262 



that's it ; 



and of a nauseous flavour. The i clustered and the frizzled filberts, 

 juice of the unripe berries has ! Several species of birds, whose 

 the colour of saffron, and is used j beaks are powerful enough to 

 for staining maps or paper. \ break the shells, feed upon these 

 They are sold under the name j nuts. Among these the nut- 

 of French berries. The juice j hatch, 10, is one of the most 

 of these berries, when ripe, is j interesting, 

 prepared with alum, and forms ' 

 the sap green used by painters. 

 The bark affords a rich yellow 

 dye. The berries, bark, and 

 leaves, possess strong medical 

 properties, and should on no 

 account be eaten. The leaves 

 form the favourite food of the 

 caterpillar of the brimstone but- 

 terfly. 



667. 



The hazel, 8, is a tree, or 

 shrub, familiar to most people 

 from the sweet filberts which it 

 bears. There are varieties of 

 the hazel, which are thus fami- 

 liarly defined : the white filbert, 

 the rid filbert, the cob, the 



The habits of the nut-hatch 

 are partly those of the creeper, 

 and partly of the woodpecker, 

 yet differing in several parti- 

 culars. The tail affords no 

 support to this bird, yet it climbs 

 well, not only ascending and 

 winding round the trunks of 

 trees, but descending with the 

 utmost facility head foremost, 

 which neither the creeper nor 

 the woodpecker attempts ; and 

 on flying from tree to tree, it 

 usually alights with the head 

 downwards, and in that position 

 works at the shell of the nut it 

 is endeavouring to break. We 

 had once an opportunity of ob- 

 serving a small colony of these 

 interesting birds, in a limited 

 wood (if it deserved the name) 

 of very old trees, near Maccles- 

 field in Cheshire ; the underwood 

 consisted of wild raspberries and 



