INTRODUCTION. ix 



those gentlemen, naturalists, and brother sportsmen in 

 Ireland, who have so kindly furnished me with statistics 

 relating to wildfowl in their respective districts, and whose 

 names will be found scattered throughout the volume, 

 wherever I have had occasion to quote the information 

 received from them. 



To Mr. J. E. HARTING I am especially indebted for his 

 assistance in preparing these pages for the press, and for 

 various interesting notes on the natural history of wild- 

 fowl and on the rarer animals of Ireland which he has 

 enabled me to record. My acknowledgments are also 

 due to Mr. CHARLES WHYMPER for the care and skill 

 which he has bestowed on the illustrations. 



