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it always.captivates the fancy, and we are apt to imagine, 
for the time being, that that is the one spot which it was 
made to adorn. Nor is it only when in flower that it 
claims our admiration. Its fruit, which ripens towards 
the end of summer, scarcely yields in beauty to its blos¬ 
soms ; it hangs in long bunches, varying in colour as the 
season advances, from green to full black. In this state 
it is a most tempting morsel for the birds: hence its 
English appellation. 
The bird-cherry is indigenous in most parts of Europe ; 
it even opens its fragile flowers to the nipping air of 
Russia and Siberia. It abounds in the northern counties 
of England, and is profusely scattered among the woods, 
and on the borders of the mountain torrents of Scotland. 
In these natural fastnesses, where it is more likely to es¬ 
cape the stroke of the axe, it often rises to the height of 
fifteen feet from a stem eighteen inches in diameter, and 
spreads its branches to a considerable distance. 
The wood of the whole genus is very compact, and in 
some species of a fine colour. In others, especially some 
of the bird-cherries, it is beautifully marked, which 
makes it in request for ornamental cabinet work. 
When in bloom, no tree, either in the plantation or 
the forest, bears about it more unequivocally the impress 
of spring. “ To a fanciful view,” it might seem that 
