1 68 Bog-Trotting' for Orchids 



azaleas,— the swamp-apple blossoms loved of the chil- 

 dren hereabout. I entered the chestnut wood beyond, 

 and sought the colony of the Large Yellow Moccasin- 

 Flowers, only to find that the shoes had been broken 

 from their stems, and that there were none remaining. 

 Still, there were other groups in the Swamp of Oracles, 

 and I proceeded to scout the slopes leading to the hol- 

 low below, winding about the knolls — or Sugar-loaves, 

 as they are called here. These glacial hills are worth- 

 less barren pastures at best, seldom ploughed for rye 

 or corn, for all attempted crops of grain here have 

 proven thin and dwarfed, and when it rains gutters 

 burrow in the hillsides. 



As I descended through Patterson's Meadows, the 

 air was musical with humming bees and birds. Moths 

 and butterflies sailed lazily about the pools below, 

 hovering about the first blossoms of Fleur-de-lis. Over 

 the rolling fields near, the tender leaves of Indian-corn 

 rustled musically in the breeze, and crows were still 

 lingering on the fence, not in the least frightened by 

 the snares and scarecrows about the field. I found 

 the meadow ablaze with late Columbine {Aquilegia 

 Canadensis); I had never before seen fields so luxuriant 

 with the blossoms of this plant. They danced among 

 the daisies, and outnumbered the grasses in their 

 patches. The generic name Aquilegia, or Aquileia, is 

 said in our manuals to be derived from Aquila, an 

 eagle, since the curves of the hollow spurs of these 

 flowers resemble an eagle's talons. But in this case, 

 the name should read Pes Aquilegia. Among the 



