ON THE 
DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN GREAT BRITAIN 
DURING 
THE NESTING SEASON. 
Aut books on British ornithology give some indication, more 
or less exact, of the range or distribution of the several birds. 
Still I am not aware that any one in this country has yet made 
this branch of ornithology a special subject of study, interesting 
as it is in itself, and important in many scientific points of view. 
Whether we wish to compare the respective range of the 
different branches of our Fauna and Flora, or to contrast their 
distribution in Great Britain with their range on the Continent, 
whether it is our object to estimate the effect of climate, pre- 
vailing winds, soil, geographical position, or the influence of man, 
all these most interesting questions can only be properly investi- 
gated when we have sufficiently exact data in each of the classes. 
Thus it is hoped that an attempt to illustrate the distribution of 
our birds on a regular and methodical plan will not be without 
its use. 
Our census is necessarily limited to the nesting-season, that 
being the only time when the birds can be treated as stationary ; 
and, for the sake of uniformity, we have adopted the districts 
already employed by Mr. H. C. Watson in his great work on 
B 
