as far inland as Brandon; Wangford and Lakenheath being on its shores. They likewise thought that an arm of the Wash extended along the valley of the Little Ouse to Thetford, and that consequently the present breeding-places of the Ringed Plover were coast sands in the post-glacial epoch. And year by year hereditary instinct has brought the warren-haunting Plovers inland, which led the first President of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society to hazard the opinion in 1879 that with the death of the last of the heath-loving Plovers would cease altogether the inland appearance of that species. If the diminution in numbers of the Ringed Plover be not general amongst the shore birds, it would tend to further substantiate this opinion. In addition to the Ringed Plover, numerous species of plants and insects peculiar to the sand-dunes of the coast are found upon these inland heaths.[1] The place-names of the district strengthen the theory that the Wash formerly extended as far as Brandon. It is extremely suggestive to note that the sandy heath at Elveden whereon the Ringed Plovers breed is still known as the "denes." This is the name applied on the Norfolk coast to the low sand-hills, and is synonymous with "dune." Although on the slope of a valley up which an arm of the Wash might at one time have possibly extended, the nearest stream is now more than a mile distant. The other breeding-places mentioned in the district would all have bordered upon an arm of the sea extending up the Little Ouse valley, except those on Roudham and Wretham Heaths; but neither of these would be more than four miles from the nesting-place on Santon Downham Heath. With so many other heaths and warrens in the district, it seems strange that their range should be so limited. In addition to the coast insects and plants found in these inland localities, Helix virgata and other species usually considered littoral abound.
J.D. Salmon, F.L.S., recorded the date of their first arrival as February 16th, 1834; February 5th, 1835; February 15th, 1836; and February 14th, 1837. They have, however, been seen
- ↑ Vide paper "On Certain Coast Insects found extending inland at Brandon, Suffolk." By G.C. Barrett, Trans. of the Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc., vol. i., 1870, p. 61, and 1871, p. 40. Also notes in the same Transactions on coast-plants found inland by Messrs. H.D. Geldart and Clement Reid, F.G.S.
