250 AN OWL'S HEAD HOLIDAY. 



length (including the stipe), and I picked one 

 which measured about two feet and a half, and 

 bore twenty-five bulblets underneath. Half a 

 mile from the start, or thereabouts, the path 

 skirts what I should call the fernery ; a cir- 

 cular space, perhaps one hundred and fifty feet 

 in diameter, set in the midst of the primeval 

 forest, but itself containing no tree or shrub 

 of any sort, nothing but one dense mass of 

 ferns. In the centre was a patch of the sensi- 

 tive fern {Onoclea sensililis), while around this, 

 and filling nearly the entire circle, was a mag- 

 nificent thicket of the ostrich fern (Onoclea 

 struthiopteris), with sensibilis growing hidden 

 and scattered underneath. About the edge 

 were various other species, notably Aspidium 

 G-oldianum, which I here foun^ for the first 

 time, and Aspidium aculeatum, var. Braunii. 

 All in all, it was a curious and pretty sight, 

 this tiny tarn filled with ferns instead of water, 

 one worth going a good distance to see, and 

 sure to attract the notice of the least observant 

 traveler. 1 



Ferns are mostly of a gregarious habit. Here 

 at Owl's Head, for instance, might be seen in 



1 To bear out what has been said in the text concerning the 

 abundance of ferns at Owl's Head, I subjoin a list of the species 

 observed ; premising that the first interest of my trip was not 

 botanical, and that I explored but a very small section of the 

 woods : 



