Vipers Preying on Young Birds

(Plate 7). ON the moors of North Wales the common viper (Vipera berus) habitually preys on chicks of Red Grouse (Lagopus s. scoticus) and young Meadow-Pipits (Anthus pratensis) and Ring-Ouzels (Turdus t. torquatus). One hot day in early June, 1932, I was out photographing on the moors near Cerrigydruidion. Passing through a disused heather-grown quarry my attention was attracted by a loud hissing,...