THE IBIS. 



NEW SEEIES. 



No. I. JANUARY 1865. 



I. — On the Distribution of Birds in Great Britain during the 

 Nesting -season. By A. Gr. More, F.L.S. 



[Part I. With a Map.— Plate I.] 



All books on British ornithology give some indication, more 

 or less exact, of the range or distribution of the several birds. 

 Still I am not aware that any one in this country has yet made 

 this branch of ornithology a special subject of study, interesting 

 as it is in itself, and important in many scientific points of view. 



Whether we wish to compare the respective range of the 

 different branches of our Eauna and Flora, or to contrast their 

 distribution in Great Britain with their range on the Continent, 

 whether it is our object to estimate the effect of climate, pre- 

 vailing winds, soil, geographical position, or the influence of man, 

 all these most interesting questions can only be properly investi- 

 gated when we have sufficiently exact data in each of the classes. 

 Thus it is hoped that an attempt to illustrate the distribution of 

 our birds on a regular and methodical plan will not be without 

 its use. 



Our census is necessarily limited to the nesting-season, that 

 being the only time when the birds can be treated as stationary ; 

 and, for the sake of uniformity, we have adopted the districts 

 already employed by Mr. H. C.Watson in his great work on 



N. S. — VOL. I. B 



