110 IN THE ACADIAN LAND. 



then that the seeds with the most toothsome 

 peel and pulp will be surest to get swallowed. 

 Now the naked seeds are digestible in birds and 

 form a great portion of their food, but the seeds 

 of berries and fruits are not digestible. They 

 are able to withstand the digestive action. At 

 the first this was probably true of only a few 

 out of many, but the tough ones got them- 

 selves planted, and brought forth after their 

 kind according to law. Sparrows and all 

 seed-eating birds eat the seed for food, while 

 thrushes and all other berry-eating birds swal- 

 low the berries, seed and all, for the sake of 

 the pulp. 



But let us return from this tempting by-path 

 to the riverside. Here on the plashy brink, 

 crowded among the small stones is the common 

 "blue flag," to call it by a common name. It 

 is the Iris virginica of science, and the Flower- 

 de-luce or Fleur-de-lis of heraldry and senti- 

 ment. I am too late to salute the beautiful 

 flowers where they bloomed a few weeks ago on 

 the slender stalks that upheld them like staves 

 of royal banners, and now overloaded with the 

 clutasy seed vessels, that will keep their hold 

 the winter long. If the flower were not so 

 common it would be considered one of the most 

 beautiful and curiously constructed of all our 



