musicus_), which occurs in the present day in the same numbers and
under precisely similar circumstances as Browne describes; but of
course this was the only species of wild swan known to him. The
remarkable recurvation of the trachea within the keel of the
sternum, which also prevails to a greater or less degree in four
out of the five or six species of Cygnus found in the Northern
Hemisphere, did not escape Browne's notice, although he was not the
first to describe it, and he rightly observes that this peculiarity
is absent in the Mute Swan (_C. olor_), but exists in a different
and even more exaggerated form in the Crane. He, however, was
mistaken as to the extreme northerly range which he assigns to this
species. So marked a feature as the absence of the "berry" on the
beak of this species did not escape Browne's observation, and he
refers to it in the eighth letter to Merrett, who in his second
letter to Browne remarks "the difference in the elk's bill by you
signified is remarkable to distinguish it from others of its kind,"
indicating that this distinction was previously unknown to him.
A white large & strong billd fowle called a Ganet[9] which seemes to
bee the greater sort of Larus. whereof I met with one kild by a
greyhound neere swaffam another in marshland while it fought & would not
bee forced to take wing another intangled in an herring net wch taken
aliue was fed with herrings for a while it may be named Larus maior
Leucophaeopterus as being white & the top of the wings browne.
[9] As a rule the Gannet does not approach the shore, except to
breed, but follows the shoals of fish far out at sea. The
circumstance mentioned by Browne is by no means singular, and
several such instances of storm-driven Gannets being captured far
inland are recorded. The "Scotch Goose, _Anser scoticus_,"
mentioned further on (p. 13 _infra_), is also in all probability
intended for the Gannet; it is the _Anser Bassanus sive Scoticus_
of Jonston. The "Marshland" here mentioned is a tract of country
reclaimed in ancient times from the sea, lying to the west of the
town of Lynn, of some 57,000 acres in extent, and bordering upon
the estuary of the Wash.
[_Fol. 7._] In hard winters I have also met with that large & strong
billd fowle wch clusius describeth by the name of Skua Hoyeri[10] [fr
_struck out_] sent him from the faro Island by Hoierus a physitian. one
whereof was shot at Hickling while 2 thereof were feeding upon a dead
horse.
[10] Willughby ("Ornithology," English Ed., p. 348) gives a good
description of the Great Skua (_Stercorarius catarrhactes_) under
the name of _Catarracta_, a skin of which he says was sent him by
Dr. Walter Needham, and rightly identified it with the Skua which
Hoier sent to Clusius, but his figure is evidently drawn from a
skin of the Great Black-backed Gull. Hoier, whose name so often
occurs about this time in connection with birds from the north, was
a physician, living at Bergen in Norway. The Great Skua still
breeds in sadly reduced numbers on the Shetland and Faroee Islands,
but is rarely met with in Norfolk.
As also that [strong _struck out_] large & strong billd fowle [Clusius
nameth _struck out_] spotted like a starling wch clusius nameth Mergus
maior farroensis[11] as frequenting the faro islands seated above
shetland. one whereof I sent unto my worthy friend Dr Scarburgh.
[11] The bird here mentioned is doubtless the Great Northern Diver,
_Colymbus glacialis_. In another place Browne again refers to it as
_Mergus maximus Farrensis_, which Clusius ("Exotic.," p. 102) calls
_Mergus maximus Farrensis_, a name used by Willughby as a synonym
for his "Greatest Speckled Diver or Loon" (p. 341). This bird is
known to our fishermen as the Herring Loon, the Red-throated and
perhaps also the Black-throated Divers being called Sprat Loons. It
is a pity Browne's "draught" is not forthcoming.
Here is also the pica marina[12] or seapye many sorts of Lari,[13]
seamewes & cobs. the Larus maior in great abundance [about _struck out_]
in [_written above_] herring time about yarmouth.
[12] The Oyster Catcher, or Sea Pie, is found in greater numbers on
the north-west portion of the County of Norfolk than on the eastern
shore; it breeds occasionally about Wells, where it is universally
known as the "Dickey-bird."
