PREFACE, 
THE fauna of an island, with its sharp definition, must 
usually be of greater interest than that of a mainland area 
of equal size. 
Man, so peculiarly situated within sight of all four 
great divisions of Britain, yet separated from each by a 
stormy, though narrow, sea, and containing within its small 
extent much diversity of surface, has perhaps a more than 
ordinary claim to the attention of British naturalists, to 
whom, nevertheless, it long remained an almost unknown 
land. 
In making the first attempt to deal on a somewhat 
extended scale with the bird life of my native isle, I 
am well aware that my work must contain many im- 
perfections and uncertainties, and even, though I have 
striven to be as little dogmatic as possible, some inaccur- 
acies. I may at least claim the advantages of a life-long 
residence in Man, and of familiarity with every portion of 
it. In time to come the fauna of. Man, then perhaps not a 
little altered also, will be more fully known, and the value 
of its distinctive features more justly estimated. In the 
meantime, with the hope that this volume may be a means 
of arousing interest and observation toward that end, it is 
offered to all who take pleasure in the study of one of the 
most fascinating branches of natural science in one of the 
most delightful of British districts, 
b 
