no 



THE NATURE BOOK 



upwards. The mixed catkins grow near 

 the tips of the shoots, and carry pollen- 

 bearing flowei-s on the upper four-tilths 

 of their length. On the lower one-hfth 

 are two or three green rosettes with 

 reddish threads protruding. These are 

 the fruit-producing flowers. The pollen is 

 conveyed from flower to flower mainly 

 by the wind, but also to some extent 

 by the visitation of numerous small 

 insects that find the catkins in some 

 way attractive to them, though the 

 flowers secrete no nectar. 



The fruit is enclosed in a casket which 

 presents the appearance of a diminutive 



hed^^'ehog on the defensive, with sharp 

 s[)ines projecting every way. When ripe 

 tliis casket splits open crosswise, exposing 

 the brown nuts. In this country, as a 

 rule, not more than one of these nuts 

 matures. It is roundish, drawn up to a 

 point, something like a bag of which the 

 strings have been tightly drawn to close 

 it when full. Those that have failed 

 are like similar bags, but empty, with 

 their sides pressed together. At the 

 top of the nut stands erect a little tuft, 

 the remains of the stigmas from the time 

 of Howering. 



Henry Ikying. 



HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 



By the REV. MAURICE C. H. BIRD, M.A., M.B.O.U. 



With Photographs by 



RICHARD AND CHERRY KEARTON 



TITS, PIPITS, AND LARKS 



THE chief distinctive mark of the 

 Golden-crested Wren is its dimin- 

 utive size. It is the smallest 

 British bird. About five of them go to 

 the ounce ! In body colour they aj)- 



YOUNG BLUK TIT. 



proach the Willow Wren, but are not 

 quite so delicately elongated in appear- 

 ance, and are more Tit-like in their habits 

 and attitudes. Both male and female 

 have the vcllow crown, but it is not de- 

 velo]:ie(l in the young until after the first 

 month. The sexual difference in the 

 de])th of colour might lead a casual ob- 

 server to mistake the male Gold-crest for 

 an example of the rare Fire-crest, but 

 the latter, besides having a really deeper 

 orange crown, and being a slightly larger 

 l)ird, has also a dark eye-stripe extending 

 to the nape of the neck. Both s])ecies are 

 ])artial to coniferous trees, and young 

 plantations of such are especially attrac- 

 tive, (iold-crests frequently choose the 

 Spnice Fir as a nesting site, but where un- 

 dipped Yews abound their lovely, some- 

 what Chaffinch-like nest is more usually 

 susj)ended from the ends of branches of the 

 last-named tree. It is a marvel how these 

 tiny specks of bird life can endure a sea 

 I)assage, Imt thousands reach the East 

 Coast from the Continent every autumn, 



