FIFTY YEARS AGO IN ESSEX.
33
prey. Spite of all the care, hawks (probably sparrow-hawks)
managed to take a very fair toll of the small chickens while the hen
was inclosed in the coop; after she was at liberty, and the chicks
were larger, she generally was successful in repelling attack. Young
goslings also frequently fell victims to magpies and crows, but with
these birds a different guardian was found sufficient. When the
goslings were very young the old goose was usually inclosed in an
earthenware crate, as a coop, and the gander was allowed to be at
liberty outside it. Under his care the young were quite safe from
attack by fox, hawk, or crow. At the sides of those pieces of water,
locally known as "fleets," the marsh-harrier would sometimes be
found nesting, amongst the sedges. I am, however, taking it for
granted that the hawk which bred under these circumstances was the
marsh-harrier; it was called a "puddock"; but this term was often
applied to any large hawk, so that I may he mistaken. I fancy few of
these nests escaped destruction; all those I ever heard of were rifled.
A sheep "cast," as it is called, or in any other trouble, would, if
neglected by the shepherd, almost certainly be attacked by some of
the numerous ravens, and then maiming or a miserable death
would be the result. It is astonishing for how long a number of
years the same ravens' nest was tenanted; the birds appeared to
build the new nest on the top of the old one, until the bulk of the
whole would almost equal that of the body of a large cart. Carrion-
crows were very general, and their nests, like those of their near
relative the raven, were occupied year after year, probably by the
same pair of birds.
At the period I am speaking of these birds were but little molested;
now they are getting much more rare, and if game preserving goes
on increasing, the carrion-crow is doomed. Magpies' nests might be
frequently seen, the highest tree being a favourite position. Sometimes
they chose most unlikely spots, only a few feet from the ground, in a
quick-set hedge ; at other times, they nested in fruit trees in a garden
close to the house. I am sorry to say this bird is now rarely seen in
my district. A pair of magpies, even if they are injurious to game, are
certainly a great ornament in any meadow. The deserted magpie
nests were sometimes appropriated by hawks, who profited by the
care of the former owners in placing them in most difficult positions.
I referred before to the numerous pollards in the hedges; these
were, I think, invaluable to the farmers, as they formed the retiring
and nesting places of numerous owls. Most of these pollards are