are noted for their great variation in 

 ground color and markings. They vary 

 from white to bluish or dark emerald- 

 green, in ground color ; occasionally un- 

 marked specimens are found, but they 

 are usually handsomely spotted, blotched, 

 lined in various patterns of lilac, brown 

 and black over the surface." While the 

 flesh of the adult birds is tough and has 

 an unpleasant flavor, the eggs are con- 

 sidered a delicate food. 



The Herring Gulls {Lams argenta- 

 tus smiths onianus) breed from Maine 

 the Great Lakes and Minnesota north- 

 ward. They nest quite abundantly about 

 the St. Lawrence River mouth, in Nova 

 Scotia, Newfoundland and, Labrador. 



Their nests are naturally built upon the 

 ground or on rocky ledges bordering the 

 ocean, but these birds have been so an- 

 noyed and robbed by fishermen, who for- 

 merly gathered their eggs by the basket- 

 ful, that they have shown their wisdom 

 by changing their habits and nesting in 

 trees. These tree nests are quite bulky 

 and well constructed in the tops of ever- 

 green trees, often at a height of fifty 

 or more feet above the ground. The 

 two or three eggs of a set are quite 

 variable in color. They vary from yel- 

 lowish and grayish olive-brown to a 

 bluish- white, and are spotted, blotched 

 and at times scrawled, with various 

 shades of brown. 



PLANT STUDIES 



PART VI, FLOWERS 



I have come from the spring- woods, 

 From the fragrant solitudes 

 Listen what the Poplar tree 

 And the murmuring waters counselled me. 



— BM;eRSON. 



The seed is the work of the flower, 

 and all the beautiful parts of the flower, 

 incidentally so pleasing to man, are an 

 aid in its perfection. If you look at a 

 flower closely you will see that it is made 

 up of a number of whorls or circles. 

 Choose a complete flower, that is, one 

 that has all of these parts, and pull .off 

 the outer whorl, which is the calyx. It 

 consists of sepals usually colored green, 

 though they may be of other colors. The 

 next whorl is the corolla, the most con- 

 spicuous part of most flowers. The sep- 

 arate parts here are the petals. Next the 

 stamens, which consist of the filaments, 

 with the anthers at the top. Often there 

 are no filaments and the anthers are said 

 to be sessile, that is, directly attached to 

 some other part of the flower, without 

 filaments. The last whorl is the pistil, 

 made up of the ovary or seed pod and 

 the style on which is the stigma, a little 

 knob, usually. 



But not all flowers have all of these 

 parts by any means, and, as a matter of 

 fact, only the stamens and pistils are es- 

 sential for the perfection of the seed. 

 However, in some way or another, all 

 parts of the flower are of use. The 

 brightly colored envelopes and the sweet 

 fragrance serve to attract the insects, the 

 little visitors so welcome to flowers, for 

 pollen is needed for the completion of 

 seeds, and the insects aid in its distri- 

 bution. The wind is another agent, but 

 not nearly so careful and exact as the 

 insects, and consequently not so desir- 

 able. 



But you can't get ''something for 

 nothing" in this world, and the flowers 

 know it, so they hide in their cups nec- 

 tar and honey as a reward. The insects 

 have found this out and go from flower 

 to flower to collect the feast, but leave 

 behind them the pay — pollen, which has 

 stuck to wings and legs on the visit to 



162 



