PREFACE.
THE advantages of Local Lists, and the vital
importance of such to all persons desiring to
study the geographical distribution of animals, are so
apparent that I feel no apology is needed for the
publication of this Catalogue of the Vertebrate
Fauna of Essex, excluding the Birds. No attempt
towards the formation of such a catalogue for this
county has previously been made, with the single
exception of a list compiled by myself, and published
in the Transactions of the Epping Forest and County of
Essex Naturalists' Field Club (vol. ii., 1882,pp. 157-180).
The list referred to, incomplete as it was, and confined
to the Mammalian Fauna only, has been found of
considerable use by others (if I may judge by the
number of references to it), and is incorporated in the
present volume.
The present work and Mr. Miller Christy's Birds
of Essex, published by the Essex Field Club in 1891,
together form a complete catalogue of the Vertebrate
Fauna of the County.