150 BIRDS AND MAN 



ling " colour, and no one can find fault with the 

 expression. 



When we consider the dull and impure yellows 

 sometimes seen in flowers, and some soft yellows 

 seen in combination with pleasing wholesome reds, 

 as in the honeysuckle, we may find something 

 of the expression — the human association — in 

 yellow flowers. For there is yellow in the skin, 

 even in perfect health ; it appears strongest on 

 the neck, and spread round to the throat and chin, 

 and is a warm buff, very beauitful in some women ; 

 but very little of this tint appears in the face. 

 When a tinge of this warm buffy yellow and creamy 

 yellow is seen mixed with warmer reds, as in the 

 Gloire de Dijon rose, the effect is most beautiful 

 and the expression most marked. But the ex- 

 pression in flowers of a pale dull, impure yellow* 

 where there is an expression, is unpleasant. It 

 is the yellow of unhealthy skins, of faces discoloured 

 by jaundice, dyspepsia, and other ailments. We 

 commonly say of such flowers that they are " sickly " 

 in colour, and the association is with sick and decay- 

 ing humanity. Gerarde, in describing such hues 

 in flowers, was fond of the word " overworn " ; 

 and it was a very good word, and, like the one now 

 in use, is derived from the association. 



