230 | EARLY ANNALS OF ORNITHOLOGY 
naturally directed to the western side of England, but he 
early became aware that on the east coast there lay a greater 
scope for the naturalist. Of Pennant’s numerous works 
none appeals to the naturalist more than his Scotch “ Tour,” 
published in 1771,* which is principally about North Britain, 
but he stopped a while to explore the still imperfectly drained 
fens of Lincolnshire on his way.t Thus seeking as he went 
for birds and antiquities, he visited Crowland, Swinehead and 
Spalding, and thence made his way to Lincoln. This was 
in June 1769, but the country was not new to him, for Pen- 
nant had already seen something of Lincolnshire in 1768. 
Lincolnshire was a land unique in its way, a land which had 
been styled by Thomas Fuller the Aviary of England, nor 
was that title misapplied, for we can well believe that the 
southern portion was still teeming with water-birds, in spite 
of the prodigious efforts of Vermuyden to drain it. 
In this oasis of plenty, the Ruff was common enough 
for one fowler to have netted seventy-two in a morning. 
That was exceptional, but in an ordinary season, that is to 
say between April and Michaelmas, a single man would take 
forty or fifty dozen, which after being fattened on bread and 
milk and hempseed, were worth two shillings or half a crown 
apiece. f § 
The wealth of the fenmen were the huge numbers of tame 
Geese, which were bred for the sake of their feathers. The 
unfortunate birds were made to undergo the cruel operation 
of plucking five times a year, the first time at Lady-day, for 
their feathers and quills, and after that for the feathers only. 
A single person would keep a thousand Geese, each of which 
would rear about seven young ones, so that towards the end 
of the breeding season he would become master of eight 
thousand.|| A gozzard (7.e., goose-herd) attended the flock, 
and twice a day drove the whole of them to water, which 
* “ A Tour in Scotland, and a Voyage to The Hebrides,’ 1771. The fifth 
edition published in 1790 contains several additions. 
t Idem, pp. 9-12. 
t “ British Zoology,” II., p. 460. 
§ Pennant’s Gambet ‘‘shot on the coast of Lincolnshire ’’ appears from the 
plate in the “ British Zoology ”’ (vol. II., pl. LX.X.) to have been a Reeve. 
|| “ British Zoology,” IL, p. 571. 
