322 MY COUNTRY WANDERINGS 



we may specially mention the Knapweed, Lesser 

 Stitchwort, Herb Robert, and Toadflax. The 

 large umbelliferous seed-heads of the Hedge Parsley 

 and the Cow Parsnip are specially prominent, the 

 latter particularly so. 



The distribution of seeds and plants, the manner 

 in which they are often carried by birds and other 

 living creatures, affords many an interesting object 

 lesson. Throughout the whole realm of Nature 

 this branch of study is one of the most interesting 

 and wonderful, and one has only to mention the 

 manner in which the berries of that parasitic 

 shrub, the Mistletoe, are carried by birds, and 

 germinate in the crevices and bark of trees, in 

 support of this latter statement. Instances might 

 be multiplied, but one of the most striking which 

 occurs to me as I write is recorded by Charles 

 Darwin. A ball of clay was taken from the foot 

 of a Red-Legged Partridge — a bird, by the way^ 

 which is increasing very prominently in our 

 country — and from this little ball of clay from the 

 foot of a single bird, Darwin actually succeeded in 

 propagating no less than eighty-two plants! This 

 single instance illustrates very forcibly one of the 

 ways in which birds act as distributing agents in 

 Nature, and, beyond this, shows the practical 

 experiments which the great scientist carried out. 



The variety of bird life which adds such a charm 

 to our English Summer is, to a great extent,. 



