a ype ence Sara ere 


NOTES ON TROPICAL FRUITS. 405 
before the eggs are hatched than afterwards. During the time 
the female is laying her eggs, she does not fly directly to her 
nest, but alights near by on the branch of some tree or prom- 
inent object, and raises her head and tail together, and at the 
same time her crest; she reconnoitres the place for some 
minutes, and, scanning every object closely, then, if not 
alarmed, she enters her hole. The entrance to her nest is 
not round, but in the form of an ellipsis. It is larger, but 
otherwise similar in shape to that of the Sand-martin. It is 
astonishing that so great an observer of natural objects as 
Mr. Audubon should represent the entrance to the nest of 
the Martin as being round ; such a mistake, not being in con- 
formity with the facts in relation to the posture’ and appear- 
ance of the birds he so beautifully delineates, destroys the ` 
harmony of his whole picture. The Kingfishers arrive early 
and prepare their nesting-place; they then lay their eggs, 
and incubation commences about the tenth of April. 

NOTES ON TROPICAL FRUITS. 
BY W. T. BRIGHAM. 
aA 
: [Continued from page 311.] 3 
Ananassa (various species),—Pineapple, Ananas.. The 
flavor of tropical fruits raised under glass is almost always 
mferior, but the pineapple is a marked exception. Perhaps 
ho fruit differs more in quality in its own native land, some 
4 fie 
lds producing a rich juicy fruit, while the plantations 
near by yield only a dry insipid produce. Under glass, the 
ag n and ruby cones are almost always good. The best 
Oh of pines come, it is said, from Guayaquil; but the 
a > rich and melting, such as is seldom found in the East 
island of N iihau, in the Hawaiian group, produces a 
S Here they may be eaten as oranges. 
