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 them 
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 
