The Field Rose 



seek ; they desire, curiously enough, the hard seeds 

 which together build up the globe, and they sit 

 swinging on an adjacent branch and carefully pick 

 out the pieces of the jig-saw globe. The proof that 

 they do not care so much for the rind — the only pulpy 

 part of the frviit — lies in the fact that often one can 

 find it left hke a ragged cup upon the branches, 

 emptied of all its contents. The birds have torn 

 away the upper part, greedily swallowed all the 

 seeds and contemptuously left, as of no account, the 

 lower part of the rind. The seeds pass through their 

 bodies — no doubt their slight hairiness facilitates the 

 process— and they find earth again in the droppings 

 of the bird. The Roses always carefully refrain 

 from allowing their ripe fruits to fall to the earth, 

 for their aim is to keep them specially for the birds 

 and to protect them from field-mice and other small 

 animals, who are most effectually kept at bay by 

 the long prickly stems, which their tender feet 

 cannot tread. 



83 



