XX1l FLORA ORCADENSIS. 
of listening to the choirs untrained and natural, 
and the sweet perfume of the fragrant flowers, are 
delights which tor the time being please the senses 
and charm the mind. When one is in sweet con- 
verse with Nature, one desires to be alone, free 
from the distractions of every-day life and work, 
and one’s whole being concentrated on the activities 
which the display of flowers and the songs of birds 
call forth. One’s whole soul likes then to dwell 
apart and ponder over the mysteries of Nature. 
Here is a flower which one did not expect to find 
in this locality. Why is it here? Is it developing 
any new characteristics not found in the type as 
a result of growth in a new environment? Here 
comes the busy bees. What are them favourite 
flowers to-day? How busy they are! Moths, too, 
are busy in the twilight. Do they, as scientists 
tell us, gather honey only from the fragrant flowers ? 
And is it true that most of the flowers they frequent 
are colourless ? They are attracted, it is said, by 
the perfume, and need no colour to please the eye 
—the white campion, the yellow-whitish primrose 
and the grass of Parnassus are more prized by them 
than the highly-coloured red campion, the heather 
bell, and the purple clover. Nature’s diverse workers 
never rest—the bees by day and the moths by night, 
the former fascinated by gay colours, the latter by 
sweet perfume. Then the black-headed gull comes 
forth for his supper, well knowing that the moth 
which he relishes is on the hunt for honey. Nature 
is the great theatre in which, guided by instinct, 
bird, beast, and insect play their part. Birds, 
