134 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



my readers who will bear with me when I state that no other 

 British plant throttles everything which it entangles as does the 

 Bramble. It is so desirous of making its holding more secure, 

 that it sends upwards, and then down, adventurous branches, 

 which, on touching the soil, root at the tips, and thus become 

 fixed in the soil all round the parent plant. Other branches 

 are told off on an exploring expedition, to stay, perhaps, a neigh- 

 bouring branch of Thorn, or Elder, from approaching any closer 

 to Blackberry corner, and nought but the hand of man can stay 

 its course. It throws out huge trailing branches, like the tentacles 

 of a giant Octopus, and these attain a length of several feet in 

 one season. There is no doubt that, as a Nature Study subject, 

 the Bramble is one of the best examples with which I am 

 acquainted, and if I may take my rambles along a Hertfordshire 

 green lane, so characteristic of the county, where Bramble 

 bushes border the hedgerow on either side, I realise that I am 

 participating in an environment which, as a haunt for wild life, 

 could hardly be bettered. 



Our shyer birds, such as the Blackcap, Whitethroat, and 

 Garden Warbler, greatly relish a Bramble entanglement in which 

 to place their frail nests, and it is only when the plant has lost 

 its leaves in Winter, that a census can be accurately taken of 

 the homesteads which were hidden among the wealth of foliage 

 earlier in the year. 



As soon as the first severe frosts arrive, then, sure enough, 

 the leaves come toppling to the ground, and change colour before 

 one has time to realise that Autumn has placed her foot well on 

 the threshold. 



The Hedge Maple is one of the first plants to change the colour 

 of its dress, and already there are to be seen patches of guinea- 

 gold in the hedge opposite my study window. 



Hard by, the rich dark purple leaves of the Dogwood are to 

 be seen, and as the berries have long since disappeared, eaten 

 by hungry birds, whose names are unknown to me, this shrub 

 has suddenly come into prominence again. 



A fine spell of weather experienced in September is doubly 

 welcome, and one day I spent some time watching the Red 

 Admirals and Peacock Butterflies enjoying a pilgrimage from 

 flower to flower. The plant in request was the aromatic Water 

 Mint, and, as the rich velvety insects settled down to work on 

 the pale mauve flowers, the effect was one not easily forgotten. 

 Curiously enough, the Red Admirals do not seem to have visited 



