April 2, 1908J 



NA TURE 



511 



T 



TWO COUNTY BIRD-BOOKS.' 



O write a history of the birds of Yorkshire, so 

 far the largest of our English counties as to 

 include almost every kind of natural feature to be 

 found in this country, was no light undertaking, and 

 Mr. Nelson is to be congratulated on the conclusion of 

 his labours, extending over many years, and upon the 

 able way in which he has arranged and digested the 

 unrivalled and exceptionalU' complete mass of 

 material placed at his disposal, which has been 

 accumulated by the numerous ornithologists who, 

 from the time of Thomas Allis (who wrote the first 

 complete list of Yorkshire birds in 1844) down to the 

 present day, have been engaged in working out the 

 local ornithology of this great section of England. 

 This information Mr. Nelson has been able to supple- 

 ment with his own observations for many years past. 

 The scope of the work is comprehensive. The account 

 of each species in- 

 cludes particulars of 

 faunistic position, dis- 

 tribution, migration, 

 nidification, folklore, 

 varieties, and ver- 

 nacular names ; whilst 

 the report on the birds 

 of Yorkshire prepared 

 for the York meeting 

 of the British Associa- 

 tion in 1844 by 

 Thomas Allis is here 

 published for the first 

 time. A voluminous 

 introduction deals 

 with the physical 

 aspect of the county 

 and the several dis- 

 tricts into which the 

 great diversity of its 

 natural features has 

 made it convenient to 

 divide it. Following 

 this, migration, so 

 remarkable on the 

 Yorkshire coast from 

 its geographical posi- 

 tion, is duly con- 

 sidered, and the 

 chapter concludes with 

 a review of the avi- 

 fauna of the county. 



Situate about mid- 

 way on the eastern 

 seaboard of the British 



Isles, and directlv opposite the European con- 

 tinent, Yorkshire is sufficiently far south to include 

 species the distribution of which is of the southern type 

 — such as the nuthatch and nightingale, which find in 

 it the northern limit of their range — while it is suffi- 

 ciently far north to admit of the inclusion of such 

 species as the curlew, dunlin, &c. , " which here meet 

 with their southern breeding limits." These remarks, 

 though true on the whole, must not be taken in too 

 literal a sense, for both the last-named birds breed in 

 Great Britain further south than Y'orkshire. The 

 author states that the avifauna of Yorkshire, com- 

 pared with that of other counties, stands unrivalled, 



1 (i) "The Birds of Vork';hire. Being a Historical Account of the Avi- 

 fauna of the County." By T. H. Nelson, with the cooperation of W. E.lgle 

 Clarke and F. Boyes. 2 Vols. Pp. xlv-l-xii+843 ; illustrated. (London: 

 A. Brown and Sons, Ltd., 1907.) Price 25.S. net. 



(2) " Notes on the Birds of Kent." By R. J. Balston, Rev. C. W. Shep- 

 herd, and E. Bartlett. Pp. xix-l-465 ; with g plates and a map. (London : 

 R. H. Porter, 1308.) Price 20s. net. 



not only in its numerical extent, but also — a circum. 

 stance of much greater significance — in the inherent 

 richness which is shown by the number of species 

 breeding annually within its limits. That this should 

 be so would be anticipated by anyone who has read 

 the topographical description of the county, in which 

 are found wild mountainous country, heatherv moor- 

 lands, and romantic dales ; pasture and arable land, 

 woodlands, marshlands, chalk wolds, and a coast line 

 117 miles long, and one of the most diversified 

 possessed by any English county. We find, indeed, 

 in Yorkshire almost every kind of natural feature that 

 England affords. 



The configuration of the coast line materially in- 

 creases the advantage of the position, which is stil! 

 more enhanced by the possession of two such project 

 tions as Spurn Point and Flamborough Head (the 

 latter on the same parallel of latitude as Heligoland, 

 the island which is so famous for the vast hordes of 



al Site for a Dipper's Ne: 



•Nidd. From " The Birds of Vorkshii 



A". Fortum:. 



NO. 2005, VOL, 77] 



migratory birds which pass and repass it in spring and 

 autumn), which as a locality productive of rare birds 

 has few equals. 



We accordingly find Yorkshire accredited with a 

 list of 325 species after excluding 21 recorded on in- 

 sufficient evidence. Of these no fewer than 123 are 

 considered to be annual breeders. It is in this list of 

 breeding species (which it owes to its size, diversity 

 of natural features, surface, soil and climate, and 

 to its peculiar geographical position) that the strength 

 of the Yorkshire list mainly consists. 



Among the resident species are the nuthatch, wood- 

 lark, and lesser spotted woodpecker, which here find 

 the northern limit of their general distribution in 

 Britain during the breeding season ; the raven, buz- 

 zard, and peregrine falcon — now reduced to a few 

 pairs — as well as the goldfinch and the sheldrake, 

 both of which are local. The nightingale, reed- 

 warbler, wryneck, turtle dove, and stone curlew 



