2 9 o OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



in Norfolk, once the headquarters of the avocet, 

 to know if they could procure me a specimen, I 

 was told by one that they were not seen oftener 

 than once in seven years ; by the other, that it 

 was very rare, and, if attainable at all, could not 

 be purchased for less than five pounds.' Pen- 

 nant says : 4 These birds are frequent in the 

 winter on the shores of this kingdom ; in 

 Gloucestershire, at the Severn's mouth ; and 

 sometimes on the lakes of Shropshire. We 

 have seen them in considerable numbers in the 

 breeding-season, near Fosdyke Wash, in Lincoln- 

 shire.' 



Saunders, in his * Manual of British Birds,' 

 thus refers to the present scarcity of the avocet : 

 ' Reclamation of fenland gradually circumscribed 

 its haunts ; a large colony at Salthouse was 

 destroyed, as Mr. J. H. Gurney was informed, 

 in consequence of the demand (especially from 

 Newcastle) for avocets' feathers for dressing arti- 

 ficial flies ; and egg-collectors also contributed to 

 the decrease of the species, which by 1824 had 

 probably ceased to nest in England.' 



It is impossible to gainsay such well-known 

 authorities, but, as a fisherman, I am at a loss 

 to understand for what purpose the makers of 

 artificial flies, whether salmon or trout flies, could 

 have required the feathers of the avocet. The 

 plumage of the bird is black and white, neither of 

 which colours is used, except very sparingly, in 

 the manufacture of either salmon or trout flies. 



