ESSEX PRE-ORNITHOLOGY. 27
"away from England urge that this is false." It has been
proved that the Crane nested in, among other places, Cambridge-
shire and Norfolk and therefore it is well within the region of
possibility that they may have bred in Essex. We have know-
ledge of only three occurrences of this species in ornithological
times, the last in 1907. The statement of W. Palin that Cranes
at one time abounded in Cranham cannot be countenanced.
Place names are unstable, but even allowing that the village
takes its name from this bird, this cannot be accepted as proof
that it abounded. In the 12th century we find the earliest
references to the Sparrow-Hawk and the Goshawk, the latter
having been recorded once only from the county in ornitho-
logical times. The 13th century provides the earliest mention
of the Mute Swan and further references to the Crane, which
on account of their scarcity are very valuable. There can be
little doubt that the difference between the Crane and Heron
was understood at this period. The 14th and 15th centuries
were lean periods, and provided only further information of the
Mute Swan. The 16th century is notable for descriptions of two
invasions of Short-eared Owls, these constituting the first
reference to the species, and for the earliest mention of a heronry.
The items of the 17th century are of varied interest and included
certainly the earliest description of a gullery, which is also
probably the earliest narrative of the nesting of a particular
species. Fuller's valuable account also proves that the young
of the Black-headed Gull were eaten at this time, and the evidence
of the household expenses of Sir Thomas Barrington and the
diary of Henry Teonge provide supportive evidence. It is of
interest that all the allusions to this are confined to this period,
and although this may be only coincidence it is not impossible
that it indicated that the custom was confined to the 17th
century. Charleton in his Onomasticon Zoicon refers Fuller's
statement to the Lapwing and the place of breeding to Foulness,
but there can be no doubt that Fuller wrote of the Black-headed
Gull and Puit Island in Hamford Water, Puit, of which there
are several spellings, being an old name for the Black-headed
Gull. Although this gull does not nest now on Pewit Island,
it does so on another island in Hamford Water and it is probable
that these gulls are the descendants of those which nested there
three hundred years ago. In addition to the Pewit Island