24 LOVES MEINIE. 



in Forfarshire, where it grew, though only a 

 bush usually in the south, with trunks a foot 

 or eighteen inches in diameter, and the tree 

 thirty feet high. But the Swedish robin's 

 taste for its berries is to be noted by you, 

 because, first, the dogwood berry is commonly 

 said to be so bitter that it is not eaten by 

 birds (Loudon, " Arboretum," ii., 497, i.); and, 

 secondly, because it is a pretty coincidence 

 that this most familiar of household birds 

 should feed fondly from the tree which gives 

 the housewife her spindle, — the proper name 

 of the dogwood in English, French, and 

 German being alike " Spindle-tree." It feeds, 

 however, with us, certainly, most on worms 

 and insects. I am not sure how far the 

 following account of its mode of dressing its 

 dinners may be depended on : I take it from 

 an old book on Natural History, but find it, 

 more or less, confirmed by others : " It takes 

 a worm by one extremity in its beak, and 

 beats it on the ground till the inner part 

 comes away. Then seizing it in a similar 

 manner by the other end, it entirely cleanses 

 the outer part, which alone it eats." 



One's first impression is that this must be 



