2 INTRODUCTORY. 



nearly one hundred and fifty such rocks, and in the 

 Orkneys there are sixty-seven. 



The area of the islands under consideration is, for all 

 practical purposes, about 120,000 square miles, of which 

 England and Wales, with their islands, are 

 roughly the one half, or rather less, while 

 Scotland and Ireland, with their islands, are 

 roughly the other half, or rather more. The coast-line is 

 proportionately enormous probably, if we take into con- 

 sideration all the deep inlets on the west coasts of both 

 Great Britain and Ireland, not far short of 10,000 miles. 

 This will be better appreciated when we recollect that of 

 Ireland it has been said that no inland town is more than 

 fifty miles from salt water, or when we compare our coast- 

 line with the 8000 miles of coast-line in Australia to 

 3,000,000 square miles of area. Of these 120,000 square 

 miles it should, however, be remembered that, at the lowest 

 possible computation, one-third at the least is composed of 

 mountain, bog, and moor wild nature, in fact ; while of 

 the 50,000,000 acres that approximately remain, little more 

 than 35,000,000 are in all probability under cultivation, 

 three-quarters under grass, the rest under oats and other 

 crops. Market-gardening and the cultivation of orchards 

 usually occupy attention on the outskirts of our larger 

 towns. Space will not admit of dwelling at greater 

 length on these important considerations as factors in 

 the animal life of different parts of the country : it must 

 suffice to leave them with this bare enumeration. 



A few words must now be said on the subject of our 

 climate. It is customary to speak of this in terms of de- 

 rision, and without a doubt it is subject to ex- 

 traordinary and unlooked-for developments of 

 such a nature as to interfere seriously with private arrange- 

 ments for outdoor excursions. Climate is not, however, 

 measured by considerations of this kind. As a matter of 

 fact, these islands enjoy, thanks to the surrounding water, 

 the genial influence of the Gulf Stream, and the prevalence 



