A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK Breydon in June, 1877, was bought at Mr. Stevenson's sale for the Norwich Museum, and Dr. Babington mentions having seen another which was shot at Stoke-by-Nayland in 1881. 145. Glossy Ibis. Plegadis falcinellus (Linn.) Only one bona-fide Suffolk specimen of this accidental visitant has been obtained, an adult female shot at Blundeston near Lowestoft in May, 1850 {Birds of Norfolk, ii. 193). 146. Spoonbill. P lata lea leucorod'ta, IJinn. ' The platea or shovelard, which build upon the tops of high trees. They formerly built in the heronry at Claxton and Reedham ; now at Trimley, in Suffolk. They come in March, and are shot by fowlers, not for their meat, but for the handsomeness of the same ; remarkable in their white colour, copped crown, and spoon or spatule like bill.' This most interesting note of the Norfolk naturalist Sir Thomas Browne is quoted by the author of the Birds of Norfolk (ii. 184), who assigns to it the date of 1688. The spoonbill is now by no means one of the rarest spring and summer visitants, and its pure white plumage and long legs make it a conspicuous bird. In the ' sixties ' and * seventies ' it was frequently seen about the river and meres near Aldeburgh, and the Hele collection at Ipswich possesses two local specimens. In the Zoologist for 1 90 1 , Mr. Patterson was able to write from Yarmouth : ' Scarcely a day has passed since early April to this day of writing (June 2 1st) but what one or more spoon- bills have been in sight on Breydon. First one was seen on April loth, twelve on April 27th, and five more next day — seventeen in all ! Seven observed on May 7 th ; I saw two on May i6th quite near my houseboat, and I sailed up to a couple on May 17th.' No bird has profited more by the watchful over- sight now exercised on Breydon than this, as it can be seen through the watcher's glass a mile or more away. These and other spring visitants probably reach Breydon vii Suffolk. 147. Grey Lag-Goose, yinser cinereus, Meyer. Though this is the only goose breeding in the British Islands, and the only one known ever to have done so, it is in Suffolk the rarest of the four grey geese and quite an uncommon winter visitant. In September, 1870, three frequented the meres near Alde- burgh and associated with the geese kept by the cottagers at Thorpe. One of them was shot and proved to be a very fine old gander slightly marked with black on the under parts (Ipswich Museum). 148. White-fronted Goose. (Scopoli) yinser albifrons A rather uncommon winter migrant, though Mr. Hele mentions that in the winter of 1870— I enormous ' skeins ' visited the Aldeburgh neighbourhood. Some of the old birds are very richly marked with black on the breast and belly, and like the grey lag- goose this species has a white nail on the tip of the beak. 149. Bean-Goose. Jnser segetum (J. F. Gmelin) This is the common ' wild goose ' of Suffolk, and a flock seen flying over in west Suffolk during the winter may safely be said to be bean-geese. * On some of the farms near the coast and river at Sudbourne and Gedgrave wild geese came in such numbers to feed on the young growing corn that the farmers had to employ boys to scare them away. One farmer used to have yarn stretched between sticks all over the fields frequented by them. This was probably about sixty years ago and my father recollects it well ' (G. T. Rope). The rearing of geese on a large scale was formerly a recog- nized industry in East Anglia, and in 1902 more than a thousand geese brought over from Holland when quite young were turned down on some fields at Tostock, many of which showed plain traces of bean-goose ancestry. 150. Pink-footed Goose. Anser brachyrhyn- chus, Baillon. Next to the bean-goose, which it resembles in having a black nail on the beak, this is the most common grey goose, being in some years the more abundant of the two. It is of course a winter migrant, and at Aldeburgh has been seen in flocks of eighty or a hun- dred in the marshes south of the town (C. C. Clarke in litt.). 151. Barnacle-Goose. Bernicla leucopsis (Bech- stein) A decidedly rare winter visitant of which two were obtained in the river near Alde- burgh 20 September, 1887 (Hele). This is an unusually early occurrence. 152. Brent Goose. Bernicla brtnta (Pallas) Locally, Prussian Goose or Brant. In hard winters this marine goose is quite abundant, though it is never obtained in the same numbers as in Essex. It has been noticed on migration from the Corton light- ship as early as July (Zoologist, 1880, p. 184). 198
