28 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



both for columbine and scarlet clem- 

 atis. Turn to the names that science 

 and legend give the columbine : Aqui- 

 legia, the Latin cognomen for a like- 

 ness of the flower's petals to an eagle's 

 claws; Columbine, from the gaudy 

 mate of Harlequin, for the resemblance 

 of the flower to the cap which Folly 

 wears; and another yet, touching both 

 flower and season, handed down from 

 the monks of old, who with loving 

 sentiment wrought flowered margins to 

 their missals and books of hours, — 

 Columbine, a dove, the sign of the 

 Holy Ghost, who descended in the 

 cloven tongues of flame at the Feast of 

 Pentecost; and so, to-day, at the Pente- 

 costal season, the fiery tongues bloom- 

 ing on the gray New England rocks 

 repeat the message. 



The hawk has gone and the birds are 

 singing once more, the water thrush, 



