My correspondent makes the point that the worst enemy of
nesting birds is the motor-car. "I saw one pathetic case this summer where a car knocked down an English partridge when accompanied by its mate and killed it. The other bird gave off most piteous cries and for a time refused to leave the spot." It is curious that the partridge is one of the few birds that has not acquired a wire sense. Great numbers are still killed along lines of telegraph wire. As to the road, there is much evidence to show that birds are seldom killed unless the car is going at forty miles an hour or more. " The road sense " is perhaps developing ; and birds are quicker to reach it than mammals. One of my neighbours while driving quite slowly killed a grey squirrel, and both rabbits and hares lose their nerve in the presence of a fast car.
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