THE CHAFFINCH 171 



campions, and catchflies, the stitchworts, the sandworts, and the 

 ragged robin of hedges and fields ; chickweed, and corncockle in 

 arable land and cornfields, and the narrow-leaved mouse-ear chick- 

 weed in pastures. Of Linacece, flax is cultivated ; purging flax is 

 a weed of poor- land. Of Leguminosce, beans, peas (certainly not 

 eaten by chaffinch) ; white cow-grass, alsine, crimson trefoil, and 

 suckling clovers ; lucernes, sanfoin, and tares, with birdsfoot trefoil 

 and kidney vetch on poor soils ; furze, broom, rest-harrow, meadow 

 vetchling, and a dozen species of wild vetch representing weeds. 

 Of Umbelliferce field crops are carrot, parsnip (not much used as 

 cattle food), sheep's parsley ; of weeds, hedge parsley, cow-parsnip, 

 shepherd's needle (in cornfields), pignut (in pastures), and poison- 

 ous umbellifers, hemlock, fool's parsley (both land plants), water 

 drop wort, water parsnip, and cowbane (a trio of water plants). 

 Of Solanacece, only potato is cultivated, while wild exist the foul- 

 smelling henbane, bittersweet and deadly nightshade. Of Labiatce 

 not any species are grown by agriculturists or only as weeds ; white, 

 and red deadnettles, hempnettle, bugle, and self-heal. Of Bo- 

 raginece, prickly comfrey is grown for fodder and silage, and as 

 weeds common comfrey, corn gromwell, forget-me-nots, and scor- 

 pion-grasses. Of Chenopodiacece, beets and mangel-wurzel are 

 grown with various species of goosefoot as weeds. Of Polygonacecz, 

 buckwheat is the only farm plant, unless sheep's sorrel be claimed ; 

 but docks and sorrels are common weeds of grass land, knot-grass 

 and climbing bistort of cornfields and often occur on arable land. 

 Of Urticacece only the hop is a field crop, while stinging nettles are 

 seen in every hedge and spreading therefrom. Liliacece has no 

 field representative except as a market-garden farm crop, then 

 onion and asparagus compete with the wild garlic in cornfields, and 

 meadow saffron of the closely allied order Melanthacece in meadows 

 and pastures. Juncacece, rushes ; and Cyperacece, sedges, have no 

 feeding value. Papaveracea, includes the poppy (species of which 

 is occasionally grown for the " heads "), a persistent weed of corn- 

 fields. Ranunculacece embraces the kingcup, crowsfoot, spearwort 

 and marsh marigold, the pheasant's-eye of cornfields, and the wind- 

 flower of the woods. Fumariacece includes several species of 

 fumitory, common weeds of arable land. GeraniacecB comprise 

 about a dozen species of cranesbills or geraniums, two or three of 

 which occur upon arable land and meadows, and their seed is some- 

 times introduced in impure samples of clover seed, and the meadow 

 crane's-bill in pastures. Rubiacece includes the hariff not uncom- 

 mon in cornfields and plentiful in hedgerows, rabbits eating it 

 greedily, and the knob-like bristly points adhering to clothes and 

 sheep's fleeces, blue Sherardia or field madder common in cornfields, 

 and on poor meadow and downland the yellow bedstraw or cheese 

 rennet. Convolvulacea embraces the small bindweed, a troublesome 

 pest of cornfields and potato beds, and the great bindweed, usually 



