A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



343 



The neighborhood of the sumidero furnished us with a 

 dozen birds of different species ; among others, several 

 tanagers peculiar to America, and a pair of pretty light- 

 brown cuckoos, with fan-shaped tails, which are merely 

 birds of passage in this locality. 



"When you are speaking of a bird, why do you often 

 say it belongs to Brazil, Guiana, or Peru, when you actually 

 find it in Mexico ?" asked Lucien. 



" Because, at certain seasons of the year, many kinds of 

 birds migrate," answered my friend ; " and they are often 

 found at an immense distance from the country where they 

 breed. This beautiful blackbird, for instance, is never seen 

 in Mexico except in the spring, which has caused it to be 

 called here the primavera" 



" Look, papa, at these beautiful yellow flowers ; they 

 cover the trunk of this tree so completely that it appears 

 as if they grew on it." 



" They are the flowers of the tropceolum, or wild nastur- 

 tium. This plant has been cultivated in Europe, where its 

 seed is eaten preserved in vinegar, and its flowers are used 

 to season salads." 



"Then the Mexicans do not know its value, for I have 

 never seen it on their tables." 



" You are right ; but still I should have thought that the 

 piquant taste of the flowers of the tropceolum would have 

 just suited them. Perhaps they find it too insipid after 

 having been accustomed to chewing capsicums." 



" You have the seasoning, and I have the salad !" sud- 

 denly cried my friend. 



And he. showed us a handful of an^herb called purslane. 



This plant, which grows in abundance in damp ground, 

 has red flowers, which close every evening and open again 

 in the morning. I gathered the fleshy leaves, while Su- 

 michrast, who had found a plant covered with seeds, show- 



