168 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



But to-day all the gunners are on the alert, as are the bird- 

 catchers,* who, on securing a bird that in any degree differs from 

 any they have before possessed, are careful to have an identification 

 before disposing of it. In this way some rare Finches and other 

 small birds have been detected, as the Serin Finch, Tawny Pipit, 

 Scarlet Bullfinch, and others. The Warblers and other small 

 Passeres were for long deemed scarcely significant enough for 

 the attention of local observers. Unfortunately for themselves, 

 their small size, agility of movement, and similarity of charac- 

 teristics make their identification on the wing almost a matter of 

 impossibility. Hence the growing inclination to shoot every 

 unusually attired little stranger. 



Of late years bird-value has been greatly enhanced by the 

 eagerness for collecting specimens. Prices paid for local rarities 

 have at times been very high. At the sale of the late Mr. 

 Rising's collection of authenticated birds at Horsey, the following 

 prices were realized : — 



White-winged Black Tern 

 Brown Snipe 

 Red-breasted Pochard . 

 Buffel-headed Duck 

 Spoonbills, ^ and $ 

 Hoopoes, $ and $ 



12 guineas. 

 13 

 21* 

 25 

 10 

 3 



Before closing this introductory chapter, it remains to enume- 

 rate the names of several local men who have been conspicuous 

 as ornithologists, sportsmen, and collectors. 



In the earlier part of the century lived Charles Stuart Girdle- 

 stone, "whose union," say the Messrs. Paget, "of first-rate 

 sporting accomplishments with the greatest ardour in the pursuit, 

 gave him advantages which none here have since equalled." His 

 birds passed into the hands of Mrs. Charles Baker, and have 

 since been scattered. A Jack-Snipe was believed to be the only 

 existing specimen, but Mr. B. Dye has a Stilt Plover, undoubtedly 

 the same referred to by the Pagets as having been shot on the 

 North River, which he purchased at the sale of the late Town 

 Clerk, T. M. Baker's, effects. A Fork-tailed Petrel from the 

 same collection is in the Yarmouth Tolhouse Museum. Lilly 

 Wigg, who immortalized the Red-breasted Goose by eating it, 



* The only net used by the few local birdcatchers is the clap-net. 



