JUNE 129 



culprit, though the badger, when it scents the young 

 litter, usually digs straight down to the nest. There 

 are badger-earths in the steep sandy bank under the 

 roots of the pine. One may always know if they are 

 tenanted as the badger's sanitary arrangements require 

 that all refuse matter should be coated with earthj and 

 thus, made up into balls, be rolled out of the burrow. 

 The badger is known also to be a destroyer of wasps' 

 nests which it unearths for the sake of the grubs. 



These ancient woodlands, first amongst which in 

 name and fame is the New Forest, are known to the 

 entomologist as the haunt of many of our rarest and 

 choicest insects. No tree fosters such a variety of 

 insect life as the oak. Myriads of larvae feed upon 

 its foliage, chiefly those of the moths known as 

 Geometers, whose caterpillars from their manner of 

 progression are called "loopers," and the various 

 Tortrices whose grubs roll up the leaves to form a 

 protective case. Not infrequently we have the sorry 

 sight of fine oaks, within a short time of their leafing, 

 denuded of foliage until they are asbare as at Christmas. 

 This is often the misdeed of the little Tortrix viridis. 

 Some amount of recovery takes place by a later summer 

 leafing. 



Great numbers of beetles feed upon the wood and 

 bark of the oak in every stage of their decay. The 

 large, flesh-coloured grub of the goat-moth drives its 

 burrows through the solid wood and ruins many a 



