Vlll INTRODUCTION. 



The birds that run the gauntlet at Flamborough 

 are next heard of at or near Spurn Point, and 

 after this, leaving Lincolnshire to the right near 

 Donna Nook, will cross the " deeps " and strike 

 the N. and N.E. coast of Norfolk. 



In the same manner any wanderers following 

 the Norwegian coast-line and thence striking 

 across the North Sea, will naturally make for 

 the nearest and most prominent land, and thus 

 first touch our eastern shores at Flamborough 

 Head, the Spurn, Donna Nook, and the Norfolk 

 coast all which localities are more or less famous 

 for the capture of our rarest continental autumnal 

 visitors. 



For centuries our county was par excellence 

 the home and retreat of almost every species of 

 wader and duck ; and although angrily desig- 

 nated by Henry VIII. as " ye moste brute and 

 beastlie of the whole realm," it must have been 

 a very paradise for the sportsman and naturalist. 

 Probably the ill-tempered monarch had not 

 the most pleasing recollections of his visit to 

 Grimsby ; for it was during this tour that he 

 first became aware of the profligate conduct of 

 his queen, Catherine Howard. 



The drainage of the fens, enclosure of com- 



