NATURE ADVENTURES IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL 



233 



interior of (he spathe of a skunk cabbage to build in. 

 Last Stp'.ember the writer collected between thirty and 

 forty different varieties of toadstools and other fungi, 

 within the range of a quarter of a mile from his home on 

 Eighteenth street in Washington. These were all photo- 

 graphed natural size, and made a truly wonderful series 

 of pictures. Later on they will be published with appro- 

 priate text; for it is really extraordinary how little is 

 generally known of these growths, familiar as they are 

 to many, in the places where they occur so abundantly 



CKK'KKT FROGS OR "PEEPERS" ARE AMONG THE VERY EARLI- 

 EST HARBINGERS OF SPRING. 



Fig. 9. This pair was captured along the marshy banks of a stream, 

 where the species was quite abundant. In the early days of April the 

 clurrupings of these little creatures have a charm for all of us. 



within the District line; they make very charming sub- 

 jects for photography when artistically taken. Then, 

 too, they have a distinct value in other directions, not the 

 least so to those foresters who have their homes in the 

 forests, and who desire to draw when they can upon what 

 the forest affords in the way of food. Mushrooms make 

 an excellent dish for a change ; but the dread of collect- 

 ing the poisonous and even unwholesome species for the 

 (purpose deters hundreds of people our foresters among 

 them from gathering them for the table. 



Perhaps one of the most interesting studies for the 

 explorer in the District of Columbia is offered on the 

 part of the trees of its woods. Aside from the typical 

 shrubs, there is a fine array of trees constituting the tim- 

 bered parts of this domain. Much as dendrologists know 

 of our trees, systematic studies of them as they occur in 

 certain regions are always useful, and if the work is done 

 scientifically and thoroughly, one can never tell of what 

 economic importance it may prove to be in the outcome. 

 One should start a series of good-sized albums in which 

 to preserve the photographs made as part of the work. 



Here should be preserved photographs of isolated trees 

 of all descriptions found in the area explored. Trees, as 

 they constitute forests, should also be photographed ; and 

 this sort of work ought not to be confined to any particu- 

 lar part of the year, for a leafless tree, photographed in 

 mid-winter, has a distinct value that a tree in full foliage 

 does not possess. It exhibits the real form of the tree, 

 and the arrangement and growth of its branches and 

 twigs. Special parts of trees should also be abundantly 

 photographed, as the character of the leaves and their 

 variations; the bark and the several forms it takes on. 

 Particular attention should be given to the flowers and 

 fruit of the trees, and, when possible, the plan of growth 

 of their roots. One of the best ways to secure a photo- 

 graph of a normal root of any tree is to select one where 

 the wind has blown it down and the rain has washed all 

 the earth or soil from its roots. If such a tree has grown 

 well away from others, in soft soil containing no rocks 

 or cobbles or foreign bodies of any sort, and was advan- 



NEST AND EGGS OF THE WHITE-EYED VIREO 



Fig. 10. This bird is one of our liveliest little songsters in the early 

 days of spring, and its well-woven nests may frequently be seen on the 

 twigs of bushes during the following winter. 



tageously placed as it fell, its root, with all of its rootlets, 

 would, in many instances, offer an example of the normal 

 growth of that species of tree. It is truly surprising how 

 the roots of various species of trees differ. One of their 

 most remarkable features is their outline, some trees 

 having roots that sink down deep into the earth and 

 branch in all directions, while others occupy almost en- 

 tirely a space in the horizontal plane. 



It is often remarkable to note how little hold upon the 

 earth some trees have through the media of their roots. 



