The Zoologist — July, 1874. 4069 



Well, I have not yet accounted for all the inhabitants of this 

 little place : the haves and rabbits make their way into it, although 

 it is wire-fenced two feet high ; the hares get over it, and the 

 rabbits have hitherto made their way through under it. To prevent 

 this the wire has been buried eight inches, which, but for the rats, 

 would be rabbit-proof; but these pests, although they scale the 

 fence with the greatest ease, are determined to have a way beneath. 

 I saw four of them at work making one hole ; I watched them for 

 five minutes before shooting them. There are, perhaps, no other 

 animals that quarrel more amongst themselves than rats do, and none 

 are more united for purposes of destruction. Then occasionally 

 a weasel, and less frequently a stoat, will appear on the scene. I 

 have seen the young rats bouncing through the fence in front of 

 them, but I never saw them kill any rats, and I am not going to 

 suppose it. However, weasels and stoats are easily got rid of, but 

 not so the rats; I am completely beaten by them. Last year, 

 about this time, I had reduced their numbers, as I expected, to 

 ten, as I could never see more when feeding them for a night or 

 two in the open. I then shot six by a double discharge, but the 

 next night I counted fifteen. This was a poser for me; as fast as 

 1 shoot them others from the Dene take their place, and I really 

 think I have shot myself into a worse lot. I found two more 

 thrushes killed yesterday, and saw one this morning with a broken 

 wing. I am totally at a loss what to do with them ; an "asphyxiator" 

 could not well be used in such a place, certainly not at present, 

 without doing as much harm as the rats. I had almost forgotten 

 to mention that my old friends the kestrels are hovering over the 

 scene daily : this is also rather provoking, but I will not shoot 

 them. 



On the 17th May I was awoke at 5.30 a.m. by the screaming of 

 a bird. I jumped up, and looking out saw on a large beech tree 

 near the window a cock pheasant sitting on a rather weak branch, 

 sometimes using his wings to balance himself, and a male blackbird 

 vigorously attacking him, by swooping down at his head from front 

 and rear alternately, never crosswise. The pheasant made no 

 attempt to defend himself, but kept ducking his head to elude the 

 blow : this was kept up for eight or ten minutes, when the pheasant 

 flew down and the blackbird left off, and settled on the very place 

 the pheasant had sat, dropping his wing, and seemingly quite 



SECOND SERIKS — VOL. IX. 2 M 



