NATURE STUDY LESSONS. 15 I 



cousins. It adds greatly to the interest of a winter ram- 

 ble to observe these berries, still clinging in clusters to the 

 stems on which they grew, and to notice the bright colors 

 they put on, as if tempting the birds to eat them. 



The bright scarlet berries of the black alder and the 

 darker red berries of the high-cranberry are familiar to ev- 

 eryone, as are the round red berries of the holly, which is 

 brought from the southward in such great quantities at 

 Christmas time. The strawberry and the raspberry are 

 excellent examples, among summer fruits, of this use of 

 color by plants to attract birds and secure their assistance 

 in the distribution of their seeds. The seeds of some 

 plants, as the dandelion, have wings of their own, andean 

 fly far away on the wind, but many others make use of 

 the wings of birds. 



There is a true reason for everything, if we could only 

 find it, and we may find out many things for ourselves by 

 looking sharp and thinking about what we see, just as we 

 have now found why strawberries and partridge-berries 

 and many other berries and fruits are red. 



To see all our birds in their winter homes we should 

 have to travel from the Middle States down to the Argen- 

 tine Republic. We could see many, though, by making 

 a midwinter trip to the Gulf States. In Florida, for in- 

 stance, we should find enormous flocks of robins whirling 

 through the trees and alighting here and there to feed upon 

 the berries of the china-tree and holly. Many birds we 

 should find only along the coast, and many others we should 

 have to search for in the silent cypress swamps of I^ouisi- 

 ana and Mississippi. The herons love the solitude of these 

 swamps, where in the numerous springs and streams they 

 find the fish and frogs on which they feed. — lVo7nafi's 

 Home Joiif nal. 



