RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



51 



their natural element, they use them in 

 swimming and diving. On shore they use 

 the paddles as anterior legs. From the 

 backward position of their feet the Pen- 

 guins can only stand in a very upright atti- 

 tude, in which position they may be seen in 

 countless numbers arranged in as compact 

 a manner and in as regular ranks as a 

 regiment of soldiers, and classed with the 

 greatest order, the moulting birds in one 

 place, the .young ones in another, the sitting 

 hens by themselves ; the clean birds in 

 another place, etc. So strictl}' do birds in 

 a similar condition congregate, that, should 

 a bird in a moulting state intrude amongst 

 those which are clean, it is immediately 

 ejected from among them. — J. W. Wonfor, 

 Briijliton, Eng. 



Our Rhode Island Violets. 



To all English speaking people the violet 

 is dear. Perhaps this is from the manner 

 in which it has become enshrined in our 

 literature. The verses of Chaucer, Milton, 

 Shakespeare, Tennj'son, Wordsworth, Bry- 

 ant, are redolent with its sweet perfume. 

 While here in America we have many 

 species of violet, none compare in odor 

 with the familiar English species, the Viola 

 odorata of gardens. The first of the native 

 species to bloom here, say about the 20th of 

 April, is the arrow-leaved or Viola sag ittata. 

 It is found more commonly on uplands, and 

 in meadows, and has leaves ranging from 

 ovate through halberd-shaped, to sagittate. 

 We next find, in more moist localities, saj' 

 near the margin of swamps, or in wet copses, 

 the F<oZa t'a/(t?ia, or Dog Violet. One must 

 not confuse the name of this with the prett}' 

 liliaceous plant, called dog tooth yiolet, the 

 Erythronium of botanists. About the first 

 of May, also in moist places, we begin to 

 pick up the little white violet, with beardless 

 petals, the lower prettil}' streaked with 

 lines, and with round, heart-shaped or reni- 

 form leaves. The flowers are delicately 

 odorous. Growing with this, but usuall}' a 

 few days later, appear the two white species, 

 V. lanceolata, and V. primnliaefolia. 



The yellow, round-leaved violet, Viola 

 rotundifoUa, is one of our rare plants. It 

 is a dainty little thing with leaves an inch 

 broad at the time of flowering, but increas- 



ing to a goodly size later in the season, and 

 finally lying flat on the ground. It is stem- 

 less, whereas our other species of 3'ellow 

 violet is leafy-stemmed. This is the downy 

 3-ellow, or VolajJubescens, of which there are 

 two distinct varieties besides the typical 

 plant. These last mentioned yellow violets 

 are quite frequently found in our state, and 

 when found are usually abundant. They 

 are among our choice wild flowers, and are 

 easily cultivated. In a garden they are too 

 prone to spread and prove troublesome. 



The blue violet, Viola cucidlata is com- 

 mon everywhere in low, wet, or marshy 

 grounds, and, as Gray saj's, " is \evy varia- 

 ble in size, shape of leaves and sepals, and 

 in the color and size of the flowers, which 

 are deep or pale violet blue or purple, some- 

 times nearly white, or variegated with 

 white." Of it we have one distinct variet}-, 

 IKilmata, with leaves cleft or parted. 



Our most show}' violet is the Bird-foot, 

 Viola pedata, which makes, as Hawthorne 

 sa^'s, " a gush of violets along a wood-path." 

 Nothing gives us finer masses of color. 

 Take it, as we have seen it, near the Ston- 

 ington railway, or the Narragansett Pier 

 road, and it is a thing to remember. We 

 read of the field of the cloth-of-gold. Here 

 are meadows painted vrith most delicate 

 lavender. A very handsome variet}^ V. 

 pedata, var. bicolor, is sometimes found, 

 with " two upper petals deep violet, and as 

 it were velvety, like a pans}'." The plant 

 does well in cultivation, increasing in size. 

 I should think Viola Canadensis might turn 

 up in the state, but I have never found it. 

 I should look for it near Wallum Pond or 

 on the borders of Connecticut. 



W. W. Bailey. 



Pickle for Skins. Three-quarters of a 

 pound of alum, and one and three-quarters 

 pounds of salt to a gallon of water. Mix 

 and heat to boil ; cool in a wooden vessel. 



Mr. William G. Smith writes us from 

 Loveland, Col. : "I took a nest of Copt's 

 eggs, on May 30, and after forty-eight 

 hours attempted to blow them, when I 

 found young chicks in them still alive. I 

 placed the remainder under a domestic hen, 

 and, after sitting a few hours, she hatched 

 one out, and prospects are good for hatch- 

 ins them all. 



