Arthur Henry Patterson

“ The beach below presents a long monotonous level of clear firm sand, sparsely "shingled" or pebbled, with few tide-pools; spring tides cover the sands almost to the sand cliffs. Until within the past year or two a few Ringed Plovers have persevered in nesting among the higher patches of shingle, the site chosen being a depression probably caused by a horse's hoof, the bottom of which is usually lined with small pieces of shell or thin white chalky stones. Constant traffic has banished this bird, the only species known to have nested there within the memory of man. ”

“ The drag-net is responsible for very little damage, if any, to the edible species; a few immature fish are occasionally taken, although Gobies, Pogges, and other—even for bait—useless species are abundantly netted. It is to be hoped that no harassing legislation will ever be made to hamper a very hardworking body of men who do surprisingly little damage, indeed, if any at all, to the undoubtedly diminishing edible fishes of the North Sea. The "shove-net" has become obsolete. ”

“ There is at the present time at Yarmouth but one dealer in wildfowl, Mr. Durrant, whose stall is in the market-place; and many thousands of birds, rare and common, have passed through his hands. His birds are received from the immediate locality, and from the country districts around, the smaller common species hanging in bunches, the larger ones singly from hooks. Rarer examples are promoted to a more conspicuous position upon a fruit-tray. This stall is a fairly accurate gauge as to what species are at any given time abundant, or are arriving. ”

“ Before Breydon was walled [2] and the rivers banked, and the vast stretches of marshes ditched and drained, the extensive level of swamp must have been at most hours of the tide a very paradise for the wildfowl, and those who sought them. "It would be difficult to imagine," wrote the Messrs. Paget in 1834, "a spot more suitable to their (the wildfowls') habits than Breydon affords, consisting as it does of a sheet of water some miles in extent, with shallow borders, or flats (as they are called) , and surrounded, almost as far as the eye can reach, by marshes. ”

“ The Brachyura and Anomura are represented chiefly by a few small resident but interesting species; Cancer pagurus and one or two others are simply wanderers, drifted hither involuntarily by the action of the tides, although Cromer, not more than forty miles northward, is noted for the abundance of the Edible Crab. That it occurs occasionally and unwillingly is not to be wondered at, when, during severe north-westerly winds, weighted crab-pots have been found washed up on our beach.
The only local nets used in the capture of Crustacea are the dredge or drag-net, and the small trawl. ”

“ Rapidly verging on extinction in Norfolk, it is seldom if ever seen now within the ten-mile radius.
Otter (Lutra vulgaris) . F.C.—In the Pagets' list this species is referred to as "now seldom seen on any of the Broads where it was once not uncommon." Scarcely a winter passes but one or more are killed; it is astonishing that any remain considering the relentless persecution it is subjected to. Is undoubtedly less rare than is generally supposed; its cautious movements and secretive disposition, combined with the great range of its habitat, enabling the species to defy speedy extirpation. ”

“ The fresh-water species have been fairly well attended to, their habits and habitats being alike known to anglers, river poachers, and others: the first are ever-increasing in number, and angling clubs in the neighbourhood are legion; the second, thanks to the energies of the Yare and Bure Preservation Society, have had their day, or nearly so; and if the Yarmouth district angling fraternity would give greater support, pecuniary and otherwise, to the Society, poaching would become an unknown quantity. ”

“ Rising, at Horsey, which, in his father's time, "was a swamp whereon many thousands of Black-headed Gulls nested every summer; the marshes at that time swarming with Bitterns, Grebes, Ruffs, and Avocets."
No true naturalist can look upon these gradual but inevitable alterations and changes without experiencing feelings of profound regret; but, as the needs and gratifications of the many are ever superior to the sentiments and delights of the few, the naturalist must be content to accept the inevitable. ”

“ During the first invasion of Pallas's Sand Grouse, a local gunner shot an example on the North Denes, taking it to a dealer named Watson (who in his day received many a rara avis) , who gave him half-a-crown for it; one long tail-feather had been shot away. Watson offered him another half-crown if he would find the missing one, which he did. Another rural sportsman emptied a bag of common birds on a dealer's stall some years ago, "throwing in" a specimen he did not know, and so did not value it. ”

“ Severe winters, with much snow, drive numerous wanderers south, and there can be little doubt that many birds which rush ahead of hard weather have put off their exit until absolutely driven to it. In the cruel January of 1881, the day before the fearfully disastrous gale on our coast, I witnessed an extraordinary immigration of small birds, amongst them many Turdidæ, besides Redpolls and other Finches, many of which fell exhausted on landing, some taking shelter in wheel-ruts in the sand. ”

“ The abundance of Crustacea may be imagined when some eighty Shrimp-boats, carrying a man and boy or two men each, working dredges, and in some cases small trawls with a beam of from twelve to fourteen feet, find their owners remunerative employment from March to end of September. Their catches are principally the Æsop's Prawn, Pandalus annulicornis (known locally as the "Pink Shrimp") , and the Sand Shrimp, Crangon vulgaris (known as the "Brown Shrimp") . Two bushels of Shrimps are a no uncommon "take" in a single tide. "Browns" come inshore in the spring, and are then chiefly taken ”

“ Notwithstanding that Great Yarmouth, like Amsterdam, may be said to be built on herring-bones—in other words, owes its existence and erstwhile importance to the great North Sea Herring Fishery—ichthyology, apart from those species which have a pecuniary interest for Yarmouthians, has never been a favourite nor a prominent study. ”

