THE LATE LORD LILFORD. 245 



encourage every branch of sport, even though prevented at times 

 from taking an active part in it — we have known him to attend a 

 meet of the Otter-hounds in his Bath chair — he commenced, in 

 1885, the construction of a decoy at Aldwincle, not far from 

 his home, under the direction of Gilbert Skelton, one of an 

 ancient family of decoymen who came from Friskney, in Lincoln- 

 shire.* This decoy is triangular in form, and has three pipes, 

 one at each corner. It is situated in the valley of the Nene, at 

 a spot likely to be attractive to wildfowl, which not only pass 

 over this valley in large numbers, but also rest there on their 

 migration, especially when the river is in flood. In this spot 

 Lord Lilford has seen from 1000 to 2000 wildfowl on the low 

 lands, when the water is out along the course of the Nene, and 

 has obtained almost every kind of duck there, including Gadwall. 

 Spotted Rail and Water Rail also have been snared in the decoy.f 



In the direction of the acclimatisation of exotic game-birds 

 mention should be made of the experiment carried out by Lord 

 Lilford to introduce the Virginian Colin (Ortyx virginianus) into 

 Northamptonshire. A considerable number of these birds were 

 imported by him and turned out, but, for reasons which he 

 has stated ( ; Birds of Northamptonshire,' vol. i. p. 300), the 

 experiment was not regarded as very successful. Some Long- 

 eared Owls were turned out by him in a suitable locality, and 

 established themselves under his protection (Zool. 1895, p. 47), as 

 was likewise the case with the Little Owl {Athene noctaa), several 

 of which were turned out at Lilford Hall, in July, 1888 (cf. Zool. 

 1889, p. 426; 1891, p. 46; 1892, p. 90). 



Of the great encouragement given by the deceased nobleman 

 to the study and advancement of ornithology it is almost 

 unnecessary to speak ; his liberality in that direction to the 

 Zoological Society of London, the Northamptonshire Natural 

 History Society, and the British Ornithologists' Union, of which 

 he was for many years President, being well known to all 

 interested in such pursuits. 



* Of this remarkable family, various members of which have constructed 

 or remodelled nearly all the best decoys in the country, some account is 

 given by Sir R. Payne Gallwey, in his ' Book of Duck Decoys,' 1886, pp. 12-14. 



f For remarks on the wildfowl seen at this decoy see the " Notes on the 

 Ornithology of Northamptonshire," ' Zoologist,' 1891, pp. 41-42 ; 1892, 

 p. 202 ; 1893, pp. 89-90 ; 1894, p. 211 : 1895, p. 48. 



