Quantocks. Badgers
are not uncommon near Dulverton and in the more uncultivated districts.
The very diversified character of Somerset makes it the home of a large
variety of birds, the Quantocks and Exmoor sheltering many of the
predatory kinds, the long coast-line attracting numerous seafowl, and
the fenny country of the centre affording a feeding ground for the
different kinds of waders. Of the resident species which are
comparatively uncommon elsewhere may be mentioned the hawfinch, the
greater and lesser spotted woodpecker, the carrion crow, the raven, the
buzzard, the hen-harrier, and the peregrine falcon. Among the regular
visitors are included the white wagtail, the pied flycatcher, the
nightjar, the black redstart, the lesser redpole, the snow bunting, the
redwing, the reed, marsh, and grasshopper warblers, the siskin, the
dotterel, the sanderling, the wryneck, the hobby, the merlin, the
bittern, and the shoveller. As occasional visitors may be reckoned the
wax-wing, golden oriole, cross-bill, hoopoe, white-tailed eagle, honey
buzzard, ruff, puffin, great bustard, Iceland gull, glaucous gull, and
Bewick's swan. Visitors that may be supposed to have reached the county
only by accident have scarcely a claim to be noticed here, though
perhaps allusion may be made to an Egyptian vulture seen at Kilve in
1825, and specimens of Pallas's sand-grouse observed near Bridgwater,
Weston-super-Mare, and Bath.[1]

As regards the _flora_ the elevated position of parts of the county
makes it the home of a number of plants which do not commonly occur in
the South of England. Thus there are found on Exmoor the crowberry
(_Empetrum nigrum_), the parsley fern (_Cryptogramme crispa_), and the
oak fern (_Phegopteris dryopteris_). _Asplenium septentrionale_ is
found at Culbone; _Listera cordata_ grows on Dunkery and near
Chipstable; and the cranberry (_Oxycoccus palustris_) is said to occur
at Selworthy and on the Brendons. On the other hand, Somerset likewise
furnishes congenial conditions for those plants that love low-lying,
marshy ground, and on the peat-moors in the Glastonbury district the
flowering fern (_Osmunda regalis_) and the bog myrtle (_Myrica Gale_)
are met with. Within the British Isles the following are found only in
Somerset: _Dianthus gratianopolitanus, Hieracium stinolepis, Verbascum
lychnitis_, and _Euphorbia pilosa. Arabis stricta_ occurs only on the
limestone near Clifton; _Helianthemum polifolium_ is confined