trunks so that the tops of the trees were 

 broken off at distances varying from 

 three to five or six yards from the 

 ground. The spores of species of Poly- 

 stictus and chiefly those of pergamenus 

 quickly found entrance into the wounds 

 the birds had made, and completed the 

 work of destruction. 



The bristly Polystictus, of our illustra- 

 tion, is common on dead wood of all 

 kinds. The brackets are corky-leathery, 

 convex on the upper surface, plane 

 beneath, and beset with rigid or, more 

 commonly, rather soft hairs. It is the 

 presence of these hairs that gave the 

 Latin name hirsutus to this plant. The 

 color is of various shades of gray or 

 wood brown, the upper surface bearing- 

 zones of lighter or darker shades. The 

 fruiting pores are round, whitish or 

 smoky tinted and have thick walls. 



The common zoned species, Polystic- 

 tus versicolor, which we also illustrate, 

 may be found on logs and stumps of all 



kinds of trees and at any season of the 

 year. The plants are thin, leathery, rigid, 

 nearly plane, velvety, shining, and exhibit 

 a remarkable play of colors in bands or 

 zones of gray to red_, blue, and various 

 shades of brown. They commonly grow 

 in series closely overlapping each other. 

 On the top of an old stump these layers 

 are sometimes inbricated in such a man- 

 ner as to form a symmetrical rosette sev- 

 eral inches in diameter, the individual 

 plants being about one inch or less in 

 diameter. The fruiting pores on the 

 under surface are minute, round and 

 white, but become pallid or yellowish 

 with age. 



Plants of the four species mentioned, 

 as well as of other woody fungi, may 

 be collected to good advantage in the win- 

 ter season, as the absence of leaves from 

 the undergrowth of shrubs and vines 

 reveals the hiding places of many of the 

 shade-loving fungi. 



Will Sayer Moffatt. 



NATURE^S LOVER. 



Not lonely he, although alone he walks ; 



The confidant of every wind that blows. 



Is he, and kindred to the bird and rose; 



Pupil of roadside stones and rustling stalks, 



Their company all lesser friendship mocks, 



So strong within the love of Nature glows. 



The vast content of prairie lands he knows. 



To him the wild sea, unpersuaded, talks ; 



Ah, though he dwells afar from gossip's tongue, 



He feels no lack of interest or mirth — 



Perpetually the dew of joy distills. 



He looks on life with eyes forever young, 



Chanting, full-throated, deep delight of earth, 



To streams responsive and fraternal hills. 



— Lulu Whedon Mitchell. 



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