DECOYS AND THEIR WORKING 



THE first English decoy, probably set up on 

 Horsey Mere, was planned and constructed by Sir 

 William Wodehouse, of Waxham, Norfolk, in the 

 reign of James II. So says the author of ' The Land 

 of the Broads.' Whether the constructor of this 

 decoy invented the device independently, or whether 

 he drew the idea from a Dutch source, we know not ; 

 but, as we do know that decoying was practised in 

 Holland prior to the time of Sir William Wodehouse, 

 I think we may safely assume that the latter was the 

 case. Another writer, whose work is before me, says 

 that the decoy was undoubtedly introduced from 

 Holland. Be this as it may, the use of the decoy 

 soon spread over Norfolk and the neighbouring 

 counties, and thence to the whole of England, or 

 rather to those parts which duck visited in numbers 

 sufficiently great to render it remunerative. Only 



