BROWN RAT. 245 



yards it is extremely destructive, committing its 

 depredations in the former by night, and in the 

 latter feasting at leisure in the heart of the stacks, 

 where it produces its young, and whence it cannot 

 be expelled until they are taken down, when the 

 quantity of grain which it has destroyed is some- 

 times found to be enormous. In houses it feeds on 

 bread, potatoes, suet, tallow, flesh, fish, cheese, 

 butter, in short, almost every thing that comes in its 

 way, including leather and articles of apparel. It 

 gnaws its way through planks, partitions, and chests; 

 burrows with facility under the floors and walls ; 

 nestles behind the plaster, or in the roofs ; andt 

 when numerous, becomes a source of perpetual an- 

 noyance. In the poultry-yard it sometimes destroys 

 the young chickens, and sucks the eggs ; and in 

 game preserves occasionally commits similar depre- 

 dations. Instances of its mutilating infants, and 

 even of its attacking grown persons, are known, and, 

 when hard pushed, it will sometimes turn on a dog 

 or cat, and defend itself with great vigour. In the 

 fields it devours great quantities of corn, beans, 

 pease, and other articles of agricultural* produce ; 

 and, as it is extremely prolific, it often inflicts 

 serious injury. When provisions fall short, it 

 migrates, sometimes in large bodies, to a more 

 favourable station, and when settled in a place 

 where its supply of food is ample, it rapidly increases 

 to an astonishing extent. 



To counterbalance the effects of its destructive 

 habits, the Rat possesses no quality rendering it in 



