THE OSTRICH FERN AT DEERING. 103 
tail of the many experiments and failures and final triumph 
in the completed nest, perched upon the clothesline like an 
acrobat, would be an instructive study. At last the nest 
was finished and was a model of bird architecture. The 
delicate green of the moss, mingled with the neutral shades 
of the mud, made it a thing of beauty as well as a curi¬ 
osity. 
Bryant has charmed us with his description of the bobo¬ 
link , 
“Merrily swinging on briar and weed, 
Rear to the nest of his little dame.” 
but here the little dame herself swung to and fro in the sum¬ 
mer’s breeze as she performed the duties of motherhood. 
There must have been an element of romance in her nat¬ 
ure. 
Madame Phoebe is gone now and whether she will build 
like that again, or whether her progeny will try to be ori¬ 
ginal and do something strange, the future only will tell. 
The nest remains behind to relate the story of the summer’s 
experience and is now in the museum of the Institute. 
The Ostrich Fern at Deering. 
BY SUSY C. FOGG. 
We were pleased to read in the November issue of Nat¬ 
ure Study the communication in regard to the discovery 
of the Ostrich fern at Hollis, N. H., and it recalled the 
pleasure of a similar experience in finding a small station 
of the same fern at Bast Deeriug, about twenty miles dis¬ 
tant from Manchester by carriage drive. 
This tall and handsome species was growing in a charm¬ 
ing bit of pasture land, in a spot well watered by a spring, 
which nowhere gathered into pools, but filtered through 
the soil over an area distinctly marked by a more luxuri¬ 
ant growth, and greener, possibly sweeter, grass, as the 
