50 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
The late fall and winter months seem to many botanical stu- 
dents to be devoid of interest, because of the general impression 
that plants are to be associated only with spring and summer, yet 
some of the most interesting plant history, i. e., that relating to 
their seeds and the methods of their dissemination, are best studied 
during the winter months. One of the most interesting field days 
I spent last season was during a severe cold spell in the latter part 
of December when the streams were so frozen over as to make 
travel on the ice an easy means of access to certain marshy tracts 
lying at the head of what is known as Beaver Pond. Here, on a 
typical winter day with a stiff breeze blowing and the snow fall- 
ing about me, I gathered more seeds of marsh plants from the 
stems above the snow than I had been able to obtain all the preced- 
ing fall. Here, too, I could observe the feeding of numerous 
small birds upon the various stores thus abundantly supplied by 
nature and among many one could note preferences for certain 
kinds, while others more conspicuous, were left undisturbed. 
What bird feeds upon the berries of Ilex verticillataf Though 
the fruit is abundant and the color so' strikingly handsome and al- 
luring, being one of the most conspicuous of bushes in winter 
when the ground is covered with snow, yet I seldom find birds 
feeding upon it. This and many other questions concerning the 
colors of various fruits and berries and their preference by certain 
birds as well as the means of seed dissemination occurring among 
various plants in winter, can not help attracting the attention of 
the careful observer besides furnishing abundant opportunity for 
field study at a season when there is ample time and inclination 
for the work. 
SPRING IN THE SOUTH. 
By Willard N. Clute. 
Every locality has its own Spring, or rather, its own phase of 
spring. The marsh, the sand barren, the river valley and the up- 
land alike feel the thrill of an awakening season, but each re- 
sponds to the impulse with a flora of its own. And just as the 
flowers vary^ in shape and hue from seashore to mountain top, so 
