THE SWIMMERS 



705 



they were so called it is hard to say, 

 unless it was because they were all 

 to be found in flower about May 8th, 

 the Archangel St. Michael's day. 



WOOD SAGE 



Another representative of the Lahiatce 

 is the Wood Sage, or ^^'ood Germander 

 {Teucriiim Scorodoniu), which is found 

 abundantly, and flowers throughout most 

 of the summer and autumn. 



The pale yeUow flowers are in pairs, 

 with a tiny leaf (bract) at the base of each 

 little flower stalk ; the calyx has one 

 broad and four narrow teeth. The 

 stamens ripen first, and then curl back- 

 wards out of the way, allowing the pistil 

 to move forward, so as to come in con- 

 tact with any visiting insect which is 

 bringing poUen from a less mature flower. 



GARLIC MUSTARD 



A tall growing plant with shiny leaves 

 and small, white flowers, blooming in the 

 spring, will probably be the Garlic :\Iustard, 

 or '• Jack-in-the-hedge " {Alliaria officin- 

 alis). Examine one of the flowers and 

 notice the four separate petals arranged 

 in the form of a cross, the four sepals, and 

 the six stamens, two of which are shorter 

 than the others ; these points are common 

 to all the family of Cniciferce. The lower 

 leaves have longer stalks than those 

 higher up the stem, and the latter are 

 more definitely triangular in shape and 

 more regularly toothed. The plant may 

 very easily be recognised by its strong 

 scent of garlic when any portion of it 

 is bruised, which accounts for the two 

 common names, Garhc Mustard or Hedge 

 Garlic. 



H. PUREFOY FiTZGeRALD. 



HOW TO KNOW THE BIRDS 



By the REV. MAURICE C. H. BIRD, M.A., M.B.O.U. 



THE SWIMMERS— II 



THE ducks may be 

 face feeders and 

 all ducks are, 

 at a push, expert 

 divers. As is the case 

 with the :\Iallard, all 

 the commoner 

 species differ \'ery 

 much in sexual plum- 

 age, with the excep- 

 tion of the Black 

 Duck, or Scoter. 

 Although the dis- 

 tinctive differences 

 of adult males in the 

 various species are 

 easily discernible, 

 the female of one 

 kind may approxi- 

 mate very closely to 

 the female of another 

 species. Such is the 



divided into sur- case with the female Wild Duck and the 

 divers, although female Pintail, but the latter is of a lighter 



brown body colour 

 and slightly smaller. 

 The neck is longer in 

 proportion and more 

 slender, and the two 

 centre tail feathers 

 are slightly elon- 

 gated. The specu- 

 lum, or wing spot, is 

 dark green shot with 

 copper, and not pur- 

 ple shot with green, 

 as in the Wild Duck 

 and Mallard. There 

 can be no possible 

 difticulty in differ- 

 entiating I'Ctwecn 

 the drakes of the 

 two species. The 

 piNTAiLf" ''■ ^' '""'"""■ '"*■ Mallard's blue-green 



