FAUNA AND FLORA OF NORFOLK : BIRDS. 505 
generally known. At that time, it must be remembered, that Ducks 
were killed whenever met with, and one well-known Norfolk 
sportsman is said to have remarked that his larder was never 
without Wild Ducks all the year round ; since a better state of 
things has existed the number of breeding Shovelers has largely 
increased, especially in North Norfolk, where, we fear, this increase 
has been attended with a corresponding decrease in the number 
of Garganey Teal. 
The Oadwall was only known in Norfolk as a visitor in winter 
and early spring previous to about the year 1850, when some 
pinioned birds were turned out at Narford ; since that time this 
species has become unite naturalised, and may now be regarded 
as numerous, especially on the Merton estate, where it breeds in 
numbers, and has now extended to Seoul ton Mere. 
The Pochard doubtless nested in small numbers in Norfolk, 
Scoulton Mere being the locality most referred to, early in the 
present century ; it has now quite deserted Scoulton, but breeds 
in considerable numbers in the South-west corner of the county, 
where, in 1850, it was only suspected of doing so. 
The Tufted Duck is another instance in point. It had long been 
suspected of occasionally nesting in the county, but had escaped 
detection until 1873, when Lord Walsingham found a nest; he 
believes it bred on his estate before 1871 ; it is now, however, 
a regular occurrence, and many nests are hatched off annually in 
that district. A correspondent of one of the writers in a letter, 
dated 30th January, 1S99, referring to shooting in the Thetford 
country, says : “ I have been much struck, the last few years, with 
the large number of Tufted Ducks and Gadwall we now find on 
the river above Brandon. Ten years ago Tufted Ducks were 
not common, and Gadwalls unknown ; three years ago we killed 
the first pair, now they breed there every year, and we have 
seen hundreds in one day. Only last Thursday [January 26th] 
I saw a flock of quite one hundred Tufted Ducks, and several 
small lots of Gadwall and Widgeon. Teal and Mallard are not so 
numerous as they used to be.” The latter statement is corroborated 
by Lord Walsingham. Many of the birds referred to in the 
letter quoted would probably be migrants, but doubtless a fair 
proportion were home-bred individuals. 
In the following notes it will be observed that a few of the 
