BIRDS 



The avi-fauna of the county of Essex is rich in respect both of 

 number of species and abundance of individuals. From the ornitholo- 

 gist's point of view indeed the county has been favoured in many ways, 

 both by Nature and by circumstance. 



Essex is, in the first place, a maritime county, and as such it possesses 

 naturally a far richer avi-fauna than any inland county, however large. 

 It is also exceptionally well placed, ornithologically speaking, even for 

 a maritime county. Situated on the east coast of England, in close 

 proximity to continental shores, it lies upon the main highway followed 

 by the majority of our migrant species as they pass and repass across the 

 North Sea. Furthermore the county is of great extent, covering some 

 1,542 square miles and standing, in respect of area, tenth among the 

 English counties. Its surface is considerably diversified, and therefore 

 offers attractions to many different species. 



The regions or districts into which the county may be divided, 

 according to its natural and physical features, require brief notice. 



First come what may be called the lowlands, covering probably at 

 least two-thirds of the county and occupying the whole of its central 

 portion. This is, for the greater part, a region of stiff clay mainly 

 the London Clay, though this is overlaid in places by the Chalky Boulder 

 Clay. It presents everywhere the same features, with very little varia- 

 tion. It is, and long has been, generally under cultivation, a small pro- 

 portion of pasture mingling with a much larger proportion of arable 

 land. In all parts old hedgerows, wide overgrown ditches and quiet 

 lanes abound, while there is a large number of small copses. These 

 afford homes for innumerable warblers, finches, and other small birds. 



Interspersed throughout this region, and forming strictly speaking a 

 part of it, are several fairly extensive stretches of forest and woodland. 

 The aggregate area covered by them is not however very large. They 

 occupy for the most part the high ground and hill-tops, where the pre- 

 valence of Bagshot Sands and gravels renders the soil of little value for 

 agricultural purposes. Such are Epping Forest (about 6,000 acres), in 

 the south-western portion of the county ; Takeley or Hatfield Forest 

 (about 1,500 acres), near the western border ; the Writtle High Woods 

 and the woods around Danbury and Little Baddow, near the centre ; the 

 Bull Wood at Hockley, in the south-east ; the woods around Thorndon 

 Park ; and others of less extent elsewhere. These still form a home for 

 many woodland species, but the hand of the game preserver has greatly 

 reduced, even exterminated, many others, especially the larger birds of 



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