2C0 THE CARDINAL FLOWER 



Each flower is like a little tube with a slit through 

 its middle. At its end it is divided into five pieces : 

 two stand up and flare out, and the other three 

 droop down. A Humming-bird was coming toward 

 the flower, but when it saw Tommy it darted away. 

 He hid himself then in one of the high swamp 

 grasses close by, and waited without moving. 



After a long time the bird came back. It held 

 itself up on its wings in front of the flower, and 

 ran its long bill in and out of the tube. Tommy 

 said to himself: "Those three little drooping 

 pieces in front make it easy for him to slip in his 

 bill. What a feast he's having ! " 



A bumblebee came next. He couldn't sit down 

 on the drooping pieces, nor on the other two that 

 stood up. He buzzed around a little, sometimes 

 getting quite close to the Humming-bird. 



" Go away, old Bee," Tommy whispered; " you 

 can't get the nectar, your nose isn't long enough 

 to run down through that long tube. Why don't 

 you go back to the Milkweeds and carry their 

 golden dust? " 



The bee still buzzed around, although once he 

 went off and rested a minute or two on a large 

 leaf. Then he came back and Tommy saw him 

 light on the flower where Its tube is slit. From 

 there he could push his short bill in and get the 

 nectar, and not come near the long stamens with 

 the golden dust. 



" You thief! " Tommy cried, and jumped from 



