178 BIRDS OP NORFOLK. 



This charming little duck is a case in point. Hunt 

 remarks (ii., p. 311), " We had a specimen of the 

 male of this species [garganey] sent us to be pre- 

 served in the month of May, 1819. And a pair of these 

 birds were shot on the 6th May, 1817, at Hockwold, in 

 the county of Norfolk ; the female had a perfect egg in 

 her*; from which circumstance they would doubtless 

 have bred in that neighbourhood." He then continues : 

 " This fact proves what has not been before ascertained, 

 that some of this species continue in England the whole 

 year," a conclusion now known to be erroneous, and prob- 

 ably arrived at on the assumption that its winter habits 

 coincided with those of its near relative Anas crecca. Mr. 

 Lubbock says that " a friend [Mr. Girdlestone] received a 

 pair alive in March, 1822, from the Winterton decoy, the 

 female of which deposited an egg in the basket during the 

 journey ; " and then, still quoting his friend Mr. Girdle- 

 stone, adds : " Garganey breed often in Norfolk ; but, as 

 they deposit their eggs in the most inaccessible reed 

 bushes, their nests are never discovered ; " the former 

 part of which statement is perfectly true, but the latter, 

 although it has been frequently quoted, is certainly not 

 in accordance with their habits in the present day. Mr. 

 Lubbock himself does not seem to have been possessed 

 of more information in 1845, as he only knew of the 

 fact of its breeding here from finding the young in 

 autumn, and remarks that it " is rarely seen during 

 severity of weather ; " indeed, he adds, U I cannot recol- 

 lect a single instance," seemingly, like his predecessors, 

 not being fully aware that with us this species is strictly 

 a summer migrant. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear, 

 in their "Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds," 

 1825, quote the Hockwold incident mentioned above to 

 support their statement, that "it seems probable the 

 garganey sometimes breeds in Norfolk." The brothers 

 C. and J. Paget, in their " Natural History of Yar- 

 mouth and its Neighbourhood," 1834, quote Mr. Girdle- 



* Professor Newton informs me that among the eggs in the 

 late Mr. Scales's collection, which were not burnt, and came into 

 his possession, is one marked " Garganey, cut out of the bird." 

 This is quite likely to be the egg mentioned above. 



