TWENTY YEABS ON THE NOBFOLK FENS. 353 



Teal. — A few pairs of Teal annually breed here, and I 

 always flush some of the birds from the ditches during the 

 months of August and September. 



Dabchick. — A few Dabchicks still remain in the locality, nest- 

 ing on the Waveney, but I note a great decrease in this species. 



Moorhen. — The Moorhen appears to be a very uncertain 

 breeder in this neighbourhood. In the year 1885 scores of these 

 birds nested in the district, and although some hundreds of eggs 

 were taken, wherever one went the little black fluffy young could 

 bo seen, while the call of the mother birds and the weep of the 

 young ones could be heard all over the fens. These diminished 

 yearly till none were left. In 1894 we had another inrush, the 

 ditches seemed alive with them, 'and whilst walking across the 

 fens one morning I counted thirty nests containing eggs. Last 

 year I only saw six nests, and this season I have not noticed one. 



Lapwing. — Twenty years ago the Lapwings which nested with 

 us were almost countless, now not one remains. The year 1894 

 saw the last three couples topple and twist over the old familiar 

 breeding-grounds. What few remain are driven, mainly through 

 steam drainage, to the Suffolk side of the Waveney, where the 

 marsh is yet suitable for them, between the river and the 

 Herringfleet Hills. Owing to the long drought, the land is now 

 almost as hard as rock. The young Lapwings are thus seeking 

 their sustenance by the water's edge at the ditches. A Lapwing — 

 and we suppose it was the same bird — laid white eggs on the 

 same marsh several years in succession. 



Redshank. — Eedshanks, like the Lapwings, have entirely 

 forsaken the old haunts ; fifteen years ago, many couples of these 

 birds nested on the rushy marshes at the foot of the uplands, 

 quite two miles from the river. Just ten years ago the last 

 couple nested there, and in 1894 the last of the Redshanks nested 

 on the Norfolk side of the Waveney. In early spring by the 

 river side it is not uncommon to witness twenty Redshanks in 

 one flock before they pair for nesting. I have noticed this species 

 on the fens in almost every month of the year, and in 1894 I saw 

 one on Christmas Day. 



Snipe. — Few Snipe breed with us now, — I have not heard of 

 a nest being found during the past five years. Some, however, 

 lay on the Herringfleet Rands on the Suffolk side with the 



