INTRODUCTION. XI 



called there Yelpers, from their cry as they hover 

 over the sportsman's head like Lapwings. 

 Knots are taken in nets along the shores near 

 Eossdyke in great numbers during winter, but 

 disappear in spring. The Short-eared Owl visits 

 the neighbourhood of Washenbrough with the 

 Woodcocks, and probably performs its migra- 

 tions with these birds, quitting the country at 

 the same time. It does not perch on trees, but 

 conceals itself in long grass." 



Considering the ornithological knowledge of 

 that day, this is a marvellously truthful descrip- 

 tion of the various birds then inhabiting our 

 fens, and reads like a recent contribution to the 

 natural history of the nineteenth century. 



When Colonel Montagu, at the beginning of 

 the present century, made his celebrated orni- 

 thological tour through Lincolnshire, immense 

 changes had taken place in the physical features 

 of the county by the drainage and partial culti- 

 vation of the fen lands. South Lincolnshire was 

 then shorn of much of its ancient wildness; 

 some species of birds had disappeared, and others 

 were rapidly verging on extinction. 



The following list does not profess to give a 

 life history of each resident and migratory species 



