viii INTRODUCTION. 



The interior of Devonshire is to a great extent a fertile, 

 undulating region of parks and orchards, of deeply embedded 

 lanes and tall hedgerows, of dense coppice woods and graceful 

 hangers, abounding in moisture and possessing a mild and genial 

 climate. The most beautiful portion of the country is that of the 

 Exmoor district, which offers great scenic variety, Dunkerry 

 Beacon reaching a height of 10 68 feet. In marked contrast to 

 all the softer characteristics of this county are the harsh features 

 of Dartmoor, a dreary upland region of moor and morass, the 

 uniformity of which is to some extent broken by cultivation. 



Much of the wilduess with which the scenery of Dartmoor is 

 invested, arises from the presence of the huge piles of granite, 

 known as "Tors," of which Yes Tor, the most elevated, just 

 exceeds 2,000 feet above the sea.''- Such a happy combination 

 of wild moors and highly cultivated valleys, wooded slopes and 

 terraces, as exists in Devon, may well induce many species of birds 

 to nest in one district or another, while for seafowl, there arc many 

 suitable caves and breeding ledges all round the coast. 



]\Iost attractive of all perhaps, at least to Waders and Wild- 

 fowl, are the sounds, roadsteads, and estuaries supplied by the 

 indentations of the coast lines, and the rivers which flow to 

 the sea from Dartmoor. The Tamar rises in Cornwall, and the 

 Exe springs in Somerset, but the Dart, Teign, Taw, Erme and 

 other rivers have their origin among the bogs of Dartmoor. 



Fresh water lakes are curiously rare. Cranmere Pool is the 

 largest sheet of water on Dartmoor, but it falls short of 70(> feet, 

 in actual circumference. On the other hand, it must be conceded 

 that Slapton Ley is a fine sheet of water, and, from its position 

 in the neighbourhood of the south coast, is of as much avian 

 importance to Devon, as Breydon Water is to Norfolk. 



» Yes Tor is usually considered the highest, but Mr. J. L. W. Page states, on the 

 authority of the ordnance survey, that High W^iUhays reaches an elevation of 2,039 feet, 

 or 10 feet more than Yes Tor(A7i Exploration of Dartmoor and its Antiquities, London 

 1389). 



