PREFACE. XI 



with in the prosecution of it from several of those gentlemen 

 who of late have made such a figure in the study of nature. 

 To Mr BANKS* (besides many other obligations), I owe my be- 

 ingintroduced to Mr PENNANT, who, in the most friendly man- 

 ner, lent all kinds of assistance necessary for carrying on such 

 a work. To Mr GEORGE PATON,at Edinburgh (whose zeal 

 for science, and real goodness of heart, is well known to his 

 friends), I owe the perusal of many books, which I could not 

 otherwise have seen, and which were of great use where the 

 provincial names, of birds especially, wanted to be cleared up ; 

 and that such is the case, will be evident to any one who looks 

 into Sir Robert Sibbald, Martin, and others, who have often 

 multiplied names for the same thing, by taking much from 

 hearsay, and thereby rendered their books much less useful 

 than otherwise they might been to those that followed them. 



I owe many kind hints, on particular subjects, to several 

 gentlemen and clergy in Orkney and Shetland, to all whom 

 I pay this public acknowledgment, and hope what follows will 

 encourage every man of curiosity in these isles to throw in his 

 mite, to bring the natural history of the Orkneys as near per- 

 fection as possible : and to such I am bold to say, that if they 

 find the study of nature as pleasing as I always did, they will 

 be not only amply rewarded for their trouble, but their minds 

 will be wonderfully satisfied, from thus taking a view of the 

 various works of their great Creator. To all such as study 

 nature in this manner, I wish all success 



* Now the Right Hon. Sir JOSEPH BANKS, Bart. P. R. S. Edit. 



