CHAPTER VII 



THE FAUNA OF THE MOOR 



The Red Grouse The Curlew Stonechat and Whinchat The 

 Adder The Slow Worm The Tiger Beetle. 



APART from Birds and Insects the moor does not 

 show much of its animal population to the casual 

 onlooker. There are two main reasons for this : 

 the Heather and similar thickly growing plants make 

 excellent cover, and many of the moor animals are of 

 small size. But there is another reason, that many 

 animals are given to effacing themselves ; they are shy 

 and fond of hiding; they lie low and say nothing. 

 This is true of a large number of animals in all sorts 

 of places; it holds good on the moor. The useful 

 technical word " cryptozoic," which means " of hidden 

 life," is applied to those animals that live very quietly 

 or possess the secret of the Gyges ring, which made 

 its possessor invisible. 



It is impossible for us to take account here of the 

 small animals of the moorland. There are Thread- 

 worms eating the decomposing vegetation and some- 

 times squirming up the wet stems of the Heather; 

 beautiful wheel animals, or Rotifers, often found 

 about the Bog Moss; sluggish bear animalcules, or 

 Tardigrades, among decaying leaves; and it may be 

 noticed that all these are able to survive drought by 

 sinking into a mysterious state of latent life until the 

 rains return. There are Water Mites in damp places, 



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