64 LETTERS TO MARCO x 



webs there are in a garden until after a very 

 heavy dew or white frost in autumn ; then 

 every possible corner and twig is seen to be 

 covered with them. On my yew hedge they 

 are innumerable. No doubt the cobwebs 

 get collected on the wings of the little wrens 

 and tits that frequent these hedges, and serve 

 to glue the materials together with which 

 their little compact nests are made. These 

 webs too serve as so many delicate elastic 

 stays to the young shoots of yew, and by 

 their numbers must protect them much 

 from the rough winds ; when you see the 

 young shoots bending over to one another 

 you will find they are united by webs. But 

 how, when you think of the millions of webs 

 in every direction, flies, midges, or gnats 

 escape at all is very wonderful ; a yew 

 hedge is always crowded with these flies 

 when wet weather sets in, and if you beat 

 the hedge swarms of midges, etc., will fly 

 out as if no such things as spiders' webs 

 existed there. 



