XX INTRODUCTION. 



scars, diversified by waterfalls, caves, clear and sparkling 

 streams, and beautiful and romantic dales, this elevated 

 region includes the main watershed of the North of England, 

 and within its limits and upon Yorkshire soil rise all the 

 great rivers of the north — Tyne and Wear alone excepted. 

 The steep western slopes are drained into the Irish Sea by the 

 Eden, the Lune, the Ribble, and their tributary streams ; 

 while down the broader valleys and more gentle inclines 

 of the eastern slopes flow the Aire, the Wharfe, the Nidd, the 

 Ure, the Swale, and the Tees, into the North Sea. 



The gritstone summits and limestone scars of this region 

 are the last refuge in Yorkshire of the Buzzard, and amongst 

 the IcLst of the Raven and the Peregrine ; the high moors are 

 inhabited by the Red Grouse, Ring Ousel, Merlin, Twite, Cur- 

 lew, Dunlin, Snipe, and Golden Plover, while the Dipper, 

 Grey Wagtail, and Sandpiper are abundant on the mountain 

 becks. 



Of the very few natural sheets of water in Yorkshire 

 this district possesses three of the most important, Malham 

 Tarn, Semerwater, and Birkdale Tarn, besides a few others 

 of smaller size. Malham Tarn, 153 acres in extent, and 1,250 

 feet above the level of the sea, together with the limestone 

 plateau on which it is situate, is of special interest as illustrating 

 the altitude to which certain species will ascend, and its 

 fauna has therefore been made a special feature in this work. 

 Here the Wood-wren, Redshank, Teal, Coot, and Dabchick 

 nest annually, and it is one of the few localities in Yorkshire 

 where the Tufted Duck has been known to breed. 



The Craven Pasture-lands. — Immediately below the 

 North-western Fells, which are abruptly terminated to the 

 south by the steep and occasionally precipitous descents 

 of the Craven and Pennine faults, succeeds a comparatively 

 low region, under 600 feet in elevation, with an undulating 

 grassy surface and low rounded hills, in places rising into 

 fells which reproduce on a smaller scale the leading physical 

 characteristics of those of the north-west. Through the 

 green pastures of this uninteresting country, of which the 

 Peewit is the characteristic bird, the Ribble and the Hodder 



