Abstract
FROM its great extent of open moorland and the presence of several large sheets of water, Surrey occupies an unusually favourable position among the metropolitan counties for the development of a large bird-fauna; and since a very considerable portion of the county is now undergoing a metamorphosis under the hands of the builder as the area of the metropolis and its suburbs increase, it is most important that a full record should be secured of the species of birds which are fast disappearing from its limits. The compiling of such records, and the careful working out of the past history of locally distributed species within the limits treated of, seem, indeed, to be the chief justification for the publication of county ornithologies. And in this respect, as well as in the careful collection of local bird-names, the author of the work before us appears to have discharged his task in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. An instance of this is afforded by his account of the occurrence of the black-grouse in Surrey. To many of our readers it will probably come as a surprise to learn that black-cock shooting was a recognised sport on the Surrey moors during the forties, and even to a consider ably later date. At the present day there is, however, scarcely a single genuine wild bird of this species to be met with in the county; and the excellent history of its gradual extermination given by Mr. Bucknill should, therefore, be read with the greatest interest alike by sportsmen and by ornithologists. The raven, the buzzard, the marsh-harrier, and the dotterel are other species which have disappeared from the county, either totally or as nesting birds; the last record of the occurrence of the dotterel being 1845, when a couple of specimens were purchased from the landlord of an inn at Hindhead.
The Birds of Surrey.
By J. A. Bucknill. Pp. lvi + 374, illustrated. (London: R. H. Porter, 1900.)
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L., R. The Birds of Surrey . Nature 62, 339 (1900). https://doi.org/10.1038/062339a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/062339a0