Now the early
blooming columbine, its slender cornucopias brimming with sweets,
welcomes the messenger whose needle-like bill will carry pollen
from flower to flower; presently the coral honeysuckle and the
scarlet painted-cup attract him by wearing his favorite color;
next the jewel-weed hangs horns of plenty to lure his eye; and
the trumpet vine and cardinal flower continue to feed him
successively in Nature's garden; albeit cannas, nasturtiums,
salvia, gladioli, and such deep, irregular showy flowers in men's
flower beds sometimes lure him away. These are bird flowers
dependent in the main on the ruby-throat, which is not to say
that insects never enter them, for they do; only they are not the
visitors catered to. Watch the big, velvety bumblebee approach a
roomy jewel-weed blossom and nearly disappear within. The large
bunch of united stamens, suspended directly over the entrance,
bears copious white pollen. So much comes off on his back that
after visiting a flower or two he becomes annoyed; clings to a
leaf with his fore legs while he thoroughly brushes his back and
wings with his middle and hind pairs, and then collects the
sticky grains into a wad on his feet which he presently kicks off
with disgust to the ground.
Pages:
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736