WILD-FOWL DECOYS IN ESSEX. 169
enough to pay the whole cost of the decoy and have a profit in
hand of £115.
As affording a good illustration of the prices paid for materials and
labour in Essex in the days of Queen Anne, the first page of this M.S.
is not without interest; and those who care for further information on
the subject may be referred to the account which I have given of this
book in the "Field" of July 5th, 1879, an account which has since
been reprinted by Sir R. Payne Gallwey in his recently published "Book
of Duck Decoys," wherein all the particulars which are now obtain-
able concerning the above-mentioned decoys in Essex, will be found.
"Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis."
The reclamation and cultivation of the marshlands, the formation
of railways, the improvement in guns, and the great increase in the
number of shooters, have each and all contributed to ruin decoys;
while the large number of wild-fowl which are brought over from
Holland and other parts of the continent every winter render it less
than ever necessary for the owners of decoys in this country to incur
the expense of maintaining them and paying the wages of a decoy-man.
Moreover, in those counties where a large head of game is preserved,
and large shooting parties are out during the winter months, "decoy-
ing" is out of the question, since absolute quiet must prevail within
sight and sound of the decoy pond, or no ducks will stay to be caught.
Now that the number of decoys in Essex has dwindled down to
one tenth of their original number, it is interesting to note their
former abundance and local position, as well as the causes which
have contributed to their gradual disappearance.
Hobby Catching a Swift.—On Tuesday evening (May 15th) I caught a
Hobby which was feeding on a Swift. It is now in confinement and becoming fairly
tame. The Swift was alive when picked up.—Robert Brooks, The Makings,
Mistley, Essex, in the "Field," June 2nd, 1888. [The speed of the Hobby is
very great compared with most birds. We have known one before now to catch
a swallow, and a friend had a trained Peregrine Tiercel which caught a Swift.—
Ed. "Field."]
Musical Tastes in a Robin.—The following may interest some of the readers
of the Essex Naturalist ; I have never heard anything precisely similar to it.
For two successive days last week, while I have been playing the organ in the
school chapel, a robin has come in through the open door, attracted, I can hardly
doubt, by the music. The little bird, so far from being frightened, has come and
sat on a choir seat behind me, at the distance of about three feet from my shoulder,
and sang as if on a tree in the open air. The louder I played the more vigorously
it sang, and apparently thoroughly enjoyed it; if ever I left off playing it ceased
singing also. This went on for some twenty minutes each time. Occasionally it
would fly down to the west end and then come up again and sing by my side. It
would be interesting to know if such a taste for music has been noticed in these little
songsters before.—Frank B. Rogers, Felstead School, Essex, October 7th, 1888.