[13] Browne here refers to the family in general terms. The various
species of Gulls in their different stages of plumage were very
puzzling to the Ornithologists of the last century, and it is often
extremely difficult to say to what individual species they refer.
By _Larus major_ he would probably mean the Black-backed and
Herring Gulls which are found on the shore all the year round, most
frequently in the immature plumage, but they most abound "in
herring time." By far the commonest species at all times is
Browne's _Larus alba_ or Puet, the Black-headed Gull. Large flocks
of this species and _L. canus_ frequent Breydon and the tidal
shores, especially the young birds of the year. There are now two
large breeding-places of the Black-headed Gull in Norfolk, a very
old-established one at Scoulton Mere, and a more recent colony at
Hoveton Broad. The former extensive gullery at Horsey, mentioned by
Browne, has long since been banished by the drainage of the marsh
they frequented, and it is probable that a small colony which bred
on Ormesby Broad some forty years ago, owed its origin to their
banishment from Horsey. They, in their turn, deserted Ormesby on
the erection of the works for supplying Yarmouth with water about
the year 1855, and fixed upon Hoveton as their new home, in which
place, as at Scoulton, they are carefully preserved.
Professor Newton has been kind enough to furnish me with the
following note on the Terns. "_Larus cinereus_ of Aldrovandus (and
afterwards of Jonston), is said to be of three kinds: one with red
legs, apparently the Black-headed Gull, and figured by Jonston, the
second with yellow legs and a slender curved black bill, the third
with a pointed scarlet bill. Both these last were most likely
Terns--and all these were grey above and white below. Gesner quotes
Turner for _Sterna_, and there is no doubt that his bird of that
name was a Black Tern; but Gesner says that it is the _Stirn_ of
the Frisians, and figures a white and grey bird with a black head
only (most likely a Common Tern, but possibly one of the larger
species), as Sterna, thus using the word in a more general sense,
and it may have been so used in Browne's time. I see no
impossibility in people having thought of eating Terns in those
days [as to that _see Note_ 7, p. 6 _ante_]. The Common Tern was
most likely very abundant, and we know that the Black Tern was
exceedingly common in certain reed-beds, as stated by Turner, and
noisy beyond measure." The Great and Lesser Terns still nest in one
or two localities on our coast, although as the result of great
persecution in very reduced numbers. The Black Tern, or Mire Crow,
has quite ceased to do so.
Larus alba or puets in such plentie about Horsey that they sometimes
bring them in carts to norwich & sell them at small rates. & the country
people make use of their egges in puddings & otherwise. great plentie
thereof haue bred about scoulton [mere _struck out_] meere, & from
thence sent to London.
Larus cinereus greater & smaller, butt a coars meat. commonly called
sternes.
Hirundo marina or sea swallowe a neat white & forked tayle bird butt
longer then a swallowe.
The ciconia or stork[14] I have seen in the fennes & some haue been shot
in the marshes between this and yarmouth. [See also third letter to
Merrett and Appendix D.]
[14] Although it has been met with in Norfolk, more frequently than
perhaps in any other part of England, the Stork was never other
than a rare spring and autumn visitor to Norfolk. Turner writes of
it in 1544 as unknown in England, save as a captive, and Merrett a
hundred years later says it rarely flies hither, which is equally
true at the present time. Hewittson ("Eggs of Brit. Birds," Ed. 3,
ii., p. 309; under Crane) was evidently misled by some remarks made
by Evelyn, who visited Sir Thomas Browne in Norwich in October,
1671, and says in his diary that he saw Browne's "Collection of the
eggs of all the fowl and birds he could procure; that country,
especially the promontory of Norfolk, being frequented, as he said,
by several birds which seldom or never go further into the land--as
cranes, storks, eagles, and a variety of water-fowl." From this
Hewitson infers that the Stork bred in Norfolk, a construction
which the somewhat ambiguously worded passage will certainly not
bear. I imagine collections of eggs were not very common in
Browne's time.
[_Fol. 8._] The platea or shouelard,[15] wch build upon the topps of
high trees. they haue formerly built in the Hernerie at claxton &
Reedham now at Trimley in Suffolk. they come in march & are shot by
fowlers not for their meat butt the handsomenesse of the same,
remarkable in their white colour copped crowne & spoone or spatule like
bill.
