14 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



that is so prominent a feature of the moor and its 

 outskirts. 



Although the actual moor or "forest" is com- 

 paratively a desolate region, some of the border 

 valleys are exquisitely beautiful, well-wooded 

 and watered, and abounding in bird-life. Then, 

 again, the moorland farms are regarded as oases 

 by the feathered tribe ; and wherever man has 

 wrested bits of land from the surrounding wilder- 

 ness, so surely may the observer count upon 

 meeting with bird company of some kind. On 

 the moor itself, however, all is different, and we 

 are confronted with an ornithological anomaly 

 which, so far as our experience extends, is practi- 

 cally unique. The scenery and surroundings 

 suggest species that are not there ; in summer 

 Dartmoor is very thinly populated with birds, so 

 unlike the northern moorlands that possess a very 

 distinct and characteristic avifauna at that season ; 

 in winter it is even yet more desolate, for there 

 are no indigenous forms to lend that ever-welcome 

 touch of life which, even at that season, the typical 

 moors are never without. To the lover of wild 

 scenery and panoramic views, to the seeker after 

 robust health and bracing air, Dartmoor may 



