﻿PREFACE 
  

  

  The 
  present 
  volume 
  more 
  than 
  maintains 
  its 
  interest 
  and 
  

   importance 
  in 
  the 
  details 
  of 
  British 
  Zoology. 
  This 
  is 
  par- 
  

   ticularly 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  Mammalia, 
  and 
  we 
  cannot 
  but 
  

   allude 
  to 
  the 
  description 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Millais 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  species 
  of 
  

   Vole 
  from 
  the 
  Orkney 
  Islands. 
  To 
  discover 
  a 
  mammal 
  new 
  to 
  

   Britain, 
  and 
  that 
  an 
  undescribed 
  species, 
  is 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  

   more 
  extraordinary 
  than 
  unearthing 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  some 
  

   extinct 
  monster 
  hitherto 
  unknown 
  to 
  Palaeontology. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  important 
  record 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  tale 
  of 
  our 
  British 
  

   Birds 
  has 
  been 
  communicated 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Aplin, 
  and 
  relates 
  to 
  the 
  

   breeding 
  of 
  the 
  Black-necked 
  Grebe 
  (Podicipes 
  nigricollis) 
  in 
  

   these 
  islands. 
  A 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  measurements 
  and 
  weights 
  of 
  the 
  

   eggs 
  of 
  the 
  commoner 
  Charadriidce, 
  by 
  the 
  Messrs. 
  Buchanan, 
  

   affords 
  not 
  only 
  valuable 
  data, 
  but 
  almost 
  denotes 
  a 
  fresh 
  field 
  

   for 
  investigation 
  in 
  oology. 
  

  

  In 
  Pisces, 
  Mr. 
  Patterson 
  has 
  commenced 
  an 
  annual 
  report 
  

   on 
  Norfolk 
  fishes, 
  and 
  we 
  hope 
  that 
  this 
  communication 
  will 
  

   promote 
  similar 
  records 
  from 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  our 
  coasts. 
  

  

  The 
  " 
  Story 
  of 
  a 
  Pearl," 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Mcintosh, 
  has 
  focussed 
  

   attention 
  on 
  some 
  lower 
  forms 
  of 
  animal 
  life, 
  and 
  shows 
  what 
  

   a 
  vast 
  field 
  still 
  awaits 
  the 
  observations 
  of 
  marine 
  zoologists. 
  

   Material 
  for 
  bionomical 
  investigation 
  is 
  far 
  from 
  being 
  ex- 
  

   hausted 
  in 
  these 
  islands, 
  and 
  a 
  wealth 
  of 
  material 
  still 
  awaits 
  

   the 
  arrival 
  of 
  more 
  workers. 
  

  

  In 
  our 
  next 
  volume 
  we 
  are 
  promised 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  monthly 
  

   reports 
  from 
  our 
  London 
  Zoological 
  Gardens, 
  written 
  by 
  one 
  

  

  