46 NOTES OF A nAMm,K 0\ THE HAILWAY. 



directions: here pink, there white. It derives its generic name from the Latin 

 word Convoho — to bind — -whence its English name of Bindweed. Some 

 beautiful pink flowers tempted me to scramble up a steep embankment, which 

 I found to be those of the Musk Mallow, (Malva moschcita,) easily known 

 from the others by its deeply cut leaves, and faint smell of musk, on being 

 drawn through the hand. The dark crimson flowers of the Knapweed, [Cent- 

 aurea Jacea,) and the light blue of the Devils bit Scabious, (Scahiosa succisa,) 

 contrasted beautifully with the white of the Bladder Campion, (Silene ivjlata,) 

 and many of the umbelliferous plants. The Knapweed is said to be called 

 Gentaurea, on account of the Centaur Chiron having with this plant cured 

 himself of a wound received in his foot from Hercules. 



I could not resist the temptation to rest awhile by the side of the Willow 

 plot on the left, just above Hempston, to listen to the little Sedge Warbler, 

 Reed Fauvette, or Sedge Bird, (Salicaria phragmitis,) which may be heard here 

 both by day and night. I am informed by the Rev. F. H. Hele, of Little- 

 Hempston — a gentleman who has devoted very much of his time to Natural 

 History, that these birds have bred there for seven years in succession; and 

 that, although he had heard them at almost all hours of the day and night, 

 he had never been able to see one until very lately. The Willow plot is 

 about an acre in extent, by the side of a small stream, with pretty much 

 sedge and rush about it; and these summer visitors appear to prefer it to any 

 other spot, for they are not heard elsewhere in this neighbourhood; although 

 there are many places equally suited to their habits within half-a-mile. Bewick, 

 vol. i. page 216, remarks, ^'Tt sings incessantly night and day during the 

 breeding-time, imitating by turns the notes of the Sparrow, the Swallow, the 

 Skylark, and other birds, from whence it is called the English Mocking Bird." 

 In endeavouring to get a glimpse of this little songster, I met with the 

 Yellow Toad Flax, (Linaria vulgaris;) and near the water the Branched Bur 

 Reed, (Sparganium ramosum,) and the Great Water Plantain, (Ah'sma 

 plantago,) — an upright plant, two or three feet high, with three delicate pink 

 petals; the leaves which spring from the root are very large and oval, on long 

 stalks: it may be found on most streams. The powdered root is said to be 

 a cure for hydrophobia. It is called the Alisma, from Alls, the Celtic word 

 for water. The Figwort, (Scrophularia nodosa,) was plentiful here; as indeed 

 it is everywhere in Devonshire. 



Nearer Little-Hempston I found the Hemp Agrimony, {Eupatorium canna- 

 hinum,) growing in a dry situation on the line, although it generally prefers 

 moist places near lakes or rivers: the flowers are a sort of reddish purple, 

 growing in tufts, and the plant has an aromatic smell. A little further on, 

 the Trailing St. John's Wort, {Hypericum humifusum,) was in great abun- 

 dance at the bottom of one of the embankments; but although in flower, the 

 stems were not above four inches long: it generally grows to a height of six 

 inches or more. 



Turning into the path fields on the left, leading to Little-Hempston church, 



