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APPENDIX, 
adds, that in the season of 1849-50 he was not at Longueville, and no 
wild-fowl were taken, but he understood that the numbers on the 
decoy were greater than had been seen for some years ; — the winter 
was unusually severe. 
'March 23, 1850. I visited (accompanied by Mr. J. R. Garrett) a 
decoy constructed four years previously in the demesne at Caledon 
(the seat of the Earl of Caledon in the county of Tyrone). This is a 
decoy of the first class, and was made under the superintendence of 
Mr. Skelton, sen., who came from Lincolnshire for the purpose. It 
is one of the best and most extensive extant, as to the number of 
pipes, there being eight of them ; the largest in England has ten. 
There is much more water to some of them there, but 2 English acres, 
2 roods, and 23 perches were considered quite sufficient in extent ; the 
water is from two to three feet in depth. This decoy having only been 
worked for three seasons, no idea can yet be formed of its value, but I 
was much pleased to hear from Mr. Skelton, jun., who has the manage- 
ment of it, that there are as many wild-fowl in the demesne at Cale- 
don as he ever saw in connexion with any one decoy in Lincolnshire, 
or other part of England. Not more than about a thousand birds 
have yet been taken in it any season, though many more might have 
been, but it was considered unwise for the first few years, or until the 
wild-fowl had made a regular haunt of the place, to capture many. 
The greatest number of birds taken on one day was 140, viz., 76 
ducks, 54 wigeon, and 10 teal; — all obtained in three of the pipes. 
In addition to these three species, which are the staple of the decoy, 
there are taken, occasionally, shovellers (commonly called “spoon- 
bills ”), of which about ten or twelve couple were here during the 
present season, and the half of which still remain (23rd of March) ; 
they were first caught in November, in the winters of 1848 and 1 849 — 
pochards (called “pokers”) — tufted ducks (called “white-sided divers”) 
— three or four couple of pintails are taken during a season — one 
scaup (a female) was obtained in the last three winters. The golden- 
eye duck is not known to Mr. Skelton ; nor has he seen the shell- 
duck here, but it has been captured in the Lincolnshire decoys near 
the sea. 
In Caledon demesne he considers that about a hundred pair of wild 
ducks breed, and at least twenty pair of teal. Frequently during the 
summer of 1849 he saw an old pair of wigeon, and very early in the 
