104 - MULTUM E PAEVO. 



and aslies, and carry them away to hedge-rows, where, 

 fostered and protected by bush and bramble, they spring 

 up and become luxuriant trees. Many noble oaks have 

 been planted by the squirrel, who unconsciously yields no 

 inconsiderable boon to the domain he infests. Towards 

 autumn this provident little animal mounts the branches 

 of oak-trees, strips off the acorns and buries them in the 

 earth, as a supply of food against the severities of winter. 

 He is most probably not gifted with a memory of suf- 

 ficient retention to enable him to find every one he 

 secretes, which are thus left in the ground, and springing 

 up the following year, finally grow into magnificent trees. 

 Pheasants devour numbers of acorns in the autumn, some 

 of which having passed through the stomach, probably 

 germinate. The nuthatch in an indirect manner also 

 frequently becomes a planter. Having twisted off their 

 boughs a cluster of beechnuts, this curious bird resorts to 

 some favourite tree, whose bole is uneven, and endeavours, 

 by a series of manoeuvres, to peg it into one of the 

 crevices of the bark. During the operation it often- 

 times fall to the ground, and is caused to germinate by 

 the moisture of winter. Many small beeches are found 

 growing near the haunts of the nuthatch, which have 

 evidently been planted in the manner described." * 



Not less important, perhaps, are the results of the de- 

 structive than those of the constructive propensities and 

 powers of minute creatures. Of the charming Introduc- 

 tion to Entomology, by Messrs Kirby and Spence, no less 

 * Zoologist, p. 442. 



