3370 The Zoologist— Januaky, 1873. 



them, I send you a few particulars concerning those in this district. Mr. 

 Harting begins by naming one at Hutton Cranswick (Mr. Bethel). There 

 is some obscurity about this. I see Yarrell says, " Hutton, near Beverley, 

 the seat of Mr. Bethel": this is clearly a mistake, and I have been much 

 puzzled to find out what place was meant. First, Mr. Bethel never had his 

 seat at Hutton, the family seat of the Bethels having been for many genera- 

 tions at Rise, which anciently belonged to the noble family of Fauconberg ; 

 secondly, I cannot learn that any heronry ever existed at Hutton. I thought 

 perhaps Watton might have been intended, as it is in the lordship of Mr. 

 Bethel, but I have no knowledge of any heronry thei'e. One is mentioned 

 as formerly existing at Storkbill, with the addition, " hence the misnomer for 

 the locality." I believe the heronry ceased to exist some eighty years ago, 

 but I cannot think that our forefathers would be guilty of such a want of 

 discrimination as to mistake a heron for a stork, and all the old records show 

 that our ancestors were well acquainted with the heron. I find that " hill" 

 is a modern addition, and that the place was formerly called " Stork." It is 

 called " Estorch" in Doomsday. In 1354 the bailiff of the Provost's Court 

 seized and entered on a messuage at Stork, which was held by William de 

 Wele, who had neglected to render the customary relief of so many eels and 

 to perform other requisite services. In the following year Thomas Pople, 

 son of John le Stork, paid to the pi'ovost four hundred eels for the resumption 

 of his land at Stork. In the reign of Henry VI. the chaplain of the chantry 

 of Hull Bridge had a messuage and six acres of meadow in " Stork field," 

 and the chaplain of the chantry of Thearne had a house and garden at Stork. 

 From all this it will be seen that the place has been called Stork from old 

 time, and that there is really no misnomer at all. I will not hazard a con- 

 jecture that storks ever bred there ; but I have great respect for old names, 

 and looking at the fact that in years long since past Storkbill would be almost 

 entirely surrounded by water, and the low-lying carrs which stretch for miles 

 beyond it were little else than swamp and morass, it is by no means unlikely 

 that storks may have rested on their migrations at Storkbill. Be that as it 

 may, old names often recall to mind many pleasant recollections and associa- 

 tions, and I would not have our "Bustard's Nest" or our •' Butterbump" 

 Hall altered on any account ; for I do not believe these localities have been 

 named other than from the fact of bustards and bitterns breeding there ; 

 indeed, the places so called are to all appearances the very spots that would 

 be chosen by the respective birds for such a purpose. The heronry at Scorbro' 

 gradually decreased until about forty years ago, when the few remaining birds 

 forsook the place, partly in consequence of the trees decaying. Of the one at 

 Swanlaud, near Hull, I can gather no information, and though I doubt not 

 herons formerly bred there, yet it must have been a great number of years 

 ago. A heronry existed at Hotham, in this Riding, up to the year 1819, the 

 nests being placed in large Scotch fir and ash trees, and persons are still 