[15] This interesting record has recently been supplemented by a
much earlier record of the breeding of the "Popeler," or Shovelard,
in Norfolk. Professor Newton ("Transactions of N. and N. Nat.
Soc.," vi., p. 158) has called attention to an ancient document
bearing date A.D. 1300, instituting a commission to inquire into
the harrying of the eyries of these and other birds, &c., at
Cantley and other places in Norfolk. Documents also exist, showing
that in 1523 they nested at Fulham in Middlesex, and in 1570 in
West Sussex, as pointed out by Mr. Harting in the "Zoologist" for
1877, p. 425, and 1886, p. 81, in each case constructing their
nests in trees. At what precise date this bird ceased to breed in
Norfolk and Suffolk is unknown, but Sir T. Browne's statement that
they were "shot by fowlers not for their meat, butt the
handsomenesse of the same," probably explains the circumstances
which brought about that event. The Spoonbill visits Norfolk
regularly every spring in small parties now more numerously than a
few years since, which possibly may be accounted for by the
destruction of nearly all its breeding-places in Holland, and it is
possible that with due encouragement it might again be induced to
breed in some of the localities in the Broads still suitable for
the purpose.
corvus marinus. cormorants.[16] building at Reedham upon trees from
whence King charles the first was wont to bee supplyed. beside the Rock
cormorant wch breedeth in the rocks in northerne countries & cometh to
us in the winter, somewhat differing from the other in largenesse &
whitenesse under the wings.
[16] The Cormorant continued to nest in the trees on the shore of
Fritton Lake for many years after Sir T. Browne's time. A
manuscript note in a copy of Berkenhout's "Natural History of Great
Britain and Ireland," published in 1769, is descriptive of a
Cormorant killed at Belton Decoy (near the same lake) on the 11th
September, 1775, and also states that "a vast number of these
birds, even to some thousands, roost every night upon the trees,"
being in the neighbourhood of the decoy they are never shot, and
"build their nests upon the top of these trees." According to Mr.
Lubbock ("Fauna of Norf.," Ed. 2, p. 174), "in 1825 there were many
nests at Herringfleet, also on Fritton Lake, and in 1827 not one."
We may therefore assume that they ceased to nest at Herringfleet in
1825 or 1826. It will be noticed that Browne made free use of young
Cormorants in his experiments as to the properties of certain drugs
(cf. Wilkin, iv., p. 452), which would seem to indicate that he
could obtain a plentiful supply of these birds. When the Cormorants
ceased to breed at Reedham is unknown. They are not unfrequently
seen now, generally in spring and autumn. The Rock Cormorant was
possibly the Crested Cormorant or Shag.
A sea fowl called a shearwater,[17] somewhat billed like a cormorant
butt much lesser a strong & feirce fowle houering about shipps when they
[clense _struck out_] cleanse their fish. 2 were kept 6 weekes
cra[=m]ing them with fish wch they would not feed on of themselues. the
seamen told mee they had kept them 3 weekes without meat. & I giuing
ouer to feed them found they liued 16 dayes without [any hin _struck
out_] taking any thing.
[17] Willughby's first acquaintance with the adult Manx Shearwater
("Ornithology," p. 334) was from a drawing sent him by Sir T.
Browne, who describes the bird, as above, under the accepted name
of Shearwater, and Willughby's excellent figure on plate lxvii.
(which plate I believe is not to be found in some copies of the
"Ornithology," and to which there is no reference in the text) has
all the appearance of having been drawn from life. The drawing here
referred to is mentioned by Ray in his "Collection of English words
not generally known," as having been received, with others, from
the "learned and deservedly famous Sir Thomas Browne, of Norwich."
George Edwards ("Gleanings of Nat. Hist.," vii., p. 315), prior to
1764. says that he went to the British Museum and examined Browne's
"old draught," but I could not find it among any of the papers I
examined. In Browne's fourth letter to Merrett, by an error in the
transcription, he is made by Wilkin to say that he kept twenty of
these birds alive for five weeks; in the MS. it is clearly only
two.
