. I have been, sir, to Broom-heath, and so round by the windmill upon
Camp-mount, and home through the meadows by the river side.

Mr. A. Well, that's a pleasant round.

R. I thought it very dull, sir; I scarcely met with a single person. I
had rather by half have gone along the turnpike-road.

Mr. A. Why, if seeing men and horses were your object, you would,
indeed, have been better entertained on the high-road. But did you see
William?

R. We set out together, but he lagged behind in the lane, so I walked on
and left him.

Mr. A. That was a pity. He would have been company for you.

R. Oh, he is so tedious, always stopping to look at this thing and that!
I had rather walk alone. I dare say he has not got home yet.

Mr. A. Here he comes. Well, William, where have you been?

W. Oh, sir, the pleasantest walk! I went all over Broom-heath, and so up
to the mill at the top of the hill, and then down among the green
meadows, by the side of the river.

Mr. A. Why, that is just the round Robert has been taking, and he
complains of its dullness, and prefers the high-road.

W. I wonder at that. I am sure I hardly took a step that did not delight
me, and I have brought home my handkerchief full of curiosities.

Mr. A. Suppose, then, you give us some account of what amused you so
much. I fancy it will be as new to Robert as to me.

W. I will, sir. The lane leading to the heath, you know, is close and
sandy; so I did not mind it much, but made the best of my way. However,
I spied a curious thing enough in the hedge. It was an old crab-tree,
out of which grew a great bunch of something green, quite different from
the tree itself. Here is a branch of it.

Mr. A. Ah! this is mistletoe, a plant of great fame for the use made of
it by the Druids of old in their religious rites and incantations. It
bears a very slimy white berry, of which birdlime may be made, whence
its Latin name of Viscus. It is one of those plants which do not grow in
the ground by a root of their own, but fix themselves upon other plants;
whence they have been humorously styled _parasitical_, as being
hangers-on, or dependents. It was the mistletoe of the oak that the
Druids particularly honored.

W. A little further on, I saw a green woodpecker fly to a tree, and run
up the trunk like a cat.

Mr. A. That was to seek for insects in the bark, on which they live.
They bore holes with their strong bills for that purpose, and do much
damage to the tree