96 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 
ing stage the leaves immediately below the fruit cluster are 
erect, that is, point upward forming an angle of from 30° 
to 60° with the stem. They are linear lanceolate and rigid 
with sharp horny end spines, and are usually from 35 to 65 
centimeters long by from 3 to 5 centimeters wide. They 
are very numerous and suddenly broaden out at the base, 
greatly overlapping each other, so that an almost closed 
cup is formed at the apex where the fruit cluster is borne. 
The most of those seeds which fall, not being twitched off 
by the bird, strike some one of the numerous upper leaves 
and adhere until the rain washes them down to the stem 
where they are held till a later stage of development when 
the upper cluster of leaves, which are now erect, have be- 
come reflexed. This stage will be described in detail later. 
Many of the seeds are evidently swallowed by the mock- 
ing birds with the surrounding pulp. In this case, as in 
the majority of pulpy fruits, the seeds are swallowed unin- 
jured and resist the action of digestion so that they pass 
through the alimentary canal and are evacuated in good 
condition for germination. Mocking bird dung, which had 
fallen on the Yucca plants, was examined in many cases 
and frequently found to contain aloifolia seeds apparently 
uninjured. 
The stomachs of several mocking birds were examined, 
but, although in three cases almost the entire contents of 
the stomach was composed of the pulp of aloifolia, no seeds 
were discovered. 
Having at my home a captured mocking bird I tested 
him with aloifolia fruits and seeds. He had become quite 
tame and had learned to pick flies from one’s finger. I 
first took single seeds surrounded by some pulp. These he 
greedily picked from my finger and swallowed without diffi- 
culty. During the feeding several seeds were snapped 
from his bill, and several were thrown off by a twitch of 
the head in trying to free the pulp from the seeds. These 
actions correspond exactly with those previously ob- 
served in the field. The number of seeds swallowed was 
