84 



BIRDS AND FLOWERS. 



"The cardinals! the cardinals!" when we saw hun- 

 dreds of the spires burning in the wet meadow. 



September is the month of purple and gold. Asters 

 and goldenrod are everywhere and at first sight there 

 seems little else except the summer survivals. Among 

 those which have continued from August are the 

 closed gentian whose deep, purplish blue "bottles" 

 are reflected in the still waters of the Contoocook and 

 in many another shady nook, and the brilliant fall 

 dandelion, whose tall, wiry stems grow in such pro- 

 fusion about the pond at S. Paul's School. This 

 striking yellow flower seems massed in this place; at 

 least, I have never seen it elsewhere in Concord. The 

 prettiest asters that we have are not purple, but white. 

 Two rare varieties are the ericoides and the multi- 

 florus, one with wand-like stems a foot long and the 

 other a little bushy, heath-like plant ; both are thickly 

 powdered with white stars. These two species grow 

 on the old road to Pembroke, half a mile or so below 

 the Indian Carry where Hannah Dustin is supposed to 

 have camped when she floated down the Merrimack 

 with her grewsome trophies. The same varieties have 

 also been found on the road from Batchelder's Mills 

 leading across the Plains. 



Despite the prevalence of the C oviposit ce, there is 



