THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



59 



to congregateion the tide flats of the 

 south bay especially; and can be found 

 in plenty also, perched on the piles that 

 form the log booms of the noi"th-side 

 saw mills. As there is a heavy fine for 

 shooting them because they are good 

 scavengers, they grow very tame, and 

 often let one come within twenty or 

 thirty feet of them. The gulls on the liar- 

 bor are chiefly the western gull (Larus 

 occidentaUs ) glaucous - winged gull 

 {Larus gla Mcescens), and Boneparte'g gull' 

 {Larus lyhiladelphia). In summer time 

 little or nothing is seen of them here- 

 abouts; but in fall, winter, and spring 

 they are all over this section. During 

 the big salmon runs they can be seen 

 flying up the Humptulips river and its 

 forks for thirty or more miles from tide 

 . water; and through the afternoon re- 

 turning to their harbor roosts. They are 

 indeed a useful bird. Though thousands 

 of salmon are caught here to be sold, 

 canned, eaten or cured, so many lie rot- 

 ting in certain branches of the rivers as 

 to make the atmosphere sickening. Then 

 the gulls, crows and ravens show why 

 they were created. 



MORE ABOUT VIOLETS. 



BY MARGARET FULLER, NORWICH, CONN. 



It is not a mere fancy that seemingly 

 mysteriously pansies and violets inter- 

 mingle; nor are they alone in this rather 

 curious yet interesting fashion of bor- 

 rowing their neighbors hues, and per- 

 chance, velvety surfaces. 



On a sunny slope about six miles from 

 my home and almost a mile from any 

 human habitation, I have yearly gath- 

 ered the most fragrant and downy of 

 pansies, differing only from our garden 

 ones in size, nodding on violet stems 

 and resting their tiny chins on the 

 green leaves of our humble crowfoot 

 violets. 



The cause of this is almost too appar- 

 en tto mention. The bees carrying the 



pollen of pansies on their light wings 

 and downy bodies, paid the crowfoot 

 violets a morning call. All unconscious- 

 ly they left the remains of their late vis- 

 it to the pansies on the stigmas of the 

 modest violets. They, as they had al- 

 ways done before, withered and went to 

 seed. 



Then the gentle breezes wafted the 

 tiny seeds hither and thither over the 

 sunny slope. And so crowfoot pansies 

 greeted the warm sunshine and re- 

 freshing rain of Mother Earth's next 

 spring. 



The reason why this does not occur 

 more often, arises from the fact that 

 violets do not propagate to any extent, 

 from the blossoms we love so well, but 

 from subterranean seed pods. 



I have made the experiment with our 

 common blue violet. I doubt whether 

 a like result could be obtained with 

 other species as they do not seem to 

 spread with such rapidity as the above 

 mentioned. I transplanted a single root 

 of the violets. Through the spring and 

 summer all flowers were picked care- 

 fully before the seeds were formed, nor 

 did I overlook the last blossoms which 

 sometimes appear even when the wood- 

 land foliage is wending its way back to 

 the earth. 



The next spring instead of a single 

 root there were not less than twenty. 

 These subterranean flowers never open 

 and may easily be seen by lifting the 

 leaves of the violet. There they are, 

 very close to the ground, if the pods 

 have burst. If not you will have to re- 

 move the earth a little before being able 

 to see them. 



It is exceedingly interesting to ob- 

 serve the mode of life of these little 

 favorites and one's trouble is well re- 

 warded. 



Many of us, however, walk through 

 the world like ghosts, as if we were in 

 it but not of it. We have ''eyes and see 

 not, ears and hear not." — Lubbock. 



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