Barnacles[18] Brants Branta [wer _struck out_] are co[=m]on
[18] Barnacle and Brent Geese as we know them, the first by no
means common here; the Wild Goose, probably _Anser cinereus_; the
Scotch Goose (_see Note_ 9), probably the Gannet; and the
Bergander, an old name for the Sheld-drake, as used by Turner in
1544, and derived from the Dutch Berg-eende, German Bergente
("Dict. Birds," p. 835). Browne's statement that this bird formerly
bred about Northwold, or as it is even now occasionally called by
the natives, "Norrold," some twenty miles from the sea; or, as he
says, in the fourth letter to Merrett, "abounding in vast and
spatious commons," is very interesting, although not a solitary
instance, for I am informed that this bird breeds in the present
day on the Gull Lake, Twig Moor, in Lincolnshire; but that it
should have chosen such a nesting site is not more surprising than
the fact of the Ring Plover, quite as strictly a marine species,
frequenting the extensive sandy warrens about Thetford and Brandon,
near the south-west border of the county, for the same purpose, as
they still continue to do. But for Browne's mention of the
circumstance we should not have been aware of this singular
departure from the normal nesting habits of the Sheld-duck, as no
tradition I believe exists on the subject, and at present it only
nests in the sand-hills in some parts of the coast of N.W.
Norfolk.
sheldrakes sheledracus jonstoni
Barganders a noble coloured fowle vulpanser wch breed in cunny burrowes
about norrold & other places.
[_Fol. 9._] Wild geese Anser ferus.
scoch goose Anser scoticus.
Goshander,[19] merganser.
[19] This evidently refers to the Goosander, which as he says in
another place most answers to the Merganser.
Mergus acutirostris speciosus or Loone an handsome & specious fowle
cristated & with diuided finne feet placed very backward and after the
manner of all such wch the Duch call [Assf _struck out_] Arsvoote.[20]
they haue a peculiar formation in the leggebone wch hath a long & sharpe
processe extending aboue the thigh bone [it _struck out_] they come
about April & breed in the broad waters so making their nest on the
water that their egges are seldom drye while they are sett on.
[20] This well describes the Great-crested Grebe, which Browne
rightly says comes to us about the month of April. Browne notices
the peculiar formation of the tibia in this family of birds, but it
had long been known. The next, named _Mergus acutirostris
cinereus_, is most likely the same species in winter plumage. The
other birds mentioned are Mergus minor, the Little Grebe or
Dabchick, and _M. serratus_, the Red-breasted Merganser, even now
known as the "Saw-bill."
Mergus acutarostris cinereus [another d _struck out_] wch seemeth to bee
a difference of the former.
Mergus minor the smaller diuers or dabchicks in riuers & broade waters.
Mergus serratus the saw billd diuer bigger & longer than a duck
distinguished from other diuers by a notable sawe bill to retaine its
slipperie pray as liuing much upon eeles whereof we haue seldome fayled
to find some in their bellies.
Diuers other sorts of diuefowle more remarkable the mustela fusca &
mustela variegata[21] the graye dunne & the variegated or partie
coloured wesell so called from the resemblance it beareth vnto a wesell
in the head.
[21] The Smew, male and female, or either in the immature plumage
are here referred to.
[_Fol. 12._[I]] many sorts of wild ducks[22] wch passe under names well
knowne unto the fowlers though of no great signification as smee [wige
_struck out_] widgeon Arts ankers noblets.
[I] Fols. 10 and 11 are (10 written on both sides) on the
"Ostridge," _vide_ Wilkin, Vol. 4, p. 337-9. The paper is a
different size, 11-1/2 by 7-1/2, and the article is evidently bound
out of place.
