260 



THAT S IT; 



The hawthorn grows almost 

 everywhere in thickets, copses, 

 hedges, and high open fields. 

 There are several varieties of 

 this species, among others the 

 Glastonbury thorn, which flowers 

 as early as Christmas. The 

 double-blossomed hawthorn is 

 one of the greatest ornaments 

 of our pleasure grounds, and 

 is capable of being kept as a 

 shrub, or trained as a tree. 

 There is also a variety with 

 pink flowers, caused by growing 

 upon a clayey soil ; the colour 

 1 



sometimes approaches a full red 

 or scarlet, and is then very 

 beautiful. The flowers are suc- 

 ceeded by berries, 2, which 

 change from the lighter to the 

 deeper tints of green, termi- 

 nating in a bright red or 

 crimson. These berries, com- 

 monly called " haws," are the 

 food of numerous birds, and as 



they endure through the autumn 

 and the earlier winter months, 

 they form an agreeable store for 



664. 



numerous members of the fea- 

 thered tribes. Squirrels, also, 

 are very fond of these berries ; 

 and when they are shaken from 

 the trees by storms in large 

 quantities, they afford sustenance 

 to swine. In husbandry, haw- 

 thorns, clipped and trimmed, 

 form the quick-set hedges which 

 mark the boundaries of trees and 

 plantations. Hawthorn hedges 

 are the favourite resort of the 

 hawthorn butterfly * the wings of 

 which are white, with black 

 veins. The caterpillar is of a 

 dull yellow colour at first, but 

 changes with moultings ; it de- 

 vours the leaves, for which 

 purpose numbers of the cater- 

 pillars collect together under 

 the protection of a silken web ; 

 and among the inhabitants of 

 the hawthorn will be found the 

 lackey moth, the yellow -tailed 

 moth, the brown-tailed moth, and 

 the ermine moth. The cater- 

 pillars of the browu-taiied moth"\ 

 are frequently so numerous as to 



* Pier it cratagi. 



t Parthesia aurijlua. 



