APRIL 101 



arvalis) which have been known to recur at uncertain 

 intervals in various parts of the world. I was appointed 

 chairman of a departmental committee to inquire into 

 the extent and probable cause of the plague, and to 

 try and devise a remedy. We visited the infested 

 districts ; the hillsides swarmed with millions of voles ( 

 the grass over hundreds of thousands of acres was cut 

 at the roots by these animals, which make shallow 

 runs under the surface, and withered as if it had been 

 seared by passing fire ; the ewes were pining, dropping 

 their lambs prematurely, or suffering them to perish 

 for lack of milk. It was a melancholy scene. 



One of the first abnormal features to attract our 

 attention was the presence of great numbers of short- 

 eared owls, which at that season are hardly ever seen 

 in Britain, being occupied with their nests in more 

 northern latitudes. However, during the two years 

 of the vole plague these birds, attracted by the pre- 

 sence of multitudes of voles, remained throughout the 

 year to batten on them. Not only so, but they nested 

 in numbers, and, stimulated by the abundant diet, laid 

 an abnormal number of eggs, and reared several suc- 

 cessive broods in each season. I do not mean to affirm 

 that they stemmed the plague, but no doubt can exist 

 that they helped to check it in no small degree. As 

 many as fifty short-eared owls might be seen on one 

 hillside ; and if these devoured no more than six voles 

 each in a day, that means a total of 109,500 in the 

 course of the year. 



I think I have said enough to prove what valuable 



