50 BIOGRAPHY. 



Healing a gateway, and especially favoured by Waterton as having 

 poplar. been p ] ante d by his father. It was twice struck by light- 

 ning, and the trunk split open for many feet. 



However, Waterton filled up the breaches, and in course 

 of time the tree recovered itself (see p. 36). It was in 

 full growth during my last visit, but it was blown down 

 by a severe gale in 1869, having succumbed, not to the 

 lightning, but to age. To heal a tree by filling it with bricks 

 and mortar may appear to be rather a singular method, but 

 it is a very effectual one ; the chief object being to keep 

 rain out of the tree, and so to guard it against rotting. 



How thoroughly Waterton bad studied the ways of trees 

 may be seen from the following extract from his essay on 

 the Titmouse and the Woodpecker, in which he combated 

 the popular opinion that these birds were injurious to 

 trees : 



" Would you inspect the nest of a carrion crow ? Brittle 

 Tree are the living branches of the ash and sycamore; while, 

 on the contrary, those which are dead on the Scotch pine 

 are tough, and will support your weight. The arms of the 

 oak may safely be relied on ; but, I pray you, trust with 

 extreme caution those of the quick -growing alder. Neither 

 press heavily on the linden tree ; though you may ascend 

 the beech and the elm without any fear of danger. But 

 let us stop here for the present. On some future day, 

 should I be in a right frame for it, I may pen down a few 

 remarks, which will possibly be useful to the naturalist 

 when roving in quest of ornithological knowledge. I will 

 now confine myself to the misfortunes and diseases of 

 trees ; and I- will show that neither the titmouse nor the 

 woodpecker ever bore into the hard and live wood. 



" Trees, in general, are exposed -to decay by two different 

 processes, independent of old age. The first is that of a broken 

 branch, which, when neglected, or not cut off close to the 



