A HOLLOW TREE. 83 



seeds. These take root in the crevices which widen out 

 underneath into a mass of soft decaying ' touchwood ; ' 

 and so from the crown of the tree there presently stream 

 downwards long trailing briers, bearing in June the sweet 

 wild roses and in winter red oval fruit. Ivy comes 

 creeping up, and in its thick warm coverts nests are built. 

 Below, among the powdery ' touchwood ' which lines the 

 floor of this living hut, great fungi push their coloured 

 heads up to the light. And here you may take shelter 

 when the rain comes unexpectedly pattering on the leaves, 

 and listen as it rises to a roar within the forest. Some- 

 times wild bees take up their residence in the hollow, 

 slowly filling it with comb, buzzing busily to and fro ; 

 and then it is not to be approached so carelessly, though 

 so ready are all creatures to acknowledge kindness that 

 ere now I have even made friends with the inhabitants of 

 a wasp's nest. 



A thick carpet of dark green moss grows upon one 

 side of the tree, and over it the tall brake fern rears its 

 yellow stem. In the evening the goat-sucker or nightjar 

 comes with a whirling phantom-like flight, wheeling round 

 and round : a strange bird, which will roost all day on a 

 rail, blinking or sleeping in the daylight, and seeming to 

 prefer a rail or a branch without leaves to one that affords 

 cover. Here also the smaller bats flit in the twilight, and, 

 if you stand still, will pursue their prey close to your head, 

 wheeling about it so that you may knock them down with 



