﻿THE 
  ZOOLOGIST 
  

  

  No. 
  755.— 
  May, 
  1904. 
  

  

  THE 
  BIEDS 
  OF 
  NOETH 
  KENT. 
  

   By 
  Thomas 
  Hepburn. 
  

  

  Under 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  North 
  Kent 
  I 
  would 
  include 
  the 
  

   tract 
  of 
  land 
  which 
  might 
  be 
  roughly 
  delineated 
  as 
  being 
  bound 
  

   on 
  the 
  west 
  by 
  a 
  line 
  drawn 
  north 
  and 
  south 
  through 
  Woolwich, 
  

   on 
  the 
  south 
  by 
  a 
  line 
  drawn 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  through 
  Eochester, 
  

   and 
  having 
  its 
  remaining 
  boundaries 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  tidal 
  waters 
  

   of 
  the 
  Thames 
  and 
  Medway. 
  Considered 
  physically, 
  this 
  district 
  

   may 
  be 
  divided 
  into 
  marshland 
  and 
  upland, 
  the 
  marshes 
  bor- 
  

   dering 
  both 
  estuaries, 
  and 
  the 
  upland, 
  or 
  higher 
  ground, 
  running 
  

   between 
  them 
  in 
  a 
  fairly 
  continuous 
  range, 
  broken 
  only 
  by 
  the 
  

   valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Cray 
  and 
  Darenth, 
  until 
  it 
  merges 
  with 
  a 
  south- 
  

   ward 
  trend 
  into 
  the 
  North 
  Downs. 
  

  

  In 
  considering 
  the 
  bird-life 
  of 
  this 
  district 
  it 
  almost 
  naturally 
  

   falls 
  into 
  three 
  divisions 
  — 
  those 
  birds 
  frequenting 
  the 
  foreshore, 
  

   those 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  marshland, 
  and 
  those 
  resorting 
  to 
  the 
  

   higher 
  ground. 
  These 
  divisions 
  of 
  course 
  overlap, 
  but 
  they 
  will 
  

   appeal 
  to 
  anyone 
  who 
  is 
  familiar 
  with 
  the 
  country 
  in 
  its 
  ornitho- 
  

   logical 
  aspects. 
  

  

  Possibly 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Kent 
  which 
  is 
  less 
  

   visited 
  by 
  the 
  general 
  public 
  than 
  this, 
  for 
  the 
  estuaries 
  of 
  the 
  

   Thames 
  and 
  Medway 
  are 
  associated 
  in 
  most 
  people's 
  minds 
  

   chiefly 
  with 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  mud, 
  and 
  the 
  flat 
  grazing 
  lands 
  or 
  marsh, 
  

   bounded 
  almost 
  continuously 
  on 
  the 
  seaward 
  side 
  by 
  a 
  river- 
  

   Zool. 
  4th 
  ser. 
  vol. 
  VIII., 
  May, 
  1904. 
  o 
  

  

  ■ 
  

   / 
  

  

  