Dartmoor is becoming a centre of strange fauna. The nutria
is bred there ; and there is to be seen one of the most perfect of the silver fox farms. Over it the other day circled and gambolled no fewer than seven buzzards ; and though this splendid hawk has multiplied marvellously all over the West Country, such a congregation must be rare even in so favourite a region. It was held by one of the observers that the birds came there and returned there because they were genuinely interested in the foxes ! It is a possible theory. So far-seeing a bird of prey might very well wonder what the presence of this multitude of strange and beautiful creatures might portend ; and birds are not interested only in what they can eat. To return to the musk rat, a colony which has alongside it a country peculiarly well-fitted for its multiplication, is being carefully watched in Perth. Should the pairs extend into the area of barren moss thereabouts it might. multiply enormously and without check, though it would not do much local harm. When it finds a congenial marsh it seems to suspend its passion for burrowing and to become a surface nester.
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