xliv THE FAL'XISTIC POSITION OF SPECIES. 



ment in their numbers in the South Devon estuaries which is 

 ascribed to the Sea Birds' Preservation Act. But, nevertheless, 

 the old characteristic Ornis of the county is passin^: away ; and 

 the changes we have briefly pointed out must naturally follow the 

 causes we have assigned for them. 



THE FAUNISTIC POSITION OF SPECIES. 



Devonshire possesses a veiy extensive avifauna owing to its 

 unique geographical position, and probably more species of birds 

 have been met witli within its confines than in any other county 

 of England, with the sole exception of Yorkshire. 



AVe have included 292 species in our ornis, and have excluded 

 29 others whose occurrence has been incorrectly recorded, or rests 

 upon insufficient evidence, or which were undoubtedly escapes. Six 

 of these, however, are not unlikely to occur in Devonshire, and may 

 really have done so. Probably our ornis falls little short of 

 300 species. 



Definitions modified from 'Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata.' 



Residents are species which are found in some part of the county 

 throughout the year, and breed therein annually, though 

 perhaps only in small numbers. ]Many Residents as species 

 are, however, migratory, some or all of the individuals in- 

 habiting a district moving south in autumn, their places 

 being taken by other individuals from the north, or at all 

 events their numbers are recruited by immigration or 

 lessened by emigration. 



Summer Migrants are species which appear annually in spring, 

 remain through the summer to breed, and depart in autumn, 

 some, however, occasionally remaining during the winter 

 months. 



Winter Visitors are species which appear annually, or in most 

 years, in the autumn, and remain in more or less numbers 

 throughout the winter, departing in spring for their breeding- 



