xxiv INTRODUCTION. 



Mallard, Teal, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, and occasionally 

 of the Short-eared Owl and the Curlew. On the intersecting 

 drains the Reed Warbler and species of minor interest nest 

 abundantly. 



The Cleveland Hills, occupying the north-eastern 

 portion of the county, though inferior to the North-western 

 Fells in extent and in elevation — reaching only to 1,485 feet at 

 Burton Head — are no less picturesque and interesting. Like 

 them also it is a region of high moorlands — frequented by Red 

 Grouse and Twite, and in the spring and early summer by 

 Curlew and Golden Plover, with, occasionally, a pair of Stone 

 Curlews, which here find the northern limit of their breeding 

 range in Britain — and intersected by the ramified, well-wooded, 

 and beautiful dales drained by the Esk and by numerous 

 branches of the Derwent. 



The high lands of Cleveland present bold escarpments 

 towards the Tees valley and the central plain, and a lofty 

 line of cliffs towards the sea, reaching 680 feet in elevation 

 at Boulby. The Howardian hills, below 520 feet in elevation, 

 which separate the vale of Pickering from the central plain, 

 must be considered as a southern spur or continuation of 

 the Hambleton hills, as the western escarpment of the Cleve- 

 land range is called. 



The Cleveland avi-fauna is highly interesting. The Raven 

 was fairly common in the district, and a pair have been 

 observed comparatively recently in the vicinity of the coast. 

 This region was also the resort of the Hen Harrier until 1850, 

 to which date a few pairs nested annually. The Short-eared 

 Owl has also on several occasions bred on the moors, and 

 until some few years ago a pair of Peregrines nested annually. 

 On the moors the Twite breeds sparingly, and the Curlew and 

 Golden Plover not uncommonly. The district has on various 

 occasions been visited by rare stragglers, such as the Pine 

 Grosbeak, Lapland Bunting, and Ruffed Bustard ; while 

 Tengmalm's Owl has occurred no fewer than four times. 



Vale of Pickering. — South of the Cleveland hills is a 

 small tract of low-lying cultivated land, below a hundred 

 feet in elevation, possessing a rich soil, and including a con- 



