YORKSHIRE— VERTEBRATE FAUNA. xxxiii 



BIRDS. 



The avifauna of Yorkshire, compared with that of other 

 counties, stands unrivalled, not only in its numerical extent, but 

 also — a circumstance of much greater significance — in the inherent 

 richness which is shown by the number of species breeding 

 annually within its limits. 



Excluding eleven species, which have been recorded on the 

 strength of evidence more or less insufficient to establish their 

 claims, the total number of birds on the Yorkshire list is 307. 

 The Norfolk list given in the first volume of Stevenson's 

 'Birds of Norfolk' includes 291 species — to which must be added 

 seven which have occurred in the county since that work was 

 published, for the names of which we are indebted to Mr. Thos. 

 Southwell, of Norwich, making a total of 298. The list given in 

 Hancock's ' Birds of Northumberland and Durham,' published 

 in 1874, comprises 268 species. But applying the same rules as 

 are employed for the exclusion of doubtful species from the 

 Yorkshire list, these totals are reduced to 290 for Norfolk, and 

 266 for Northumberland and Durham. 



The species thus excluded from the Norfolk list are — the Pine- 

 Grosbeak, Two-barred Crossbill, Mottled Owl, Red-breasted 

 Goose, Harlequin Duck, King Eider, Hooded Merganser, all 

 admitted on insufficient evidence, and the variety Sahini oi the 

 Double Snipe, to which Mr. Stevenson gives specific rank. Those 

 omitted from the Northumberland and Durham catalogue are — 

 the Purple Gallinule, probably an escape, and the Virginian 

 Colin, an introduced bird. The species excluded from the 

 Yorkshire list include one Casual and ten Accidental Visitants, 

 whose names will be given when treating of those classes of 

 birds. 



The seven species which have been added to the Norfolk 

 fauna during the past fifteen years are — White's Thrush, the Wall 

 Creeper, the Lesser Grey Shrike, the Ortolan Bunting, the Golden 

 Eagle, the Green-backed Gallinule, and the European Coal- 

 titmouse. 



