INTRODUCTORY. XIX 



In 1837 E. Dunn published his Ornithologist's GvAde to the Islands 

 of Orkney and Shetland, which contains a very fair list of the mam- 

 mals and birds, though there are one or two curiously strange omis- 

 sions. If his statements are entirely to be relied on, the avi-fauna 

 of the islands has much altered within the last fifty years, as will 

 be seen by a reference to the various species. Dunn was more of 

 a collector than a naturalist, and, we are afraid, contributed not a 

 little to the decimation of the rarer birds of both Orkney and 

 Shetland. 



Next, and equally important with Low, comes the Historia 

 Naturalis Orcadensis of Messrs. Baikie and Heddle, published in 

 1848, the standard work on Orkney mammals and birds, and to 

 which we so constantly refer in our volume. Only one part of 

 this work was ever published. Seeing that it was written by two 

 Orcadian gentlemen, it is a great pity that it does not contain much 

 fuller information, both as to the records of the, even then, fast- 

 departing eagles, and also of the increase of some species which 

 began to extend their range about that period throughout the 

 islands. There can, however, be no doubt about its usefulness 

 as giving a fair and interesting account of the Orcadian fauna 

 of their day, and from notes we have seen, made by one of 

 the authors, there is no doubt that, had a second edition ever been 

 called for, a great improvement would have been made. 



In 1866 Crichton published a small book, A Naturalist's 

 Ramble to the Orcades, which contains a good deal of useful infor- 

 mation. He added the Honey Buzzard to the Orcadian list, though 

 unfortunately he gives no particulars as to where or when the 

 specimen was obtained. Than this, there is nothing that calls 

 for any special notice. 



In 1883 Mr. Robert F. Spence began a history of The Birds of 

 Orkney. Of this work 280 pages were printed, which only carries 

 us down to the middle of the article on the Rook. Mr. Spence 

 very kindly allowed us to see the rest of the MSS. and to use it as 

 we liked, as it is very unlikely that the work will ever be finished. 



We give here a list of those books and papers which we have 

 either consulted in writing our present volume, or which seem to 



