TRAMPS THROUGH THE GULF STATES II 



545 



is compelled to admit in print that we have no descrip- 

 tion of its eggs ! This likewise applies to the habits and 

 natural history generally of many of our Gulf States' 

 moths and but- 

 terflies, as ad- 

 mitted by Doc- 

 tor Holland in 

 his two superb 

 volumes on 

 these important 

 insects. 



There is a 

 fine "Mush- 

 room Book," 

 Nina L. Mar- 

 shall being its 

 author, and in 

 the leading 

 chapter we 

 read that "al- 

 though for cen- 

 turies it has 

 been known 

 that some fungi 

 contain the 

 most virulent 

 poisons, still, 

 through ignor- 

 ance of those 

 points which 

 distinguish the 

 poisonous from 

 the edible, fre- 

 quent cases of 

 poisoning occur 

 in all classes 

 of s o c i e t y." 

 In p e a king of 

 many of the 

 molluscs in her 

 beautiful 

 "Shell - Book," 

 Miss Julia E. 

 Rogers tells us 

 that "little is 

 yet known 

 about the life 

 history of 

 many of these. 

 The limits of 

 distribution are 

 vague and in- 

 accu rate for 

 many. When 

 does this snail 



A NATIVE PARROT OF THE UNITED STATES 



Figure 17. At one time this little Carolina Paroquet ranged over the larger part of the eastern United 

 States in immense number, but it is now nearly exterminated. Only a few of these birds are left 

 in Southern Florida; it is a long-tailed green species, with red and yellow head. From life, by the author. 

 At here shown, it ii feeding on the seeds of the cockleburr, of which it is extremely fond. 



t 



lay its eggs? 

 How long do the young require to reach maturity? 

 When does that species seal up its doorway and go into 

 the ground to spend the winter? . . . The careful 



observer, if he keeps a note-book, may discover and pass 

 on to conchologists valuable facts in the life history of 

 little-known species. The study of our land molluscs is 



very incom- 

 plete. It is a 

 worthy and en- 

 joyable oppor- 

 tunity that is 

 open to the 

 earnest young 

 naturalists to- 

 day." 



What is ad- 

 mitted here 

 holds true for 

 a long list of 

 the molluscs of 

 any one of our 

 Gulf States ; 

 and not only 

 young natural- 

 ists but adult 

 explorers 

 should bear 

 these facts well 

 in mind. 



Pass ing to 

 botany, the 

 same gifted au- 

 thoress tells us, 

 in her "Tree 

 Book," that 

 "trees are bet- 

 ter known than 

 less conspicu- 

 ous plants. 

 Fungi and bac- 

 teria are just 

 coming into 

 notice. Yet 

 even among 

 trees new spe- 

 cies are con- 

 stantly being 

 d e s c r i b ed." 

 This candid 

 statement 

 should be of 

 especial inter- 

 est to intelli- 

 gent foresters, 

 not only those 

 at work in the 

 Gulf States, 

 but anywhere 

 in the country. In as much as there are still undescribed 

 species of trees in our forests, it is sufficient evidence of 

 our ignorance in reference to them. Not a few plants 



