304 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



[13:7— Oct., 1917 



and every one thought it sureh^ would die. Still, it was hurt again 

 for a heavy wind broke off two of the big limbs. 



However, after a long time this tree commenced to grow again 

 and it was at this time that I first knew it. 



Ever since then I have watched it to see how it got along. 



Just a few years ago the town celebrated its looth birthday when 

 the tree must have been 150 years old. Now the tree has become 

 the biggest in town and so big that four of you could not reach 

 around it by joining hands. 



It still is the one place in town where all the boys go to make their 

 whistles, but now it is so large that they must have long ladders to 

 get any of the small limbs. This tree spreads over more ground 

 than does one of your houses. 



Probably when all of you grow up to be big men and women this 

 tree will still be there living on and furnishing whips and whistles 

 for all the boys and girls in town. 



Ever since I can remember it has seemed just like a grown-up 

 man to me, always breathing, eating, and drinking thru its roots 

 and leaves without growing much larger. 



The Story of a Sycamore 



C. W. Leister 



Assistant in Ornithology, Cornell University 



AM pretty sure that every one has a particular 



liking for some tree that he may have been in 



contact with during childhood. My favorite 



tree is the sycamore or, as it is called in some 



parts of the country, the buttonball tree. The 



tree I am thinking of stood in the dooryard of 



my old home in Pennsylvania. It was by far 



the oldest and largest of all the trees in the 



neighborhood and many people used to stop and 



admire it. Its branches towered more than a 



hundred feet in the air and its diameter was nearly nine feet. 



Three years ago this wonderful tree was blown down in a windstorm 



and we were very sorry indeed that we had to take it away. 



You may wonder why I thought so much of this tree, but do you 



304 



^%^ 



