BIRDS AND FLOWERS 



375 



in the axil of which the inflorescence is borne. The nectar- 

 sipping habit may have arisen, Sargent thinks, from the 

 birds sipping dew from the flowers and other parts of the 

 plant in arid regions. It is also possible that the association 

 of bird and flower began with insectivorous species taking 

 insects from the flowers. 



Fig. 53. — Erythrina indica, a bird-pollinated flower: A, standard; B, 

 the much reduced wings and keel. Nat. size. (After Werth.) 



III. Malacophilous and Chiropterophiloiis Flowers 



Pollination by snails has been described for Chryso- 

 splenium alternifolium, the golden saxifrage, on the flowers of 

 which Miiller saw snails crawling about and leaving pollen 

 in their tracks. As the said snails were engaged in eating 

 the stamens, their beneficent influence is open to doubt ; 

 the flowers are also visited by many beetles and other insects. 

 Pollination of a few tropical trees by bats has been described, 

 e.g. Frycinetia sp. in Java, and Baiihinia megalandra in 

 Trinidad. The bats seem to visit the flowers to catch 

 insects, and do much damage by tearing the corollas. 



IV. Anemophilous Flowers 



These are most strongly marked by negative characters. 

 They lack scent, they have no nectar, they have lost the 



