R.— We set out together but he lagged behind in the lane, so I 

 walked on and left him. 



Mr. A. — That is a jniy. He would have been company for you. 



R. — 0, he is so tedious, always stopping to look at this thing and 

 that. I had rather walk alone. I dare say he has not got home yet. 



Mr. A. — Here he eduies. Well, William, where have you been? 



^^- — 0, sir, the pleasantest walk! I went all over Broom-heath, and 

 so up to the mill at the top of the lull, and then down among the 

 green meadows, by the side of the river. 



Mr. A. — Wh}-, that is just the round that Eobert has been taking, 

 and he complains of its dullness, and prefers the highroad. 



W. — I wonder at that. I am sure I hardly took a step that did not 

 delight me. and I have brought home my handkerchief full of cu- 

 riosities. 



Mr. A. — Sujipo.^e. then, you give us some account of what amused 

 you so mufli. I fancy it will be as new to Robert as to me. 



W. — I will. sir. The lane leading to the heath, you know, is close 

 and sandy; so I did not mind it much, but made the best of my way. 

 However, I spied a curious thing enough in the hedge. It was an old 

 crab tree, out of which grew a great bunch of something green, quite 

 different from the tree itself. Here is a branch of it. 



Mr. A. — Ah! this is mistletoe, a plant of great fame for the use 

 made of it by the Druids of old in their religious rites and incanta- 

 tions. It bears a very slimy, white berry, of which birdlime may be 

 made, Avhence its Latin name Viscus. It is one of those plants which 

 do not grow in the ground by a root of their own, but fix themselves 

 upon other plants; whence they have been humorously styled parasiti- 

 cal, as being hangers-on, or dependants. It was the mistletoe of the 

 oak that the Druids particularly honored. 



W. — A little further on, I saw a green woodpecker fly to a tree, and 

 run up the trunk like a cat. 



Mr. A. — That was to seek for insects in the bark, on which they 

 live. They bore holes with their strong bills for that purpose, and 

 do much damage to the trees by it. 



W. — What beautiful birds they are! 



Mr. A. — Yes; the woodpecker has been called, from its color and 

 size, the English parrot. 



"VV. — When I got upon the open heath, how charming it was! The 

 air seemed so fresh, and the prospect on every side so free and un- 

 bounded! Then it was all covered with gay flowers, many of which I 

 had never observed before. There were, at least, three kinds of heath 



