CATKIN-BEARING TEIBE 147 



The catkins and young buds form a store of food to the birds, so abun- 

 dant in noi'thern latitudes ; and some ornithologists consider this tree to be 

 the great source of attraction to many birds, which feed on the catkins in 

 spring, and the seeds in M'intcr. The grouse prefers the seeds of the Dwarf 

 Birch ; but the ptarmigan, as well as the smaller birds, seems to like best 

 those of the common species. The pretty little siskin is very fond of the 

 catkins. 



In Siberia and other northern countries, large knobs which grow on the 

 Birch-trees are frequently used for making howls, being cut very thin, and 

 then highly varnished. They are represented by Kalm as very pretty 

 articles of domestic use, being of a pale yellow colour, marbled in a 

 picturesque manner, and so thin as to be almost transparent. When put 

 into water, they are, he says, so plialjle that they may be quite flattened; 

 but when removed and left untouched, they regain their original form. These 

 vessels sell for a high price in Russia. 



The Highlanders, as Mr. Loudon observes, make everything of the Birch- 

 tree — houses, beds, chairs, tables, dishes, spoons, carts, ploughs, fences, 

 barrows, and even ropes. They use its branches in distilling their whisky, 

 the spray for smoking hams and herrings, and for thatching houses ; and in 

 spots on which heather is scarce, they gather the slight boughs of the Birch 

 and sleep on them, or fill their beds with the leaves. The knobs, which they 

 call "Witches' Knots," they also cut into bowls ; and an old Scottish proverb, 

 which says of a very poor man that he is " Bare as a Birk at Yule e'en," 

 seems to allude to the old custom of stripping the liark of the tree to make 

 the Yule or Christmas log. The young shoots are used for brooms, and a 

 very pleasant wine is made from the sap. 



The leaves of the Birch were much praised by our old herbalists foi 

 medicinal properties ; these, however, are very slight. We wonder not that 

 in the olden days, when the houses and clnu-ches were decked with boughs, 

 our fathers so commonly used those of the Birch. In looking over the works 

 of our antiquaries, as those of Stowe and Brande, we find continual mention 

 of the Birch in garlands ; and Gerarde tells how it was used for " banqueting- 

 rooms for places of pleasure." 



A form having more rhomboid leaves, and the side-lobes of the fruiting 

 bracts more erect, is recognised as a sub-species under the name of B. glufinosai 

 The form with smooth resinous leaves is known as the var. denudata ; and 

 another with downy twigs and leaves is the var. puhescens. 



The French call our tree Le Bouleau; and the Germans, Die Birke. The 

 Italians term it Betula ; the Spaniards, Ahedul ; and the Russians, Beresa. 

 It is the Birk of the Danes and the Bioric of the Swedes ; while the Anglo- 

 Saxons called it Bijr, or Birce. It is often termed the Birchen-tree, especially 

 in poetic descriptions ; and Watcher thinks that the word is from the verb 

 brechen, splendere, to be bright, and that it refers to the brilliant whiteness of 

 the outer rind. Pliny comments on this rind, and in the words of his trans- 

 lator says, "It showeth wonderful white." 



2. D\A^arf Birch (B. ndna). — Leaves roundish, bluntly crenate, smooth, 

 on short stalks ; fruit roundish, with a narrow margin ; perennial. This 

 little shrub, which is common in several parts of the Highlands of Scotland, 



19-3 



