THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



AUGUST, 1884. 



HICKOKY-NUTS AND BUTTERNUTS. 



By grant ALLEN. 



THE tall clioke-cheriy tree in the corner of the meadow, near the 

 hickory chmip, is a favorite resort of all the fruit-eating birds in 

 the township for half a mile around in every direction. To the judi- 

 cious human palate, indeed, the flavor of choke-cherries is not exactly 

 alluring or attractive ; they have a disagreeable astringent tinge about 

 their pulp that rather reminds one of alum or borax, and they are not 

 sweet enough or luscious enough to be worth eating by people who 

 have graj^es and plums and peaches and apples and a dozen other cul- 

 tivated fruits at easy command. But to the unsophisticated native 

 bii'ds it is quite clear that choke-cherries are rather a dainty and tooth- 

 some delicacy than otherwise ; and one has only to look at the pretty 

 berries in order to see that they deliberately lay themselves out to at- 

 tract the favorable attention of these winged allies and visitors. The 

 color of the choke-cherry shows at once that it wishes specially to chal- 

 lenge and allure the notice of the passer-by ; its sweet pulp and nutri- 

 tive qualities show that it means them to eat it, and so aid in dispers- 

 ing its seed. For the actual, final end of the choke-cherry itself, of 

 course, lies in the stone and its inclosed kernel ; all the rest is merely 

 the attractive covering which the plant gives in, as it were, to any 

 friendly bird which will be kind enough to assist it in j^lanting out its 

 young seedlings under favorable circumstances for their future wel- 

 fare. From time immemorial, those choke-cherries which best suc- 

 ceeded in enticing birds to swallow them, and ultimately to scatter 

 their seeds, protected from injury by the hard and horny covering, 

 have left the largest number of offspring to represent them, and so 

 have survived most frequently, in the person of their descendants, 

 VOL. XXV. — 23 



