suitable localities if unmolested. Drainage operations 

 have apparently been the main cause of the disappearance of 

 this migratory bird, but there is some slight hope of its 

 resuscitation now that adequate protection is likely to be 

 afforded. It may be remarked that bones of the Bittern 

 occur in some numbers in the peat deposits. 



7. Anser cinereus (Meyer). Grey-Lag Goose. 



This species is doubly interesting to those who study the 

 ornithology of Cambridgeshire, for not only have bones attri- 

 buted to it been found in the peat of the Fen districts, but 

 there is also direct evidence that it bred within our limits 

 until 1773. In these latter days, when as far as Britain is 

 concerned it is confined as a resident species to the north of 

 Scotland, it seems almost impossible to believe that it could 

 have been common in the eastern counties of England little 

 more than a century ago ; but such was undoubtedly the case, 

 and it is equally certain that no other Goose has yet been 

 proved to have nested in a wild state in the kingdom. Daniel, 

 in his Rural Sports, Ft n. Vol. n. p. 244 (1802 ?), says : 

 "This species inhabits the English fens, and it is believed 

 does not migrate, as in many countries on the Continent, but 

 resides and breeds in the fens : they sit thirty days, and 

 hatch eight or nine young, which are often taken ; are 

 esteemed most excellent meat, and are easily made tame. 

 M. & s. 6 



