3i8 MY COUNTRY WANDERINGS 



There is a weeping note coming from the direc- 

 tion of the belt of Privet bushes. Listen! Do 

 you catch the faint sound ? It is a handsome cock 

 Bullfinch taking toll from the rich purple-black 

 berries, and he signals every now and again so 

 that his more sombre-clad mate may know that 

 all is well. This bird, wonderful to relate, pairs 

 for life, and if the young reader will reflect for 

 himself upon this very remarkable trait in the 

 character of a wild creature, I doubt not he will 

 see a lesson of constancy worthy of imitation. 



The Gall Flies have been busy among the Oak 

 trees and the Wild Roses this past Summer. A 

 result of their labours may be seen in one of the 

 many species of Oak Galls, better known as the 

 Oak Apple. The round, hard gall known to almost 

 every schoolboy is called the Bullet Gall. The 

 curious gall growths which one comes across in 

 the country are caused mostly by the female Gall 

 Fly puncturing a leaf or twig with her sharp ovi- 

 positor. Having done this she proceeds to lay a 

 number of eggs in the incision made. Irritation 

 is caused to the plant, or tree, the egg hatches, and 

 the larva finds himself embedded eventually in a 

 soft, spongy homestead, if it be the Oak Apple 

 Gall. There are over fifty different kind of Galls 

 found on the Oak tree alone, and of these my 

 friend, Edward Connold, has recently told us a 

 great deal of interest in his new book devoted to 



