xviii INTRODUCTION. 



at Firle, the only one now worked, tte captures at which are 

 very small j at Tangmere, Angmering, Tortington, Glynde) 

 and Peasmarsh, all of which have ceased to he worked, on 

 account of the increased drainage and the disturbance 

 caused by the railways ; but all my attempts to obtain any 

 of the Decoy books, or indeed any information as to the 

 number or species formerly captured, or anything whatever 

 beyond what has been stated by Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey, 

 in his lately published interesting and exhaustive work, 

 ' The Book of Duck Decoys,' have failed, except in the 

 case of that at Ratton, the proprietor of which, Freeman 

 Thomas, Esq., most courteously forwarded me a book of 

 entries dating from 1793 to 1827, and from 1852 to 1861. 

 The only species mentioned are the Wild Duck, Teai and 

 Wigeon, Winders, which name is applied to the Wigeon, 

 though I never before heard of the term in Sussex, and 

 Divers, which may allude to the Scaup Duck, which is 

 generally known by this name. Of these, the numbers 

 caught from 1793 to 1827 were, of Ducks 2903, of Teal 446, 

 of Wigeon only 2. There is no further entry till 1852, 

 from which date to 1861 there appear to have been taken, 

 of Ducks 8326, of Teal 5075, of Wigeon 175. Besides 

 these there are recorded 827 head of Ducks and Teal 

 mingled together, as well as 25 Winders and 7 Divers. My 

 thanks are also due to E. J. Mostyn, Esq., the agent to the 

 Duke of Norfolk, who most kindly forwarded to me a copy 

 of the information supplied to Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey. 



In conclusion I will only add, that as I have found it 

 a life-long pleasure to investigate the works of the Creator, 

 so wonderfully and beautifully displayed in the Natural 

 History of the " Fowls of the air," so I hope that the 

 results of my studies, thus presented in this volume, may 

 help those who come after me to enjoy the same pleasure. 



