A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 1 89 1 the present writer classed the oyster- catcher with the extinct breeders, but on 3 June, 1893, the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain found a nest on the Suffolk coast with three eggs just hatching, and on 5 June saw a pair evidently breeding on one of the rivers, add- ing that in 1894 they were certainly breeding again on the shore, and that a boy told him he had more than once found the nest of the ' olive,' as he called it (F. C. R. J. in litt.). This is an interesting case of birds returning to old breeding grounds, and this handsome species may perhaps be described as a resident though very scarce and local. 206. Avocet. Recurv'irostra avocetta, Linn. This bird has been extinct as a breeder in the British Islands for more than half a cen- tury, but Mr. Hele was able to write in 1870, ' I have been informed by a trustworthy old gunner since dead that he could distinctly remember this species, called by the local name of the awl-bird, breeding not infre- quently in the mere-lands at Thorpe.' The death of the informant must have taken place some time between 1859 and 1870, and he might have been a bird-nesting boy at any time between 1800 and 1820, so it seems reasonable to believe that the avocet continued to breed in Suffolk as long as it did in Norfolk, where it is known to have bred till about 1822 or 1824. There could hardly have been a place in England better suited to its habits than the mere and fen at Thorpe before the railway was made and when all the district was quiet, but there were probably other places both north and south of Thorpe in which it bred. Mr. T. M. Spalding about 1846 wrote of the avocet, 'Now very rare; has been killed at Orford and Easton Broad.' The avocets which bred in Suffolk were undoubtedly summer migrants, and when any occur now they usually appear in spring. A pair visited the old haunts at Thorpe in April, 1878, of which the hen was shot, and on 4 May, 1887, five out of a flock of six were shot on Breydon, where they now have the benefit of careful protection. 207. Black-winged Stilt. Himantopui candidus, Bonnaterre. There is a rather ancient specimen of this bird in the Bury Museum (Dennis collection) said to have been ' shot at Orford but not known in what year.' Mr. Dennis was so careful to preserve full ' data ' of the birds he stuffed that such a rare bird would have all particulars affixed to the case, and he probably bought it already mounted. In the Zoologist for 1875 (p. 4634) Mr. Stevenson records one shot in July of that year on Outney Common near Bungay, and if the locality is correct this bird was killed just within the Suffolk boundary. Dr. Babington mentions one or two more shot ' at Yarmouth ' or ' on Brey- don ' many years ago [Catalogue, p. 239). 208. Grey Phalarope. Phalaropus fulicarius (Linn.) Not very uncommon on the coast as an autumnal visitant, but never met with on its northward journey in spring. In winter plumage it rather resembles the sanderling at the same season, but is easily recognized by the lobed membranes of the feet. 209. Red-necked Phalarope. Phalaropus hyper- boreus (Linn.) Though this species breeds in Orkney and Shetland, and the nearest breeding grounds of the grey phalarope are in Iceland, it is much the rarer of the two in Suffolk, and years often pass without its occurrence. Mr. Hele had to wait twenty years before a specimen came into his hands. 210. Woodcock. Scohpax rusticula, Linn. A woodcock's nest in Suffolk is quite a rare thing, but Dr. Babington [Catalogue, p. 146) mentions ten places where it is believed to have bred once at least. To these may be added Monk's Wood at Bradfield, where four young ones were hatched early in April, 1897, and three eggs taken in the follow'ng year, and Rattlesden, where there was a nest with four eggs in 1900. But the bird is practically a winter migrant, arriving about the middle of October. In October, 1865, one struck the weather-vane on St. Mary's Church at Bury and was picked up under the tower with the neck torn open. Wood- cocks have been seen at Aldeburgh on several occasions coming in over the sea, usually directly against the wind, and after the fatiguing effort of the migration flight have been known to drop into gardens or even on the bare shingle under cover of a fishing- boat (Hele). In Suffolk as elsewhere they vary a good deal in colour and size, and a small red bird shot at Tostock in December, 1893 (rectory collection) weighed barely 10 oz., while a large dark specimen will often run up to 13 oz. or more. The woodcock usually rises in silence, but one flushed at Tostock on 17 March, 1894, uttered aery like ' cack-cack-cack.^ It is an early breeder and even in Scotland often has eggs in March. Jo6
