v . FERTILE AND STERILE FRONDS LEAF-LIKE 

 AND USUALLY SIMILAR ; FRUIT-DOTS ROUND 



entitles it to a more ready and universal recog* 

 nition. 



"The cheerful community of the polypody," as 

 Thoreau calls it, thrives best on the flat surfaces of 

 rocks. I recall the base of certain great cliffs where 

 the rocky fragments, looking as though hurled from 

 above by playful giants, are thickly covered with 

 these plants, their rich foliage softening into beauty 

 otherwise rugged outlines. Usually the plant is 

 found in somewhat shaded places. 

 Occasionally it grows on the trunks 

 of trees and on fallen logs, as well 

 as on rocks and cliffs. 



A few weeks ago I found its 

 /ronds prettily curtaining the clev- 

 erly hidden nest of a pair of black 

 and white creepers. It is with 

 good reason that these birds are 

 noted for their skill in concealing 

 their dwelling-place. This special 

 afternoon, when persuaded by their 

 nervous chirps and flutterings about the rocky perch 

 where I was sitting that the young ones were close 

 by, I began an investigation of my precipitous and 

 very slippery surroundings which was not rewarded 

 for an hour or more. Not till I had climbed several 

 feet over the side of the cliff to a narrow shelf 

 below, broken through a thicket of blueberries, and 

 pushed aside the tufts of Polypody which hid the 

 entrance to the dark crevice in the rocks beyond, did 



I discover the little nest holding the baby creepers. 



185 



