284 HARMONIES OF VEGETATION. 



25. Since birds live on the seeds or fruits of plants, 

 and require shelter from the too great influence of solar 

 heat ; so do they require also, when vegetation is appa- 

 rently sleeping in the winter months, some kind of pro- 

 vision for their sustenance and growth. 



It is true, many species of birds emigrate, and seek in a warmer 

 climate the luxuries they desire ; but there are, on the other hand, 

 some few which remain throughout the year. Nature, never forget- 

 ful of her offspring, has caused various evergreen shrubs, as the ivy, 

 the privet, and others, to continue covered with black or red berries, 

 forming a striking contrast with the snow, as the hawthorn and eg- 

 lantine, and presenting to winged animals both habitation and food. 



26. The fruit or seed of most plants, both exotic and 

 indigenous, are usually of a colour, calculated to attract 

 the different animals for which they are said to be des- 

 tined. There are some anomalous cases, however, in 

 which the fruits do not invite by any external vivid 

 colour, but by other properties both singular and ex- 

 cellent. 



The heavy cocoa-nut, in falling from the summit of the tree that 

 bears it, makes the earth resound to a considerable distance. The 

 black pods of the caneficier, when ripe and agitated by the wind 

 produce in clashing together, a noise resembling the clack of a mill. 

 When the greyish fruit of the genipsa of the West Indies, falls from 

 the tree in a state of maturity, it cracks upon the ground with a 

 noise equal to the report of a pistol, whereby the land-crabs, which 

 re very fond of it, immediately hasten to seek a repast. Many 

 other singular phenomena could be mentioned, all tending to illus- 

 trate the same point of harmony. 



27. There are many other beautiful harmonic occur- 

 rences between plants and animals, but too extensive to 

 be included in the pages of this little volume. 



