A TASTE OF MAINE BIRCH 125 



notable thing about the flower was its fragrance, — 

 the richest and strongest perfume I have ever found 

 in a wild flower. This our botanist, Gray, does 

 not mention, as if one should describe the lark and 

 forget its song. The fragrance suggested that of 

 white clover, but was more rank and spicy. 



The woods about Moxie Lake were literally car- 

 peted with linnaea. I had never seen it in such 

 profusion. In early summer, the period of its 

 bloom, what a charming spectacle the mossy floors 

 of these remote woods must present! The flowers 

 are purple rose-color, nodding and fragrant. An- 

 other very abundant plant in these woods was the 

 Clintonia borealis. Uncle Nathan said it was 

 called "bear's com," though he did not know why 

 The only noticeable flower by the Maine roadsides 

 at this season that is not common in other parts of 

 the country is the harebell. Its bright blue, bell- 

 shaped corolla shone out from amid the dry grass 

 and weeds all along the route. It was one of the 

 most delicate roadside flowers I had ever seen. 



The only new bird I saw in Maine was the 

 pileated woodpecker, or black "log-cock," called by 

 Uncle Nathan "woodcock." I had never before 

 seen or heard this bird, and its loud cackle in the 

 woods about Moxie was a new sound to me. It is 

 the wildest and largest of our northern woodpeckers, 

 and the rarest. Its voice and the sound of its 

 hammer are heard only in the depths of the north- 

 ern woods. It is about as large as a crow, and 

 nearly as black. 



