THE OENITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



63 



BOTANICAL NOTES 



BY MARY HYATT, STANPORDVILLE, N. Y. 



In the interesting article on Pyrolas in 

 the June number of this magazine P. 

 rotundifolia is not mentioned, by which 

 it appears that this species is not as gen- 

 erally distributed as we supposed. 



It is the most abundant species here in 

 Stanford, N. Y., while P. eUiptica is some 

 what rare and P. chlorantha is unknown 

 Another species growing here is P. se- 

 cunda which has little beauty and no fra- 

 grance. Its small greenish flowers are 

 all turned to one side, as the specific 

 name signifies. P. rotundifolia, with 

 its large white blossoms grows plenti- 

 fully in open woods and we gather fine 

 bouquets of it every season. A little 

 cluster will fill a large room with de- 

 lightful fragrance. It is the loveliest 

 flower of early summer and the sweetest 

 as well. 



About the first of June, when one finds 

 in the woods the curious roofed nest of 

 the oven bird, one may chance upon an 

 odd-looking plant in the richest soil thab 

 the woods afford, springing up to the 

 height of three or four feet. Its oval 

 leaves have a long narrow extension at 

 the base, and are opposite and united 

 around the stem, or connate to use the 

 scientific term. It has singular brown- 

 ish-purple flowers which hang like bells 

 in the axils of the leaves. Later the 

 flowers are replaced by orange-colored 

 berries containing three bony seeds ; 

 these give the plant its Greek name, 

 Triosteum — three-boned. The species 

 described is T. perfoliatum; I have seen 

 but one specimen and was struck by its 

 oddity. 



Last summer, a lily {Lilium canadense) 

 in our meadow, had a stalk which grew 

 to the towering height of six feet six 

 inches. We think it deserving of hon- 

 orable mention. The orange colored 

 lilies of this species are ornamented with 

 brown freckle-like spots inside; hence 

 the children in some districts call it the 



freckle lily, and say "if you smell of it 

 you will get all freckled." 



DO BIRDS REASON ? 



BY HARRY B. MILLER, CROTON FALLS, N, Y. 



This old question is continually aris- 

 ing, do birds reason? Certainly they 

 reason. Any close student of bird life 

 can answer the question for himself in 

 a thousand and one ways by careful ob- 

 servation. Watch the building of nests 

 if you would like one proof; see how 

 ingeniously the little workers consti'uct 

 their home; notice the consultations held, 

 perhaps over a long piece of string which 

 is too unwieldy for the birds to carry 

 away in its present condition; finally 

 one of the birds loops and gathers it up 

 into her bill, when the work of remov- 

 ing becomer easy. Ag&in some new 

 feature has happened in the life of a 

 pair of jays; then hear the exclamations, 

 the jabbering lingo, watch the gathering 

 of neighbors who freely give advice 

 until it becomes a confused mass meet- 

 ing of many voices. Lastly a decision 

 is reached and acted upon to the ob- 

 servers admiration. If the jays acted 

 instinctively, why then all this waste 

 of time ? Why all the collecting of 

 the other jays with their garrulous 

 ways ? Instinct is planted by Nature 

 and acted upon without thought but not 

 so with reason which requires more or 

 less thinking, while this in turn must 

 of course have some time. Appar- 

 ently the mental development of birds 

 of the same species varies considerably, 

 a fact which will soon be noticed if at- 

 tention is given to it. Was it instinct 

 that led the skylark being pursued by a 

 hawk to seek protection in the arms of 

 a shepard, only leaving when danger 

 was over ? Birds as well as animals 

 know and reason a great deal more than 

 we give them credit for doing, which 

 only becomes the more clear to us in 

 closely studying their lives. 



^«J%. 



