TRAN SACTION S. THE FAUNA OF AN IPSWICH MEADOW. BY
EDWARD CHARLES
GREEN.
i.—BIRDS.
AT the western end of the Stoke District of Ipswich, south of the River Gipping, lies an area (shown in the accompanying Map), which has hitherto escaped the builder. From the tableland separating the Stour and Orwell estuaries, descent to the Gipping is made by a series of short and steep spurs and re-entrants of glacial origin. And upon the north-western slope of such a spur lies the two-acre Meadow containing Queenscliff Cottage and commanding an extensive view Over the lower Gipping Valley. This spur runs north and south, dropping from 145 feet at the Cottage to 80 above O.D. at the Meadow's northern apex ; its axis cuts the line of the Gipping at a point 600 yards north-west of Ipswich railwaystation bridge over that river. Sand and other glacial deposits extend down to the 90 feet level, overlying Red Crag, London Clay and Reading beds, which pass at about datum level into the basic Chalk of E. Anglia. Where the Crag rests upon Clay, most of the re-entrants contain moisture ; but in only a few cases does this amount to a stream. T h e number and diversity of Bird-life here, within a mile of Ipswich's centre and merely five hundred yards from its Station, must be due to the physical features of the immediate vicinity and proximity of a ' hinterland ' of woods, park and arable immediately to the south. Roads are few, and such houses as exist large, Standing in well-timbered gardens, alternating with copses ; so that the whole provides excellent cover for resident Birds and happy hunting ground for numerous stragglers from the southern parkland and woods. Former residents planted too many Conifers which, however, are offset by their attraction for particular kinds of Birds. This Queenscliff Meadow, excluding actual heathland and riverside, offers a miniature replica of almost every type of Bird Territory existant in E. Anglia. A small and rectangular spinney of Oak, wild Cherry and Birch with undergrowth of Eider, occupies part of the next westward spur, of which the Cottage overlooks the tree-tops, essential reconnaissance-points for Nuthatch, Woodpecker and Jay, exploration ground for Willow-warbler, Titmice and Goldcrest, leafy cover for the Blackcap. A densely overgrown hedgerow, nesting-place of Red-backed Shrike, consisting mainly of Hawthorn with interspersed Oaks, occupies the trough of the re-entrant; and, rising from this to the ridge's crown, grows such a tangle of Bramble, Oak and Broom as few