THE MARSH WARBLER'S MUSIC 205 



side of tlic trunk measured fifteen yards, giving the tree 

 a breadth of ninety-nine feet! The (jther, the ivy, was 

 a tree in the orchnary sense of the word, that is to say, 

 a plant above the size of a bush which is not a parasite 

 supported by another tree but wholly self-sustained. It 

 grows near but nt)t touchinrj the wall, with a round 

 straight bole three feet in circumference and fifteen feet 

 in height, with a rough elm-tree-like bark, crowned with 

 a dense round mass of branches and leaves. Doubtless 

 it once grew on a tree and had a strong straight bole 

 of its own when the tree died, and during the slow 

 dying and gradual decay of the support it added to its 

 wood and grew harder to meet the changing situation, 

 until wlien the old trunk it grew against had crumbled 

 to dust it was able to stand erect, a perfect independent 

 tree. 



At the too famous Abbey the chief interest was in 

 the birds. Starlings, sparrows, and daws were there in 

 numbers, and many blue and ox-eye tits, fly-catchers, 

 and redstarts, all feeding their young or bringing them 

 off. The starlings were most abundant, and the young 

 were being spilt from the walls all over the place. I 

 talked with a slow old labourer who was lazily sweeping 

 the dead leaves and straws from the smooth turf which 

 forms the floor of the roofless ruin, when one of the 

 young birds, more stupid than the others, began follow- 

 ing us about, clamouring to be fed. The old sweeper, 

 using his broom, gently pushed the poor fool away: 

 "There, there, go away, or you'll be getting hurt," he 

 said, and the bird went. 