[22] The local names of the various Ducks are simply legion and
differ both in time and place, not to mention the confusion
occasioned by sex and season when these birds were not so well
understood as at present. Many such names are quite lost, as
"Ankers" and "Noblets," but the following are a few examples: Adult
Smew, White Nun; female or immature Smew, Wesel Coot; the Wigeon
was known as the Smee, Whewer, or Whim; the Tufted Duck, Arts or
Arps; the Gadwall, Grey Duck or Rodge; the Pochard, Dunbird; the
Shoveller, Beck or Kertlutock (Hunt); Pintail, Sea Pheasant or
Cracker; Long-tailed Duck, Mealy Bird; Golden Eye, Morillon or
Rattle-wing; Scaup, Grey-back, and on Breydon White-nosed Day Fowl;
Scoter, Whilk; Velvet Scoter, Double Scoter (Hunt); Teal, Crick;
Garganey, Summer Teal, Pied Wigeon, Cricket Teal; other names might
be mentioned, and some will be found in the notes which will
follow. _Anas platyrhincus_ here mentioned is the Shoveller. It may
seem strange that the abundance of Teal should in any way be
attributed to the number of Decoys, but such was really the case,
the quiet and shelter afforded by these extensive preserves being
very favourable to the increase of all the members of the Duck
family, especially to those breeding in their immediate
neighbourhood. In the returns of the old Decoys, Teal figured
largely; in the present day they form a very much smaller
proportion of the spoils.
the most remarkable are Anas platyrinchos [_sic_] a remarkably broad
bild duck.
And the sea phaysant holding some resemblance unto that bird [in the
tayle _crossed out_] in some fethers in the tayle.
Teale Querquedula. wherein scarce any place more abounding. the
condition of the country & the very many decoys [mo _struck out_]
especially between Norwich and the sea making this place very much to
abound in wild fowle.
fulicae cottae cootes[23] in very great flocks upon the broad waters. upon
the appearance of a Kite or buzzard I have seen them vnite from all
parts of the shoare in strange numbers when if the Kite stoopes neare
them they will fling up [and] spred such a flash of water up with there
wings that they will endanger the Kite. & so [es _struck out_] keepe him
of [in of _struck out_] agayne & agayne in open opposition. & an
handsome prouision they make about their nest agaynst the same bird of
praye by bending & twining the rushes & reeds so about them that they
cannot stoope at their yong ones or the damme while she setteth.
[23] In the present day the Coots have nothing to fear from Kites
and little from Moor Buzzards; it may be that it is in consequence
of this that they have discontinued the practice of twining the
rushes and reeds above their nests in the manner mentioned above as
being an unnecessary precaution. I have, however, in some cases
noticed some approach to this practice. The Coot, although fairly
numerous on the Broads, appears to be far less so than formerly.
Lubbock, in his "Fauna of Norfolk," says on asking a Broadman how
many Coots there were on Hickling Broad, his reply was, "About an
acre and a half," referring to their practice of swimming evenly at
regular distances from each other without huddling together in
dense masses, like wild-fowl.
I am indebted to Professor Newton for the following additional note
on the Coot. He says "Turner, and after him Gesner, was puzzled as
to what was the _Fulica_ of classical writers (Virgil and others),
and thought it to be some kind of Gull; but the _Fulica_ of later
authors was certainly the Coot, as shown by Gesner's figure."
Gallinula aquatica[24] more hens.
[24] Moor-hens are of course numerous in all suitable localities,
and the Water Rail is still fairly common, but its eggs have a
market value and are (or were) sadly stolen; a few years ago a
London dealer is said to have received over 200 eggs of this bird
in one season from Yarmouth.
And a kind of Ralla aquatica or water Rayle.
[_Fol. 13._] An onocrotalus or pelican[25] shott upon Horsey fenne 1663
May 22 wch stuffed and cleansed I yet retaine it was 3 yards & half
between the extremities of the wings the chowle & beake answering the
vsuall discription the extremities of the wings for a spanne deepe
browne the rest of the body white. a fowle [not found _struck out_] wch
none could remember upon this coast. about the same time I heard one of
the kings pellicans was lost at St James', perhaps this might bee the
same.
[25] There is every reason to believe that a species of Pelican,
probably from its size _P. crispus_, was formerly an inhabitant of
the East Anglian Fens; its bones have been found in the peat on
three occasions, one of these being the bone of a bird so young as
to show that it must have been bred in the locality, and therefore
that the species was a true native and not a casual visitant. Bones
of a species of Pelican have also been found in the remains of
lake-dwellings at Glastonbury, in Somersetshire.