68 



THE IVY. 



THE IVY. 



We live to learn. I was not sufficiently aware 

 of the value of ivy for the protection of the 

 feathered race, until I had seen the pheasant- 

 preserve of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 

 the year 1817. It is called the Cascini, and it 

 is a kind of Hyde Park for the inhabitants of 

 Florence in their evening recreations. 



At the grove of the Cascini, you see the ivy 

 growing in all its lofty pride and beauty. As 

 I gazed on its astonishing luxuriance, I could 

 not help entertaining a high opinion of the per- 

 son, be he alive or dead, through whose care 

 and foresight such an effectual protection had 

 been afforded to the wild birds of heaven, in 

 the very midst of the " busy haunts of men." 

 The trees in this ornamented grove are loaded 

 with a profusion of ivy, from their lowest to 

 their topmost branches ; and although crowds of 

 fashionable carriages were rolling along the 

 road which surrounds this preserve, I saw our 

 common pheasant roving through its walks, 



