172 



FIELD AND FOREST. 



An excursion on the 2Sth to Cahokia 

 Mound ia Illinois, five miles out on the 

 O. & M. Railroad, yielded the following 

 species : 



Boltonia glastifolia, Polygonum ramo- 

 sissimum, Montelia tam.iriscina, Lepto- 

 chloa fascicularis, Herpestis rotundifolia, 

 Oxybaphus nyctagiheus, Chrysopsis vil- 

 losa and Iva ciliata. 



The country was mostly cultivated, and 

 the fields not recently plowed were densely 

 grown up to tall ragweed, [Ambrosia tri- 

 jftda.) which obscured the view even from 

 the mo.unds. 



I feel that I should be neglecting a man- 

 ifest duty were I to omit the pleasant ac- 

 quaintance made of Mr. George W. Let- 

 terman, of Allenton, Missouri, whose 

 familiarity with the local flora was sur- 

 prising, and only equalled by his freedom 

 in imparting his knowledge and his zeal 

 in assisting me to secure the best things 

 obtainable. Not content with bringing to 

 my room a valuable package of dried 

 specimens collected and prepared by him- 

 self, for which I promised to exchange 

 our Eastern forms, he also collected at 

 his home, and brought with roots, and 

 living, a large number of species which 

 we had failed to meet with on the excur- 

 sions. Amongthese were some not found 

 east of the Mississippi. — Lester F.Ward. 



Second Blooming. — The number of 

 plants occasionally blooming twice a year 

 in this latitude is considerable and has 

 already attracted the attention of botanists. 

 This- year I have collected the flowers of 

 the following species at the dates ap- 

 pended : 



Rubus villosas, September 22 and Oc- 

 tober 27 ; Viola pedata, September 22 ; 

 Fragaria Virginiana, September 22 ; 

 Houstonia purpurea, Obtober 13 ; Vac- 

 cinium stamineum, October 13; Azalea 

 nudiflora, October 13 ; Lonicera Japonica, 

 October 13. 



It will be observed that these are all 

 " spring flowers." They bloomed regu- 

 larly from April to June, went to seed, 

 and then, during the hot months of July 

 and August, lay as dormant as in mid- 

 winter. The herbaceous species, Viola, 

 Fiagaria and Houstonia, withered away 

 almost entirely, and the flowers borne in 

 autumn were on new plants that came out 

 of the ground in September. In the 

 shrubly forms the flowers were found on 

 new green shoots which had started afresh 

 after the cooler and more moist weather 

 had set in. 



Could the September and early October 

 weather continue a little longer many of 

 these plants would yield two crops of fruit 

 each year. 



To the list above given might be added 

 Bolrichium lunarioides, which, though 

 " booked " for July, is never found at that 

 time here, but late in the fall. It does 

 not come up until September or October, 

 and develops the fertile frond in Novem- 

 ber or even as late as December. Our 

 common form is the var. obliquum, but 

 the var. dissectum also occurs and is truly 

 beautiful. Until this season I had not 

 been able to find fruiting specimens of the 

 latter, though the sterile fronds were fre- 

 quently associated with the other form. 

 This year, however, I have been success- 

 full in securing a good supply. — Lester 

 F. Ward. 



Additions to the List of District 

 Birds. — Permit me the use of your col- 

 ums to add another number of the feathered 

 tribe to the already handsome list of birds 

 residing and sojourning in the District, 

 viz : the Red-breasted Snipe, Alacrorham- 

 pkus griseus ; also known as the Brown- 

 back, Gray Snipe or Dowitcher, which I 

 shot on the shores of Analostan Island 

 September 2, 1878. This is the first oc- 

 casion, during several years of active 

 shooting on the Potomac River, that I have 

 known this bird to ascend so far as Wash- 

 ington, though it no doubt occasionally 

 visits us as a straggler, being quite plen- 

 tiful in the vicinity of Piney Point. 



Macrorkatfiphiis griseus , with the Lark- 

 finch, (Chondestes grammaca,) which I 

 was fortunate, to obtain in August, 1877, 

 swells the list of District Birds to 242 

 species. — W. F. Roberts, Washington 

 City. 



