363 



THE BIRDS OF 

 THE LINCOLNSHIRE FENS AND WOLDS IN 1612. 



MICHAEL DRAYTON; 



WITH 



Annotations by JOHN CORDEAUX, M.B.O.U. 



[The stanzas here given, which are taken from the 23rd and 25th Songs of the 

 well-known Poly-olbion, a poetical description of the counties of England and 

 Wales, which was published about the year 1612, constitute, perhaps, the oldest 

 record of the Lincolnshire avifauna, and enable us in some measure to compare 

 its former state with that of the present day. It forms, therefore, with the anno- 

 tations, a fitting continuation of our series of papers on the natural history of 

 Lincolnshire. Some of the notes are by the late William Yarrell, as published by 

 him at p. 228 of the 'Annals of Natural History' for 1844, and one or two from 

 Dr. Samuel Johnson's edition of the ' British Poets.' For the names, which are in 

 conformity with the B.O.U. list of British Birds, and for most of the annotations, 

 we are indebted to Mr. Cordeaux, than whom no one knows the county and its 

 avifauna better. The authorship of the notes is shown by the initials S.J. (for Dr. 

 Johnson), W. Y. (for William Yarrell), and J.C. (for John Cordeaux).-EDS. Naturalist. ] 



From Ely all upon that eastern sea, 

 Then Lincolnshire herself, in state at length doth lay, 

 Which for her fatt'ning fens, her fish, and fowl, may have 

 Pre-eminence, as she that seemeth to outbrave 

 All other southern shires 



['THE FENS.'] 

 She 1 , by the Muse's aid, shall happily reveal 

 Her sundry sorts of fowl, from whose abundance she 

 Above all other tracts, may boast herself to be 

 The mistress, and (indeed) to sit without compare, 



With her just proper praise, thus Holland doth proceed : 



" My various fleets for fowl, O who is he can tell, 

 The species that in me for multitudes excel ! 

 The Duck 2 and Mallard 2 first, the falconer's only sport, 



1 ' She ' refers here to the fen district of Lincolnshire, or the ' Parts of Holland.' 



2 Anas Boschas L. ; female and male. The Peregrine Falcon was the species 

 most commonly used for duck-hawking, and our Wild Duck, from its courage as well 

 as its powers of flight, is almost the only duck that will take the air boldly and try 

 conclusions with him. I have been told by falconers, that if it blows hard, the 

 Wild Duck can make its way up wind so fast as to get clear off. The Peregrine 

 Falcon is frequently called the Duck-hawk. They breed on high rocks near the 

 coast, and subsist almost exclusively on water-fowl. — W.Y. 



Dec. 1886. 



