But to-day all the gunners are on the alert, as are the birdcatchers,[1] who, on securing a bird that in any degree differs from any they have before possessed, are careful to have an identification before disposing of it. In this way some rare Finches and other small birds have been detected, as the Serin Finch, Tawny Pipit, Scarlet Bullfinch, and others. The Warblers and other small Passeres were for long deemed scarcely significant enough for the attention of local observers. Unfortunately for themselves, their small size, agility of movement, and similarity of characteristics make their identification on the wing almost a matter of impossibility. Hence the growing inclination to shoot every unusually attired little stranger.
Of late years bird-value has been greatly enhanced by the eagerness for collecting specimens. Prices paid for local rarities have at times been very high. At the sale of the late Mr. Rising's collection of authenticated birds at Horsey, the following prices were realized:—
| White-winged Black Tern | 12 | guineas. |
| Brown Snipe | 13 | ,, |
| Red-breasted Pochard | 21½ | ,, |
| Buffel-headed Duck | 25 | ,, |
| Spoonbills, ♂ and ♀ | 10 | ,, |
| Hoopoes, ♂ and ♀ | 3 | ,, |
Before closing this introductory chapter, it remains to enumerate the names of several local men who have been conspicuous as ornithologists, sportsmen, and collectors.
In the earlier part of the century lived Charles Stuart Girdlestone, "whose union," say the Messrs. Paget, "of first-rate sporting accomplishments with the greatest ardour in the pursuit, gave him advantages which none here have since equalled." His birds passed into the hands of Mrs. Charles Baker, and have since been scattered. A Jack-Snipe was believed to be the only existing specimen, but Mr. B. Dye has a Stilt Plover, undoubtedly the same referred to by the Pagets as having been shot on the North River, which he purchased at the sale of the late Town Clerk, T.M. Baker's, effects. A Fork-tailed Petrel from the same collection is in the Yarmouth Tolhouse Museum. Lilly Wigg, who immortalized the Red-breasted Goose by eating it,
- ↑ The only net used by the few local bird-catchers is the clap-net.
