270 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



Another of my companions, the least willow-wren, warbles 

 in like manner his little simple song, where all else is still, 

 except the rushing sound of waters flowing swiftly ; and his 

 brother, the common willow-wren, may be seen running up 

 and down my stem and branches in search of insects. Of 

 these, at least fifty-three different species find their homes 

 among my bark; and hence ladybirds abound in vast 

 numbers among willow-beds, where they confer incalculable 

 benefits by destroying innumerable aphides. Each insect 

 has her own brief history, and wonderful are the natural 

 phenomena concerning which an entomologist could speak. 

 But passing over such, I shall only notice that the Phalana 

 putta, a nocturnal moth, accompanies the evening star; 

 emerging from out her dwelling among my roots, when 

 that star arises, and feeding among the leaves till morning ; 

 and that when day begins to break she retires to her sub- 

 terraneous abode, in order to avoid her inveterate enemy the 

 ichneumon; lastly, that the Ptinus tessellatus, or death-watch^ 

 much affects my branches, and that the Phalana cossus 



