BIRDS 136. Gannet or Solan Goose. Sula bassana (Linn.) A rare autumn and winter visitant to the coast, sometimes driven inland by rough weather. Most of those obtained have been young birds in the spotted plumage, and an old white bird is quite a rarity. 137. Common Heron. Jrdea cinerea,Liinn. Locally, Harnser or Heronshaw. From a fancied resemblance of its cry to the word, the heron is often alluded to as ' Frank ' or ' Old Franky.' It is a resident having several colonies in the county, of which those at Orwell Park near Ipswich and Blackheath on the river Aide were the largest. Recent inquiries have elicited that both these heronries are sadly diminished, as in 1902 neither had more than about six nests. In 1893 and 1894 the herons at Blackheath were much disturbed by rooks, which per- sistently sucked the eggs and left the ground under the trees strewn with shells (Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain). These two seasons were unusually dry and the rooks possibly had difScuIty in obtaining food. There are how- ever more recently established but flourishing heronries at Broke Hall near Ipswich and at Walberswick, both of which may be oflFshoots from the older ones. Herons formerly bred at Herringfleet, but not for many years past, though there is a fine heronry at Reedham, just over the Norfolk border, where the birds are strictly protected (Col. Leathes). There were sixteen nests in April, 1903, at Flixton Hall near Bungay, where the herons are also well looked after (Sir Fredk. Adair). In west Suffolk there is one at Cavenham (Rev. E. A. Jones) and in 1902 a few pairs nested at Chimney Mills near Bury on the Culford estate (Mr. L. Travis). In winter herons are scattered all over the county, too often to fall victims to the prowling gunner, and are sometimes seen displayed as ' show-birds ' in the game shops. In west SuflFolk the heron is protected under the Wild Birds' Protection Act and also its eggs, so it is to be hoped that ^o fine and interesting a bird will always hold its own and never be numbered among the ' extinct breeders.* 138. Purple Heron. J rdea purpurea, Li'mn. A rare visitant, hitherto only recorded from the eastern side of the county and usually in autumn. Those which occur are in most cases young birds which have probably gone astray when migrating from their breeding grounds in Holland. A fine pair in the Ipswich Museum were brought in the flesh to a bird-stuffer in that town (Babington), but it does not follow as a matter of course that they were killed in Suffolk or even in England. 139. Squacco Heron. Ardea ralloides,Scopoi. A very rare summer visitant, of which the only record for perhaps half a cen- tury is that of a female shot in Thorpe Mere near Aldeburgh on 14 June, 1882. Mr. Hele had it in the flesh and writes, ' It had been feeding on the Pandalus annuUcornis or grey shrimp, also small eels. It was in most perfect plumage. The ovary contained impregnated eggs ' {Notes about Aldeburgh, ed. 1890, p. 82). 140. Night-Heron. Nycticorax griseus (Linn.) A rare visitant which has been obtained a few times, the last occurrence being in June, 1883 (Babington). 141. Little Bittern. Ardetta minuta (Linn.) Several little bitterns have been shot in the county, and many more may have come and gone without being noticed, as its small size and habit of frequenting reed-beds often enable it to escape observation. Most of those recorded have been summer visitants, and there can be little doubt as to its having formerly bred in the eastern counties. 142. Bittern. Botaurus stellaris (Linn.) Though eggs of the bittern were taken in Norfolk as recently as 1868 there is no posi- tive record of its having bred in Suffolk, but it was probably a resident both in the fen- land near Mildenhall and also in the vicinity of Lowestoft. Hardly a winter passes with- out one or more being shot, and like other winter migrants they are much more numer- ous in some seasons than in others. Early in February, 1901, a bittern was caught by a dog at Ampton and conveyed to the Zoo- logical Gardens, but it soon died and was returned to the donors, for whom it was pre- served by Mr. Travis of Bury. It was a small bird but in beautiful plumage. 143. White Stork. Ciconia alba, Bechstein. A rare summer visitant which has not been obtained or seen for upwards of thirty years. There is one in the Ipswich Museum shot at Sudborne in 1830 and given by the late Sir Richard Wallace, and one was seen in the meres near Aldeburgh on several occasions in the spring of 1875. 144. Black Stork. Ciconia nigra (Linn.) Even rarer than the white stork, but two or three have been recorded. One shot on 197
