2o8 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



but the " Ahm-moo," tree does not appear to make use of 

 the carcases of its victims, though it kills on an exceptionally 

 extensive scale. 



On some of the islands where the tree is plentiful 

 numbers of pigeons meet a dreary fate every season. The 

 maturity of the seeds coincides with the hatching out of the 

 young, and inexperienced birds pay dearly for their inex- 

 perience. The natural glutin is produced while the slim, 

 fluted, inch-long seeds are green, but its virtue remains 

 even after the whole panicle has withered and has fallen. 

 So tenacious is it and prompt, that should a panicle as it 

 whirls downward touch the leaves of lower branches of the 

 parent, or of any neighbouring tree, it sticks and becomes 

 a pendant swaying trap in a new position. At first glance 

 it is not easy to identify the tree to which the obnoxious 

 feature belongs. 



The seeds occasion even dogs considerable distress, and 

 might easily be the cause of death to them. As the dog 

 endeavours to remove them from his feet and sides with his 

 teeth, his muzzle is fouled, and he very soon exhibits con- 

 fusion and alarm, and rolling about in frenzied attempts to 

 free himself, gathers more and more of the seeds and 

 accumulated rubbish. 



One is led to ponder upon the purpose of this provision 

 — to endeavour, if possible, to find its justification. Insects 

 lured by the sweetness of the exudation are callously 

 entrapped, and why so ? Do the seeds require the presence 

 of animal matter to ensure germination ? In that case the 

 tree is indirectly carnivorous, and therefore decidedly 

 entitled to recognition among the curiosities of the island. 

 Is the glutin secreted to secure the wide dispersal of the 

 seeds ? If so, the object is largely self-defeated, for seeds 

 by the hundred cling as they fall to the ^branches of the 

 parent tree, and to those of its lowly neighbours. Certainly 

 some proportion of the seeds which reach the ground must 

 be borne hither and thither by the agency of that eternal 

 scratcher, the scrub fowl. But even a bird of such im- 

 mensely proportionate strength may be seriously troubled 



