9672 Birds. 



now to the Earl of llcliester. 32 I'^liz. it was found that from this vill, 

 to the sea by the Isle of Portland is an oestuary, raeer or flete in which 

 the sea ebbs and flows; and in it are 500 swans, — 410 white and 

 90 cygnets, — each of the value of 2s. 6d., the greater part whereof are 

 not marked, which are in the possession of Joan, late wife of Sir John 

 Young, Kt., &c. Without prescription all white swans in an open 

 river, unmarked, belong to the King by prerogative.* Wherefore a 

 writ was ordered out of the Exchequer to the Sheriff to seize all the 

 white swans not marked, who returned he bad seized 400 (Hil. Term, 



34 Eliz.). The defendants pleaded that the meer lay in this parish ; 

 that the Abbots were seized of the cestuary banks and soil (aolum) in 

 fee ; and that there was time out of mind a game or flight of wild 

 swans {volatus cygnorum el cig net forum) haunting there, which were 

 not accustomed to be marked ; and that the abbot and his predecessors 

 did breed up {puUulent) for the use of the kitchen and hospitality 

 some of the lesser cygnets, and used yearly to mark them by cutting 

 cflf the pinion of the wings to prevent tlieir flying away ; that 



35 Hen. VllL, the King granted it to Giles Slrangeways, Esq., whose 

 grandson Giles demised it for one year to the defendants," Occa- 

 sionally the hooper or wild swan is found among them, and may be 

 distinguished by its smaller size and the now well-known diff'erence in 

 the head and bill. 



Guillemot and Razorbill. — Both these birds are called "puflSns" 

 by the fishermen, and their eggs are considered to be very good eating. 

 The razorbill, however, is scarce compared with the guillemot. One 

 of the chief breeding-stations of the latter bird is a high chalky cliff, 

 near Ringstead, called " Swyre," from the Saxon, signifying a rock or 

 cliff". Here we saw hundreds of guillemots. I was anxious to shoot 

 a pair of them, but found that, notwithstanding their numbers, it was 

 by no means easy to do so : they were too high up to shoot from the 

 beach, and the cliff" was too perpendicular to allow of their being 

 killed from above. The only course which suggested itself was to be 

 lowered over the edge of the cliff" with a rope and take my gun with 

 me. Accordingly the rope was held fast, and I got a double shot, 

 killing two birds, which fell below, one on the beach, the other into 

 the sea; by going about three-quarters of a mile round, we were 

 enabled to pick up the first bird ; the other, which was only winged, 

 swam out to sea and was lost. Our next thought was to get a few- 

 eggs of this bird, and our active guide, John Meadon, made three 



* Coke, Reports, Part VII., p. 15. The case of swans between the King and Lady 

 Young. Trin. 34 Eliz. 



