BIRDS OF THE HARLESTON DISTRICT. 147 



118. *HERON (Ardea cinerea). " Harnser. ' 



In the spring of 1884, a party of Herons, which had haunted 

 the vicinity of Flixton Hall during the winter, took up their 

 quarters in a grove of lofty oaks near the Thicket Wood. 

 Great care was taken that the birds should not be disturbed, 

 and seven nests were built in the first year. In 1885 the 

 number of nests fell to three, and remained the same in 1886. 

 Last spring the little colony increased to four pairs. A single 

 pair of Herons have, in recent years, several times nested in 

 Gawdy Hall Wood.f A small herony has also been established 

 within the last seven years in the parish of Thorpe Abbots, the 

 Herons having chosen as a breeding station a plantation on the 

 grounds of Thorpe Hall. The number of nests has varied from 

 year to year, but has never exceeded seven, and last year only 

 three pairs of birds bred in the locality. 



119. NIGHT HERON (Nycticorax griseus). 



A bird of this species was shot in a fir-tree in the Vicarage 

 Garden, at Meiidham, on the 10th of May, 1879. 



120. WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (Anser albifrons).^ 



Several of these birds were shot at Wortwell in February, 

 1883. 



121. *WiLD DUCK (Anas boschas). 



Common. This bird breeds by the ponds in Gawdy Hall 

 Wood, and in other suitable localities where protected. 



122. SHOVELLER (Spatula clypeata). 



I have only noted two or three of these ducks shot in winter 

 along the Waveney. 



123. TEAL (Querquedula crecca). 



A regular winter visitant to our streams and marshes. 



124. WIGEON ( Mareca penelope}. " Smee Duck." 

 A winter visitor. 



t The following entry occurs in Mr. Whi tear's notebook : "A pair of 

 Herons bred three times at Gawdy Hall ; the eggs were taken twice, and the 

 young once, about the year 1808. " (Trans. Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' 

 .Society, vol. iii., p. 258.) 



+ Triangles of Geese frequently pass overhead in winter, but the birds 

 are rarely killed, and the White-fronted Goose is the only species I have had 

 an opportunity of examining. I might, however, with perfect safety, add the 

 Pink-footed Goose to my list. The Rev. H. T. Frere tells me he has identi- 

 fied the bird at Burston. 



