254: FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



sleep comfortably during the day in my pocket or the 

 elbow of my sleeve, but was ready for a grand scam- 

 per in the evening. 



The flying squirrel is furnished with a marvel- 

 ously expansive skin which greatly aids him in his 

 aerial exploits. He is common entirely across the 

 continent. 



Not far from the roadside, by some stream which 

 proceeds from the woods, we may possibly see the 

 splendid color of the bright-red flower called Oswego 

 tea or bee balm (Monarda didyma). But this is 

 generally beyond its prime by the first of Septem- 

 ber ; still, we may find an occasional flower here 

 and there. The blossoms something like those of 

 our garden salvia in form are clustered at the top 

 of the stem. This handsome wild flower is common 

 from New England to Michigan. I have often found 

 it on the borders of damp woods in the vicinity of 

 Stony Clove and Shandaken, in the southern Cats- 

 kills. It has a somewhat hairy, angled stem, and 

 opposite-growing, ovate-pointed leaves emitting an 

 aromatic odor if crushed. The smaller leaves near 

 the flower cluster are tinged reddish. Oswego tea 

 and its garden relative, Salvia splendens, which comes 

 from Brazil, belong to the Mint family. 



By the close of September we are compensated 

 for the loss of the brighter wild flowers by the glo- 



