80 WILD ITOWEBS of 



starts up amongst the primroses. The spike of the bugle 

 is blunt, and the upper lip is very short. Fortunate 

 indeed will be the lover of wild flowers if he can find 

 the large purple blossom of the Snake's-head or Fri- 

 tillary (Fritillaria meleagris). It formerly grew in 

 Foot-meadow, Northampton, but it has long since dis- 

 appeared, and I have never found it elsewhere, though 

 it is not very rare in the Eastern counties. Its droop- 

 ing head is shaped something like a tulip ; its colour 

 is a rich purplish-brown, sometimes lighter and tinged 

 with green. It is covered at regular intervals with 

 small squares of reddish-purple, like a draught-board. 

 Its old name was guinea-hen, or turkey-hen, but now 

 country people frequently call it the wild tulip. 



If the spring weather is fine and open, the charing 

 of the flowers of the meadows will be enhanced by the 

 sweet-smelling Purple Clover (Trifoliwn pratense). 

 All country -bred children have sucked the honey from 

 its florets, when they have raised their heads to meet 

 the sun. They are the honey-stalks and suck-bottles 

 of our fathers, and the bees love the honey of the 

 flowerets, as well as the baby fingers o the young. 

 The name "trefoil" has been given to it, from ita 

 treble leaflets, and in the Meadow Clover each leaflet 



