248 NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIEW 



like a gem in the sunlight and in the shade reflected the green 

 of the trees; and all the other boulders had a soft tho thin 

 covering of bright green moss. The large, gray boulder alone 

 looked stem and forbidding. 



Many years passed and now the old gray boulder is the 

 proudest and happiest dweller in the ravine. Let us look 

 back and see what has happened. Every day as the little stream 

 played about and raced down the ravine, it continued to throw 

 handsful of spray on the old rock which it had grown to love, 

 and, as time went on, little particles of waste, such as dead leaves 

 and bits of bark, fell on the rock and were held there by the moist- 

 ure. To this was added bits of decaying rock and soon tiny 

 bits of soil filled the fissures. Into these fissures the wind car- 

 ried the spores of mosses growing in the ravine, and one day, 

 when the old rock looked down at the sparkling water, it caught 

 sight of its own reflection. But the boulder was so surprised 

 at what it saw that it could scarcely recognize itself. Its sides 

 were no longer bare and unsightly, but enveloped in a thick 

 covering of dark green moss, a much thicker and lovlier garment 

 than that worn by any other rock. Some of the mosses had 

 starlike tips, others were colored with bright red, another kind 

 was long and feathery, and still another looked like tiny rosettes. 

 How proud and happy the old boulder was! 



But it was to be made still more lovely and wonderful. One 

 day a new little plant called the walking fern appeared on the 

 rock. The leaves of the new plant grew from queer, little round 

 leaves to long tapering fronds, and when they were full grown 

 they buried their tips down into the soft, moist moss, and in a 

 few weeks new little plants had been formed, until today one 

 whole side and parts of the others are covered with these busy 

 interesting plantr. And besides this, another fern has choesn 

 the old boulder for its home. This fern is called polypody, and 

 all year round its green fronds grace the top of the rock. 



And so, if you were to visit Wild Cat Ravine, you would at 

 once notice and admire the old rock. Sometimes in the evening 

 a veery stops here and sings his weird, beautiful song. All year 

 round the rock is green, matted with moss and the fronds of the 

 walking-leaf, and crowned with polypody. The old boulder is 

 happy indeed! 



