WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 227 



hedge at the top of the home-field. They are most 

 voracious birds, and literally cram their crops with 

 this hard fruit. Squirrels and mice enjoy the nuts in 

 Hazel Corner, and the thrushes and pigeons feed on 

 the peggles which cover the great hawthorn bush 

 there so thickly as to give it a reddish tint. There is 

 a difference even in this fruit : on some bushes the 

 peggles consist mainly of the internal stone, the edible 

 coating being of the thinnest. On others the stone 

 is embedded in a thick mellow covering affording twice 

 as much food. Like other products of the hedge, 

 they are supposed to be improved by frost. 



Farther down the highway hedge, by the gateway, 

 a large elder bush, or rather tree, bears a profusion 

 of berries. Blue-black sloes adhere to they do not 

 hang on the blackthorn bushes : in places the boughs 

 are loaded with them. Here and there crabs cling 

 to the tough crab tree, whose bark has a dull gloss on 

 it, something like dark polished leather. Bunches of 

 red berries shine on the woodbine : fruit growing in 

 bunches usually depends, but these are often on the 

 upper side of the stalk ; and the latter bloom shows 

 by them flower and fruit at the same time. The 

 berry has a viscous feel. 



Larger berries some red, some green, on the same 

 bunch cluster on the vines of the bryony. The 

 white bryony, whose leaf is not unlike that of the 

 grape, has a magical reputation, and the cottage folk 

 believe its root to be a powerful ingredient in love 

 potions, and also poisonous. They identify it with 



