42 NATURAL SCIENCE. Jan., 



see that, although there are differences between wild specimens 

 and those under cultivation, these are generally unimportant. As we 

 stated above, they have their two seasons every year, when they drop 

 their leaves, flower, and later ripen their fruits. Flocks of parrots 

 and other frugivorous birds indicate by their congregating that the 

 fruit season has arrived, while a great increase of fish in the creeks 

 confirms the fact. Haws and other berries of temperate climates 

 often remain on the bushes for months after they are ripe, but most 

 tropical fruits fall quickly. Birds and monkeys would suffer greatly 

 if the season lasted for only a month or two. There appears to be 

 little migration in search of food, although this takes place to some 

 extent. Individuality among the trees is, therefore, of advantage to 

 animals, as it lengthens the season and prevents anything like a 

 dearth for a long period. Birds and monkeys hardly ever alight on 

 the ground, so that once the seed or fruit has fallen it is lost to thera 

 and eaten by rodents, or carried away to feed the fish which congre- 

 gate in every little stream. 



Young trees are at first very erratic, opening their flowers and 

 shedding their leaves regardless of the proper season. Some, like the 

 flamboyant (Poinciana regia), are never bare, although the older trees 

 lose their leaves entirely and remain so for several weeks. As they 

 become mature their habits are more and more regular until indi- 

 viduality is lessened and they become part of the crowd. In study- 

 ing the flowering and fruiting seasons, therefore, the naturalist has 

 to generalise from trees of full age, and avoid all deductions from 

 erratic youth. It is almost as difficult to find out their characters as 

 those of young animals at a similar stage. 



Among the difficulties of the naturalist are changes produced by 

 removal. He cannot study the epiphytal orchids in the forest, but 

 must bring them to his garden, and thus change their environment. 

 Heredity and individuality will, of course, be the same under all cir- 

 cumstances, but the other great factor in evolution must be interfered 

 with. Few orchids are fertilised when growing on the coast, probably 

 because the insects of the forest are wanting, but these go to prove 

 what a wide field for observation there is among this family alone. 

 Almost hidden among the foliage of a tropical garden, however, some 

 orchids will attract a crowd of insects as soon as their flowers are 

 open. Some of these can hardly be found at other times, but let the 

 flowers open in the early morning, and they call attention to the fact 

 by humming and buzzing around them. 



The student of nature in the tropics should be something more 

 than a specialist. Flowers must be studied in connection with insects,, 

 and fruits together with birds, bats, and even fishes. The inter- 

 dependence of animals and plants is so close, that they seem to be 

 engaged in a race where each tries to outstrip the other for his own 

 advantage. The tree invites the perfect insect to fertilise its flowers^ 

 but warns off the larva by nauseous secretions in its leaves. Some 



