CORRESPONDENCE. 
Destruction of Game by Rats. 
To the Editor of the Naturalist. 
Dear Sir, —In the early part of June last I discovered a Partridge’s nest in a 
field of winter Tares; and since the crop was being cut as green food for my 
Horses, I was very anxious that she should hatch her eggs before the mower 
came to the nest. On the 23rd I found the eggs bare and cold, and the old bird 
gone. I at first supposed that she had forsaken her nest; but the next day 9 
when cutting the Tares, the man called me to look at a collection of Grass and 
straw gathered together in the form of a nest. This he pronounced to he the 
work of a Rat; and on looking closely, a beaten path was discovered leading 
towards the Partridge’s nest, which was about six feet from it. While depre¬ 
cating the felon that had caused this mischief, the mower pulled out the poor old 
bird, evidently killed by the Rat, as part of the breast was eaten away, and 
many feathers were strewn around. Not many minutes elapsed before the villain 
bolted, when, setting on a trusty terrier, the Rat soon gave his last squeak. I 
opened his stomach, and found it contained some part of the Partridge. Game- 
keepers should do all in their power to clear the dry banks and hedges of this 
noxious vermin, as I have no doubt much game is destroyed by them during the 
period of incubation. 
As I said before, the eggs were quite cold; but on breaking one, I found the 
little bird within alive, and it soon began to utter its small cry. I took the 
remainder of the eggs and put them under a hen; she hatched them all (nine), 
but killed them in pecking the shell. 
Necessity of Freedom in Scientific Inquiry. 
I trust your boldness, and the truths expressed in your last number (Yol. III., 
p. 443), will not hinder your sale ; but, should it do so, you will have the satis¬ 
faction of knowing that you only lose the prejudiced and narrow-minded. 
Destruction of Foliage by Insects. 
I do not know if it is worth your notice, but in some of our woods (at the end 
of May) the Oak foliage was entirely eaten up by a small caterpillar. The 
woods looked like winter, and the falling of the insect was so incessant that it 
sounded like the dropping of a smart shower; the trees have now recovered, and 
many of them’have two sorts of leaves, the original dark green, the new light green. 
With best wishes for your prosperity, 
Your very truly, 
W. H. Bensted. 
Maidstone , Aug. 14, 1838. 
