64 
THE NATURALIST ABROAD. 
(P, vulgare'^'J has mounted upon its trunk, the Pipewort (Fistulina hepaiica,j 
oozes its red, liver-like lobes from its orifices, and a colony of Black Ants 
(Formica fuliginosa) are excavating its anterior into countless hollow gal¬ 
leries and chambers. These sable Ants will occasionally honeycomb the 
floors of houses in a most singular manner; leaving a dark extensive series of 
labyrinthal work, that from its burnt sooty appearance might be supposed 
cumbrous and heavy, but which, when taken up, feels exceedingly light, 
as I have ascertained in several instances. From a fragment of this ma¬ 
nufactured pasteboard (for such it almost is), thus worked up oy the Ants, 
and taken from the floor of a house, curiously enough, a Death’s-head Hawk- 
moth {Acherontia atropos), once emerged, as I noticed, in a small glass-case 
where iP had been placed. But we are now on the edge of the woodland, 
whose solitary glades and Retired recesses invite us to refreshment, shelter, and 
repose. Within its gloom all is still, the soothing note of the Ring Pigeon 
alone being heard; but the thicket is yellow with the Cow-wheat (Melampy- 
rum pratense) and the Purple Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) spreads far and 
wide beneath the bushes, while here and there the golden Broom still presents 
a radiant object amidst the close forest trees. 
We are in one of those rocky woods, whose romantic covertures so frequently 
adorn the bold acclivities bounding the deep valley of the green chrystal 
Teme. On one side we see the river splashing down the hollows of jthe stony 
wier, adorned with purple tufts of Arundo pkragmites, the bright yellow Wil¬ 
low-herb (Lysimcwhia vulgaris J, and the tall rank masses of the (Enanthe 
crocata ; on the other a deep rocky defile extends before us, dark with verdure, 
along whose gulleys a rill gushes deep amidst the underwood, which takes its 
rise far up in the dark recesses of rock, to which superstition has assigned a 
name of demoniac dread.* But while we yet loiter by the stilly pool before 
us, edged by an array of grenadier-like Typhcn, and diversified by the elegant 
bending Careae pseudo-cyperus, a brown bird has shot past us to the wier, and 
disappeared behind the stones. It mustbe the Dipper (Cinelus aquaticus^ Fle¬ 
ming. A cautious step among the Willows brings us in full view' of him. He 
trills a faint quavering note, now runs into the water, overhead reckless he 
goes, in and out, and now turns suspiciously round, preening his wing, then at 
it again, dashing under the water, careless of a wet coat, and now he is off 
behind that mass of rock. We have roused him again, and there springs his 
mate from that grassy islet, but both shoot away up the stream, and are lost 
behind yon spreading Wytch Elm, that covers half the river with its mossy 
* It was the Polypody of the Oak that was formerly held in such esteem for medical virtue#, 
probably arising from its comparative rarity on that tree. 
t The “ Devil’s Den/’ 
