78 



BIRDS AND FLOWERS. 



appearance or structure, but its leaves suggest the 

 startled ears of a fawn while their spots mimic his 

 dappled hide. The shad-bush too must not be for- 

 gotten, for its white bloom splashes the April woods 

 in all parts of the town. The casual observer might 

 think its multitudinous blossoms belong to the wild 

 cherry, but the long, narrow petals easily distinguish 

 it. 



In May there is an embarrassment of riches. In 

 looking over my records I find, "Christian Shore, 

 May 14, 1898, a garden of violets, anemones, bellworts, 

 dwarf ginseng, and shad-bush. " The very names 

 recall the ecstasy of those days when the feathery 

 spires of the foam flower rise in Paradise, the painted 

 trilliums gem the swamps of the Bog Road near the 

 Contoocook, the marsh marigolds gild the region of 

 Broad Cove and the foot of Dimond Hill, the ladies' 

 slippers hang their pink pouches in the woods below 

 Weetamoo, and the bluets enamel the meadows about 

 Ferry Lane and the Fan. Strawberry blossoms and 

 the yellow cinquefoil are everywhere in May, but the 

 flower of this month that seems peculiarly character- 

 istic of Concord is the fringed polygala or bird-on-the- 

 wing. The richness of its crimson-violet petals is 

 hardly inferior to that of some of the smaller orchids, 



