THE OENITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



47 



THE ARROW-HEAD. 



BY S. E. KENNEDY, MOOSUP VALLEY, R. I. 



A COMMON plant in this vicinity is the 

 pretty arrow-head, known to botanists 

 as the Sagittaria variabilis. We find 

 it growing among sedges and rushes, 

 sending its fibrous roots into the black- 

 est of mud, but developing therefrom 

 the purest and whitest of blossoms. 

 These are borne in whorls, usually three 

 in a cluster, the sterile ones above on 

 long pedicels. They are enclosed in 

 ovate, slender-pointed bracts, and have 

 three green sepals, supporting the three 

 roundish waxy-white petals, their fair- 

 ness contrasting beautifully with the 

 golden ball of stamens within. The fer- 

 tile flowers are less showy and in shorter 

 pedicels. 



The scapes are twelve-angled but three 

 of the angles are much more prominent 

 than the others. They are sheathed at 

 the base by long petioles bearing arrow- 

 shaped leaves, from three to ten inches 

 in length, with lobes nearly as long as 

 the blade, which is conspicuously veined 

 and crossed with scarcely perceptible 

 veinlets. This plant produces flowers 

 all summer, and is one of our most 

 interesting aquatics. 



PYROLAS. 



BY FEANCES WILSON, MEMBER OP THE 

 GRAY MEMORIAL CHAPTER. 



My favorites among the Ericaceae are 

 the pretty evergreen species of the Py- 

 rola group, the two pyrolas, elliptica 

 and chlorcinthn, and the Chimaphilas, 

 u'mhellata and moculata. The white 

 Pyrola (P. elliptica) seeks a northern 

 hillside among mosses and Lycopodiums 

 to rear its spires of sweet-scented waxen 

 bells. The other species (P. chlorantha) 

 grows, I believe, only in the pine woods. 



Later came the Chimaphilas that 

 choose warm dry woods. C. iimbellata 

 (called Pipsissewa, and renowned for 



its naedicinal virtues) thrives in sandy 

 open woods where other flowers are few. 

 Its jjinkish flowers with violet anthers 

 and its bright green shining leaves are 

 vei'y attractive in July. C. niaculatais 

 an elegant little plant, with lance-ovate 

 leaves, dull red beneath and veined with 

 white on the upper surface, with nodding 

 pure white flowers. The evergreen 

 leaves of these species are bright in 

 winter among the dried leaves or in the 



THAT SPARROW'S NEST AGAIN. 



I noticed in your last issue, that Mr. 

 Frank H. Lattin of this county corrects, 

 or rather attempts to correct, the arti- 

 cle written by me in the February num- 

 ber. Mr. Lattin made the correction 

 from the description of the nest and 

 eggs, which as migh have been expect- 

 ed, did not in all respects resemble the 

 nests and eggs of those that breed from 

 Canada northward. I think the nest 

 and eggs that I found agree very well 

 with the description given by Mr. Davie. 

 But however, it doesn't matter whether 

 they agree or not; my identity was not 

 in the slightest based upon the nest and 

 eggs. I saw both of the birds, to which 

 the nest and eggs belonged, several 

 times, and know that they were white- 

 crowned sparrows. If Mr. Lattin had 

 written to me 1 could have saved him 

 the trouble of making his correction and 

 the readers of the Ornithologist and 

 Botanist should remember that Mr. 

 Lattin is mistaken when he says "The 

 first nest of this species is to be found 

 in our county,"" and if he finds a nest in 

 the future it will have to be recorded as 

 at least the second one of this county. 

 Elmer J. Gillett. 



Moreover have we not all in a better 

 sense — have we not all thousands of 

 acres of our own? The commons and 

 roads, and footpaths, and the seashore, 

 our grand and varied coast — these are 

 all ours. — Lubbock. 



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