YORKSHIRE— VERTEBRATE FAUNA. xlv 



The authors offer no apology for undertaking the task, for 

 none is necessary. A Yorkshire list had never been published, 

 and it was within their power to supply the desideratum, partly 

 because for some years they had systematically investigated the 

 literature of the subject, and partly on account of the advantage 

 they possessed in being in communication with the leading 

 naturalists of the county. On another page they have endeavoured 

 to express — even though inadequately — their sense of obligation 

 to those who have contributed towards the materials upon which 

 this work is founded. That such a work as the present was 

 required is amply proved by the large amount of interesting 

 matter now published for the first time. The voluminous nature 

 of the evidence upon which the work is founded is shown by the 

 list of contributors given at the end ; and the separate authorship 

 of each section of the list is sufficiently indicated by the flysheets 

 inserted. 



It cannot of course be expected that error has been entirely 

 avoided, especially in the case of a work which in the essential 

 part of its design has no predecessor but Mr. J. E. Harting's 

 excellent and indispensable 'Handbook of British Birds'; but 

 — so far as an exhaustive examination of the literature of the 

 subject, together with the unanimous and generous assistance 

 received from the naturalists of the county, and the exercise of 

 scrupulous care in judging evidence, are concerned — it is believed 

 that the chances of error have been reduced to a minimum. 



