xxii INTRODUCTORY. 



some letters that passed between E. F. Sheppard (who made 

 several visits to the Orkneys during the years 1839-41) and T. C. 

 Heysham, of Carlisle, for whom the former gentleman collected 

 some eggs. 



We have also been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. South- 

 well, to consult Salmon's Diary of his Tour in the Orkneys in 1831, 

 from the original, which is kept in the Norwich Museum. Besides 

 this we have incorporated into our work anything of value from 

 Salmon's paper in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, vol. v. 

 pp. 415-425, entitled " Observations on the Eggs and Birds met with 

 in a Three Weeks' Sojourn in the Orkney Islands." His stay on the 

 islands seems to have extended from May 30th to June 21st, 1831. 

 Between his diary and the paper just mentioned there are several 

 discrepancies in Salmon's account of the birds he mentions. Take 

 one instance only : the Arctic Gull or Eichardson's Skua. In his 

 diary he states that he took a nest in Hoy, while in his paper in 

 Loudon's Magazine he says he was too early for eggs this too on 

 June 14th. We could name other instances, but we think the 

 above will suffice. He says that in those days all the birds were 

 allowed to breed unmolested. 



We made inquiries as to whether any ornithological notes had 

 been left by the late Joseph Dunn, and in this search we were 

 much assisted by Mr. Eagle Clarke and Mr. Porritt. Correspond- 

 ence with some of Dunn's relatives and intimate friends elicited the 

 fact that there were no notes forthcoming, and as all his effects were 

 sold and scattered after his wife's death, if there ever were any 

 they must have been lost. We found that others besides ourselves 

 had been inquiring in the same direction, but apparently with no 

 better results. This is a pity, as with Dunn's long experience of 

 the Orkneys his notes must have proved of great interest. 



At the present time there is a Museum in Stromness and an 

 Orkney Natural History Society. Mr. S. Brown, the secretary to 

 this Society, kindly sent us a rough list of the birds in the Museum, 

 but, unfortunately, no records of the dates or localities of either 

 these or the mammals have been kept, which much lessens their 

 value, especially when specimens from other places besides 

 Orkney have been admitted. 