“ And so long as the lesser birds of prey and the Weasel family are so incessantly persecuted, will this evil continue and increase.
Lubbock [2] makes mention of a species of Dog—the black curly-coated Retriever—as "very common here, though not entirely peculiar to the county—the Yarmouth Water-Dog, as they are generally termed in other parts of England." The sagacity of this species is referred to in the case of one kept many years ago at a drainage mill adjoining Breydon. It regularly searched the flint-stone "walls" in winter for wounded wildfowl, which usually seek some nook or cranny. ”

“ Sea-caught Flounders are lighter hued than those taken on a muddy bottom. In early August they are plump; in September often thin. In January they spawn on Breydon; have taken twenty-inch examples in twenty feet of water. "Left-handed" Flounders are frequent, often three in every dozen taken. Local, "Butts."
Solea vulgaris. Sole. C.—Shrimpers often net examples; now and again one taken on a hook off the piers, a nineteen-inch fish being taken there in September, 1897. Have seen them on Breydon. The largest of which I have a record weighed 41⁄2 lb. ”

“ Tons of fresh-water fishes have from time to time been netted—somewhat audaciously too—yet the rivers and broads still fairly abound in certain species. The owners and tenants of the Broadlands have found it to their interest to see that the races of coarse fish have not been unduly depleted. ”

“ Scarcely any boys are employed at the present time. I have patrolled the beach many hundred times, often before daylight, in hope of discovering new fishes amongst the refuse left by the "draw"-netters. And I have persuaded wharf-men, fish-salesmen, and keepers of fish-shops to save for me, until I could inspect, anything of a rare or curious nature. ”

“ A "last" of Herrings is 13,200 fish. A boat sometimes brings in twenty "lasts"; sometimes a boat's nets do not fall in with the "schools" of Herrings, and a night's work may amount to a capful of fish. Between 20,000 and 30,000 "lasts" are taken yearly. The "history and circumstance" of the Herring fishery affords interesting reading. Food is seldom found in the stomachs of Herrings, yet they must devour myriads of Crustacea and Entomostraca. I dissected a six-inch example found on the south beach, April 13th, 1890 ”

“ C.—Large specimens appear to be decreasing; a great many immature are brought in and sold in the early winter. The trawlers mercilessly pursue the spawning fish. Prior to the advent of "carriers" to the fishing fleets, trawlers anchored in the roads; their fish were "ferried" ashore in huge ferry-boats, run up the beach on "troll-carts," and sent off to London by train. Trolls and ferry-boats are now obsolete. A solitary troll-cart is preserved in Yarmouth Museum. ”

“ Very pithily and concisely the Pagets (referring to the various classes of the local fauna) remark:—"In none of them have the changes described as taken place, in consequence of cultivation, been so much felt as in the Mammalia, nearly all of which, with the exception of the few species which it is a matter of profit to preserve, are either totally exterminated, or in rapid progress towards being so." To the few exceptions referred to may be added such as from their amazing fecundity, and the gradual extirpation of their natural enemies, are becoming a pest and a scourge to cultivation itself ”

“ Almost benumbed with cold, they flock together, and while they sit crowded up in a compact mass, to prevent the warmth of their bodies escaping, the gunner may, in his flat-bottomed boat, approach within a comparatively short distance of them by means of channels made in the flats, and with a single discharge of his gun, which moves on a swivel in the midships of his boat, effect a most extraordinary slaughter. ”

“ With regard to the species mentioned in the following list, our knowledge of the Chiroptera may be mentioned as yet being in an unsatisfactory state; but few sportsmen, save novices, ever trouble themselves to bring down such mean game; and, as their habits make observation an awkward and at best but a casual matter, one or two other species than those enumerated may really be frequenting the neighbourhood, but are as yet awaiting detection. ”

“ In spring large flocks of Wigeon may be observed pulling at the succulent stems of the Potamogeton pectinatus (local, "Wigeon-grass") , the Curlew boring deep to find the Nereid worms, and smaller species of Waders busily hunting Gammaridæ, Mysis vulgaris, and other crustaceans. Herons are seldom absent, for the Shore-Crabs (Carcinus mænas) and the Eels and Flounders have attractions for them. In autumn various migrants, the juniors coming first, are often abundant, and various Ducks and Geese and Swans may be expected in wintry weather. ”

“ THE BIRDS OF GREAT YARMOUTH AND THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD.
By Arthur Patterson.
(Concluded from p. 105.)
Sterna fluviatilis. Common Tern.—C. This species many years ago nested on Hickling Broad, and on many other parts of the coast, which it has since deserted. It is now most commonly observed leisurely migrating southward in August, following the coast-line in flocks, feeding on the "herring-syle," which may be seen flashing like myriad streaks of burnished silver at the surface of the water. Occasionally young birds may be seen, resting on the beach, fed by the old ones ”

“ Chambers, the watcher, which has been kept by him in a most spasmodic sort of way for eleven years, will give a fairly good idea of the frequency and numbers of spring migrants visiting Breydon on their northward journey. Small migrants have been seldom noted; of course over such a vast area many birds escape identification. A careful and enthusiastic observer might compile a vastly superior list both in numbers and species. ”

“ In some years it is extremely interesting to watch the steady influx of migrants of various species, often indicative, to my mind, of a long and severe winter ensuing. At other times migration goes on scantily or spasmodically. ”

“ Its timidity of disposition and retiring habits make it exceedingly difficult of observation; and even when unaware of one's presence its movements are not easily distinguished, as it worms itself amongst the luxuriant herbage at the ditch-sides. ”