352 Recent Literature. [^"y 



of the Dee and Mersey. The extent of the area treated is a little more than 

 one thousand square miles, the greater part of which consists of an undu- 

 lating plain, ranging in elevation from about 100 to 300 feet, with ridges 

 along the eastern border thai attain altitudes of 1650 to about 1900 feet. 

 There are marshy tracts between the estuaries of the Mersey and the Dee, 

 giving considerable diversity to the area as a whole. 



The introduction (pp. xi-xxii), besides describing the topography and 

 faunal aspects of the county, summarizes the literature of the subject, 



and the influence of game preservation, which, "direct and indirect 



is great and far-reaching." "Incessant war is waged against predatory 

 mammals and birds, whilst other creatures inimical to game and often of 

 benefit to the agriculturist, are destroyed by biassed and indiscriminating 

 game-keepers. . . .Any creature, therefore, against which there is even tradi- 

 tional suspicion is under their ban." The raptorial birds and mammals 

 have suffered to such an extent that the polecat, marten and otter have 

 become extinct, several of the larger birds of prey are becoming rare or 

 have long since vanished, while the "Magpie, Carrion Crow and Jay are in 

 some districts almost extinct." On the other hand, their destruction con- 

 tributes materially to the welfare of many passerine birds, as does the 

 preservation of fox and pheasant coverts. 



Forty-six species of mammals are recorded (pp. 1-89) as having occurred 

 "within recent years in Cheshire and its territorial waters." The birds, 

 of which "there is satisfactory evidence of their occurrence in a wild state 

 during the present and last centuries," number 231 species (pp. 93-459). 

 Cheshire "lies remote from the great highways of migration, and conse- 

 quently its avifauna is poor in regard to many of the species which occur 

 frequently on the shores of such counties as Yorkshire, Norfolk, Kent and 

 Sussex." 



The nomenclature is that of Howard Saunders's 'Manual of British 

 Birds,' as revised by him in 1907, except that trinomials are used for British 



races, since "the trinomial system of nomenclature in addition to other 



advantages, shows plainly the real affinities of the local races or subspecies." 

 The method of treatment consists in giving the commonly accepted English 

 and technical names of each species, followed by its local names, and a 

 summary statement (in a line or two of small heavy-face type) of its 

 manner of occurrence in Cheshire. No references are given to previous 

 works, general or local, nor any description of the species, these being 

 readily available in numerous recent manuals of British birds. The 

 text is thus mainly biographical, and varies in amount for the commoner 

 resident and breeding species from one to several pages; to the rarer ones 

 less space is given, with references in footnotes to previous records of occur- 

 rence. 



In addition to the bird matter contained in Volume I. there is an inter- 

 estingly reminiscent chapter in Volume II (pp. xxi-xl) on 'The Dee as a 

 Wildfowl Resort,' by John A. Dockray. The remainder of Volume II is 

 devoted to the Reptiles (5 species). Amphibians (6 species) and Fishes, the 



