::;:::::s>5 two bird-lovers in Mexico B:-"""" 



taken for those of the tree itself, so close is the union 

 of the parasite and its host. 



Trees are very sensitive to their environment, and 

 mould the effects of their surroundings into theii- 

 growth. The stunted firs and spruces at the edge of 

 the Bay of Fundy are permanent witnesses to the 

 terrible winds and storms of past years ; every bough 

 and twig reaching landward, away from the path of 

 the blasts. Canadian balsams often orow so close to- 

 getlier that their bare stems all but touch, and make it 

 impossible for even a rabbit to creep between, and here 

 we see everywhere signs of the warfare which goes on 

 in the forest. 



The reverence which we pay to age should not be 

 denied to a tree, and when we see a mighty trunk up- 

 lifted in these thick jungles, we should spare it a 

 thought of admiration when we consider the centuries 

 of constant struo'g'le ag-ainst animate and inanimate 

 foes, by which alone it has maintained its place and 

 prestige. The great wild fig-trees, which are sometimes 

 overcome by choking vines, occasionally begin life in 

 a most novel way. A favourite nesting-site of wood- 

 peckers is in the soft, pulpy branches of the organ 

 cactus. If it happens that a seed of the fig-tree be- 

 comes lodged in one of these deserted nesting-holes, 

 it soon sprouts in the mould at the bottom. The seed 

 develops and sends a long, thread-like root-tendril to 

 the ground, and the ensuing growth may become a 



-N^ 314 ^ 



