THE ASH. 



151 



so will it sooner decay than that tree, if not felled 

 at maturity. It is observed, that when the wood- 

 peckers are seen tapping these trees, they ought 

 to be cut, as these birds never make holes in the 

 Ash, until it is on the decay." 



This fact has not escaped the notice of the ob- 

 servant Waterton, the well known Ornithologist. 

 " Often," he says, ^Svhen arrayed in all the bloom 

 of vegetable beauty, the Ash-tree is seen to send 

 forth from its bole, or from some principal branch, 

 a small fungus, which during the summer in- 

 creases to a considerable size. It ripens in the 

 autumn and falls to the ground when winter's 

 rain sets in. The bark through which this fungus 

 sprouted is now completely dead, though it still 

 retains its colour ; and that part of the wood from 

 which it proceeded is entirely changed in its 

 nature, the whole of its vitiated juices having 

 been expended in forming and nourishing the 

 fungus. 



" Nothing remains of its once firm and vigorous 

 texture. It is become what is commonly called 

 touchwood, as soft and frangible as a piece of cork, 

 and, wdien set on fire, ^yill burn like tinder. In 

 the mean time, the tree shows no sign of sickness ; 

 and its annual increase goes on as usual ; till, at 

 last, the new swelling wood closes over the part 

 from which the fungus had grown, and all appears 

 to go on right again. But, ere the slow process 

 arrives at this state, the titmouse or the wood- 

 pecker will have found an entrance and a place of 

 safety for their incubation. They quickly per- 

 forate the distempered bark ; and then the tainted 

 wood beneath it yields to their pointed bills, with 

 which they soon effect a spacious cavity. Here 



