The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1907-11-18
TITLES OUT OF TONE
lnoongruouS Names an Observer
In a Museum Noted.
BIRDS OF ANOTHER COLOR.

The Purple Finch, FOR Instance, Is Not
Purple, but Wine Colorsd, and tbs
Great Blue Heron ls Gray-Flowers
With Fantastic Designations.
"The purple finch" read the man,
as he stood before glass case Of
birds in a science museum. lie squiu,
ed at the bird ana then remarked
sconfully. "But the bird is rot pur-
| pie; it IS wine color" In the next case
! he encountered the label "Grcnt Blue
Heron" at the feet of an extremely
long legged creature who was not blue
at all, but decided gray. The neigh
Dor of the blue heron was the "green
heron bird almost brown. with the
tiniest nccks OF green on g. only by
big stretch of the Imagination could
It be called green A familiar looking
water bird bore the name black
duck" although # was brown with It's
wings tipped a tawny shade. I'm
the next case there were three birds
whose names the visitor read with dis
approval One was the Snowflake"
n small bird OF a decided brownish
hue Another was the purple grac-
kle." brown bird with only the mer-
est suggestion Of purple. And lastly
there was the "rcdstau." which was
not red at all but an undeniable
orange and black When he read the
next label. "Rose Breasted Grosbeck." ."
and observed that only the throat OF
the bird was rose color, while ITS
breast was gray. the visitor hurried to
find the curator to tell him how wrong.
ly and absurdly birds were named
The curator laughed MY dear fel.
low he protested. 'you have hap
pened on about the only birds I'm the
museum that are incorrectly named
As matter Of fact. the birds found in
this part Of the country are very well
named indeed and you have picked
out only the exceptions What could
be better named than the scarlet tana-
ger the bluebird the catbird. the vel
low bird, the woodpeclcr. the phoebe,
the red winged hlackbird. the hobo
link etc? If you'l examine the wild
flowers you'll Gnd much more lncoii-
gruous names. For instance there's
the oXeye daisy and 10y the way. the
oXeye daisy is the cogmon v.sisn
petaiied daisy wifi the yellow cent~f
and not the yellow daisy with the
brown center, as Is generally supposed.
Now, / cannot conceive bow that little
flower appears Ike the eve Of an OK.
The black eyed Susan. commonlys
known as the yellow daisy. is better.
named, but it is certainly extremely
fantastic 1t is a crying shame that
a certain little sweet pale lavender
flower which grows profuselg should
bear the hldeous name of one lowered
cancer root because its root vaguely
resembles cancer. But the name
sticks.
Then there is the lady's slipper. Can
You imagine a lady's slipper fashioned
Ike that? It is pouchy and clumsy.
and its name Is no compliment 10 the
fair sex. another far fetched name is
So,omOn's seal You know the flower
IS a tiny greenlsh or creamy white af
fair and is very unattractive in APP
pearance, something like wntergreen
blossoms. Well, It gets its name from
its root, which bears q round scar left
by the broken Off old stalk which Is
so unlike the impression of a seal that
Il makes one wonder how any one
could possibly have seen the likeness
The false Solomons seal. by the way.
is disgracefully named. II is far pret
tier than the real Solomon's seal and
should have a pretty name Of its own.
"Now, the name dogtooth violet is
another bad one. In the first place the
flower does not at all resemble tooth
Of any sort, and i'm the second place il
is nothing Mt all Ike a violet The
Wild goranium Is fragile flower, iav-
ender in color, something on the hcpat
lea type, only considerably larger. so
you can see how much likeness it has !
10 The sturdy garden geranum.
you've seen that crimson flower
which az distance looks Ike n wild |
rose and whose leaves are much like |
grape leaves and whose stems are very
sticky? Well, its name IS purple now |
erlng raspberry while lbs color is an |
uumistak1blc crimson
The blue yeryan IS tlll weed, with !
tiny, homely flowers. which grows I'm |
waste places beside the road. and il |
Is purple. not blue Tho iron weed |
has queer Latin name which means |
Mr.. Vernon belonging 10 New York |
ana Is named after am early English |
b1tanist of New York state
How do you suppose those pink. |
fragrant blossoms along the roads |
which are near cousins TO the garden |
phloX got the name Of bouncing Bets? /
It seems incongruous and fippant FOR 1
this ielicately tinted flower ON the
other hand. who do you suppose gave 4
the lame cowslips 10 the small flowers /
OF the Meadow 1t Is certainly an ap /
proprate one, but / wonder who CON /
celyed the pretty name New York |