BIRDS The omission of the Canada goose and of the Egyptian goose has been already axplained. 153. Whooper Swan, stein. Cygnus musicus, Bech- 18 70-1 and 1 890-1 were both great ' swan years,' in the former of which more than twenty whoopers were shot near Alde- burgh, and in the latter a good many were obtained. One gunner shot five in the river Aide at one discharge of his punt gun, and another shot three swans, of which the species was not recorded, at one shot with a shoulder gun. A fine old cock whooper will often turn the scale at over 20 lb. and there seems always to be a sale for swans of any kind in the London market. Probably all are utilized for food in some form or other. 154. Bewick's Swan, rell. Cygnus bnvicki, Yar- This bird shares with the whooper the popular name of ' wild swan,' and though not so common as its larger congener, when whoopers arrive in unusual numbers Bewick's swan may always be expected. An adult in the Tostock rectory collection was shot in the river Aide as late as March, 1891, and before it was skinned the bright yellow of the bare skin round the eyes (technically called the orbit) was very conspicuous. Bewick's swan is a much smaller bird than the whooper, and 13 lb. is a good weight even for an old male. 155. Mute Swan. Cygnus olor (J. F. Gmelin) Though many mute swans stray from private waters and lose their lives Mr. Saimders has suggested [Manual, p. 417) that it does not follow that all which are shot are escaped birds, ' for the mute swan still breeds in a perfectly wild state at no greater distance from us than Denmark and the south of Sweden, whence it is forced by cold to migrate in winter.' These countries it may be pointed out are a good thousand miles nearer the east coast of England than any known breeding-place of Bewick's swan. Swan-breeding has never been carried on in Suffolk on so large a scale as in Norfolk, and the fattening of cygnets for the table has not often been attempted. The late Rev. W. G. Tuck, who as a Norfolk man well knew the edible value of the swan, had one or two young ones fattened and killed in the early ' sixties,' and though the experiment was entirely successful from an edible point of view it was hardly so as a matter of expendi- ture and result. 156. Common Sheld-Duck. Tadorna cornuta (S. G. Gmelin) Locally, Burrow-Duck. This fine wildfowl is a resident breeding in rabbit holes in several localities near the coast, though the birds which remain all the year are few in number compared with the winter migrants. Of these Mr. Hele says (Notes about Aldeburgh, ed. 1870, p. 151) :
- Almost every winter many shieldrakes visit
us, they fly together in large flocks, and most beautiful they appear. The white of the wings reminds one strongly of a patch of the purest possible snow having fallen upon their backs.' Being entirely shore and mud- feeders they are utterly valueless for the table, and it is a pity to shoot such interesting and ornamental birds unless they are required as specimens. The eggs, which are white and glossy, are sometimes as many as twelve in number, and the drake and duck are much alike. 157. Ruddy Sheld-Duck. Tadorna casarca (Linn.) Till 1892 a single bird shot in the mere near Aldeburgh in July, 1886, was the only Suffolk specimen of this rare south-eastern duck, but in the summer of 1892 a remark- able migration occurred of which Mr. F. M. Ogilvie has given full details in the Zoologist for that year (pp. 392-8). Three more were then shot in the meres near Aldeburgh and others seen, but there is no record of any having been obtained or even observed since that date. 158. Mallard or Wild Duck. Anas boscas, Linn. Locally, Wild Duck, Grey Duck. A resident throughout the county, breeding in marshes, on heaths, and occasionally in a place as high and dry as the head of an old pollard tree. The resident birds pair in February and often have eggs in March, and these should be spared after 10 February at the latest. Many ' foreigners ' come over in winter, which are smaller and slimmer birds than the resident race. At least three decoys are still worked in Suffolk, of which one is at Fritton Lake near Lowestoft and another at Iken near Aldeburgh. In the former 2,765 fowl were taken in the season of 1 900-1 and about half that number in the following year, but some sixty years ago when decoys were worked at both ends of the lake the numbers were from twelve to fifteen thousand annually (Col. H. M. Leathes). The present owner of the Iken decoy (Mr. A. H. E. 199
