WILD CHERRIES. 51 







a narrow space filled with delicious juice which 

 possesses a tang unlike that of any other wild 

 fruit hereabouts, unless it be that of the sand 

 cherry 18 of our northern dunes. The latter is a 

 dwarf form with a larger and sourer fruit. 

 On account of the size of the seed the amount 

 of nutriment in one of these black cherries must 

 be small, yet the woodpeckers and robins flock 

 to them by dozens, and I have seen young robins 

 in the trees so gorged, and perhaps partially 

 intoxicated, that they could scarcely move. The 

 leaves and twigs of the tree contain a small per- 

 cent of prussic acid and, if eaten by stock, pro- 

 duce serious and sometimes fatal cases of poi- 

 soning. The bark is often used medicinally, and 

 from both it and the fruit a flavor is made for 

 use at soda fountains. Squirrels also like to 

 vary their diet with the ripe cherries, perhaps 

 use them for dessert after their morning meal 

 of bark, mast or grain. 



For half an hour I wait but no squirrel makes 

 its appearance so back I go to camp and break- 

 fast, consisting of an orange, cantaloupe, fried 

 bacon and potatoes, bread, butter and hot 

 water. Served with the sauce of hunger it is 

 enjoyed as only a meal in the open can be. 



The dishes washed by 6:30 again I go forth 

 with fowling piece, this time up the valley to 

 the eastward. Sauntering slowly onward, paus- 



w Primus pumila L. 



