from Canada. It is now very common; and readily covers any wall or building against which it is planted. I have known it shoot twenty feet in a year. It is easily propagated by cuttings in autumn. Does any animal eat it, Papa? No doubt there are a number of insects that visit it for various purposes. Horses and sheep will eat a little of it; but cows, goats, and other animals, will not. The plant is rather for ornament than use. But are not the birds supported in winter and spring by ivy berries, Papa? To a small extent, Edward, I think. Mr. White, the excellent Selbourne naturalist, indeed affirms, that they afford a noble and providential supply for them; for though the frost often cuts off the haws by the middle of November, yet the severest weather seldom injures the ivy berries. The opinion has been common, but not, I think, well-founded. Cowper says, 66 berry-bearing thorns, That feed the thrush,-whatever some suppose,~ The long protracted rigour of the year, Thins all their numerous flocks." I think the poet is right; and not only as to "berrybearing thorns," but also as to the ivy-berries. Look at this tree; it is loaded with berries; but if the birds in general had fed on them, there would, assuredly, have been but few left. Gather a bunch of them, Edward. Ah, you have disturbed a Blackbird; most likely she has a nest; let me look. Here it is, and there are two eggs in it. Naturalists call it turdus merula; it is of the order of Passeres, of which I have told you before. It very much resembles the thrush, especially the female. The plumage of the male bird is of a fine deep black; it forms a pretty contrast with the beak, and the edges of the eyes, which are a bright yellow. It is a shy bird, and builds very early in the season. See, the nest is formed of moss, dead grass, and clay; but the innermost lining is from the hay-stack. Does not the Blackbird lay more than two eggs, Papa? She lays four or five, of this bluish green colour, marked with dusky spots. The male sings nearly the whole of the summer, and the autumn. How is it, Papa, that the different birds make such different nests? Your question is a very difficult one, Edward; it arises from that varied instinct, or inclination, with which the Creator has endowed them. Does not every blackbird make the same kind of nest? Certainly; of the same form and materials; and they place it in very similar situations. But the young birds of last year never saw a nest built; how, then, can they build the same sort of nest as that in which they were hatched? They are taught to do so by Heaven; I know no better reply, Edward. The swallow, and the robin of Britain, build precisely the same kind of nest, as those of Germany, or America. The Magpie's nest in the apple tree, in our orchard, Papa, was a very curious one; do you recollect, how it was quite covered with thorns, leaving only a hole by which they might go in and out? Where does the eagle build her nest? In high rocks, or on the summits of mountains. It is a singular fact, that parrots, and all birds with two toes forward and two backwards, lay their eggs in |