UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 179 



composed chiefly of hay find straw, but warmly 

 lined with feathers, and fragments of thread or 

 worsted, bits of cloth, or any material that can 

 be picked up about a house ; and should their 

 nest be destroyed, they will build up another in 

 twenty-four hours. 



In some parts of France, Mr. Lumley saw 

 earthen pots hung out of houses, for the sparrows 

 to breed in, for the purpose of having a supply 

 of young sparrows for the table ; and it is said 

 that the kings of Persia have them trained to 

 hunt the butterfly. 



6th. My uncle and Mr. Lumley have been 

 conversing to-day about the trees and woods 

 of Europe. I had been saying so much to 

 my cousins lately about the forests of tropical 

 countries, that it was delightful to hear them 

 continue the subject ; and finding that I listened, 

 they tried to make me comprehend all they said. 



They remarked that each region of Europe 

 may be distinguished, in some degree, by the 

 different character of its forests ; the pine and 

 birch being invariably found in the cold northern 

 countries ; the lime, beech, ash, oak, chesnut, 

 and walnut in the temperate regions ; and, ap- 

 proaching the warmer climates, the cork tree and 

 the olive. 



The most useful of the tree families are boun- 

 tifully extended, said my uncle, from nearly the 



