250 AN OWL'S HEAD HOLIDAY. 



length (including the stipe), and I picked one 

 which measured about two feet and a half, and 

 bore twenty-five bulblets underneath. Half a 

 mile from the start, or thereabouts, the path 

 skirts what I should call the fernery ; a cir- 

 cular space, perhaps one hundred and fifty feet 

 in diameter, set in the midst of the primeval 

 forest, but itself containing no tree or shrub 

 of any sort, — nothing but one dense mass of 

 ferns. In the centre was a patch of the sensi- 

 tive fern (^Onoelea sensibilis}, while around this, 

 and filling nearly the entire circle, was a mag- 

 nificent thicket of the ostrich fern (^Onoclea 

 struthiopteris)^ with sensihilis growing hidden 

 and scattered underneath. About the edge 

 were various other species, notably Aspidium 

 Goldianum, which I here found for the first 

 time, and Aspidium aculeatum, var. BrauniL 

 All in all, it was a curious and pretty sight, — 

 this tiny tarn filled with ferns instead of water, 

 — one worth going a good distance to see, and 

 sure to attract the notice of the least observant 

 traveler.^ 



Ferns are mostly of a gregarious habit. Here 

 at Owl's Head, for instance, might be seen in 



1 To bear out what has been said in the text concerning the 

 abundance of ferns at Owl's Head, I subjoin a list of the species 

 observed ; premising that the first interest of my trip was not 

 botanical, and that I explored but a very small section of the 

 woods : — 



