INTRODUCTION. xxxi 



affording in the autumn a shelter to the neighbouring bay, 

 thus providing a resting-place for many uncommon birds — ■ 

 such as the Long-tailed Duck, Common, Pomatorhine, and 

 Richardson's Skuas, the Shearwaters, Grebes, and Petrels 

 occurring annually. 



The chalk terminates below Sewerby Hall, and is succeeded 

 by the low diluvial cliffs and sandy beach of Bridlington Bay, 

 stretching for forty-two miles in a bold concave sweep, which 

 terminates in the marram-covered sand-hills of Spurn. This 

 line of coast, the eastern border of Holderness, composed 

 of soft strata which are being steadily wasted away by the 

 action of the sea, is comparatively uninteresting, and offers 

 but little that is worthy of special note until Spurn is reached. 

 Spurn Point, the southern termination of the Yorkshire 

 coast, is connected with the mainland of Holderness by a 

 narrow neck of sand-hills overgrown with marram-grass, a 

 few yards in width, and preserved intact only by constant 

 supervision, and at considerable expense. Were these inter- 

 mitted the sea would speedily break through the isthmus and 

 join the Humber, as it has done on several occasions. Spurn is 

 ornithologically rich. Birds migrating along the coast, or 

 arriving from the east, find many temptations to linger. 

 The miles of mudflats left bare on the Humber side of the 

 isthmus by every receding tide offer great attractions and a 

 never failing supply of food to various shore birds, and in 

 the spring and autumn are frequented by great numbers of 

 birds of this class. Many of these winter here — such as the 

 Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Knot, Turnstone, Sanderling, 

 and others. It is fortunate that Spurn is very strictly pre- 

 served, and equally so that this part of the coast is unsuitable 

 for " punting." In winter thousands of duck and many 

 Brent Geese are to be noted on the Humber ; while Wood- 

 cocks are sometimes observed in very great numbers on their 

 arrival during their migration in the latter days of October. 



The Geographical Position of Yorkshire, viewed 

 from a faunistic standpoint, must be regarded as singularly 

 favourable, as it presents a combination of advantages seldom 

 equalled, both as regards the actual geographical range of 



