84 THE IVY. 



tude of effects and results, no vegetation could exist, 

 no animal life continue. 



The ivy (hedera helix), the dark-looking ivy, 

 almost covers with its thick foliage the pollards in 

 our hedgerows ; and, creeping up the sides of the 

 old barn and chimney of the cottage, nearly hides 

 them from our sight, affording a sheltered roosting- 

 place to many poor birds, and is almost their only 

 refuge in the cold season of the year. But the ivy 

 can boast of much more extensive service to the 

 poor wayfaring beings of creation, than the merely 

 affording them a covering from the winds of winter. 

 Those two extreme quarters of our year, autumn 

 and spring, yield to most animals but a very slen- 

 der and precarious supply of food ; but the ivy, in 

 those periods, saves many from want and death ; 

 and the peculiar situations, in which it prefers to 

 flourish, are essential to the preservation of this 

 supply, as in less sheltered ones it would be de- 

 stroyed. In the month of October the ivy blooms 

 in profusion, and, spreading over the warm side of 

 some neglected wall, or the sunny bark of the 

 broad ash on the bank, its flowers become a uni- 

 versal banquet to the insect race. The great black 

 fly (musca yrossa), and its numerous tribe, with 

 multitudes of small winged creatures, resort to 

 them ; and there we see those beautiful animals, the 

 latest birth of the year, the admiral (vanessa ata- 

 lanta) and peacock (vanessa Id) butterflies, hang- 

 ing with expanded wings, like open flowers them- 

 selves, enjoying the sunny gleam, and feeding on 



