The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1907-12-26
OUT Of TONE
lnCongruOus Names an Observer
In a Museum Noted.
BIRDS OF ANOTHER COLOR.

''The purple finch" read the man.
as he stood before a glass case OF
birds In science museum He squirt
ed at the bird and then remarked
scornfulIy. "But the bird is no; pur-
pie; II Is wine color" In the next case
be encountered the label Great Blue
Heron" at the feet Of an extremely
long legged creature who was not blue
at all, but a decided gray. The neigh
Dor Of the blue heron was the green
heron" a bird almost brown. with the
tiniest fecks Of green on It Only by
a big stretch OF the imagination could
It be called green. A familiar looking
water bird bore the name "black
duck" although 1t was brown with its
wings tipped a tawny shade. In
the next case there were three birds
whose names the visitor read with dis
approval. One was the snowflake"
a small bird OF a decided brownish
hue Another was the "purpip grac-
kle." a brown bird with only the mer-
est suggestion Of purple, And lastly
there was the "redstart." which was
not red at all. but an undeniable
orange and black. When be read the
next label. Rose Breasted Grosbeck.r
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
~ and absurdly birds were named.
The curator laughed "My dear fell
low" be protested. you have hap
pened on about the only birds In the
museum that are incorrectly named
As q 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 catblrd, the yell
low bird. the woodpecker. the phoebe
the red winged blackbird, the bobo-
link. etc.2 II yOu'n examine the wild
flowers you'll find much more incon-
gruous names. For instance. there's
the oxeye daisy-and by the way, the
oxeye daisy is the common white
petalled daisy with the yellow center
and not the yellow daisy with the
brown center, as is generally supposed
Now. ! cannot conceive how that little
flower appears like the eye Of on OK.
The black eyed Susan. commonly
known as the yellow daisy. is better
named. but it is certainly extremely
fantastic 1t is a crying shame that
certain little sweet pale lavender
flower which grows profusely should
bear the hideous name OF one Powered
cancer root because Its root vaguely
resembles a cancer But the name
sticks.
"Then there is the lady's slipper. Can
you imagine a lady's slipper fashioned
like that? It is pouchy and clumsy
and its name is no compliment to the
fair sex. Another far fetched name Is
Solomon's seal You know the flower
Is a tiny greenish or creamy white az
fair and IS very unattractlye in app
pearance. something Ike wintergreeh
blossoms Well. It gets Us name from
It's root which bears a round scar left
by the broken or old stalk which is
so unlike The Impression OF q seal that
II makes one wonder how any one
could possibly have seen the likeness.
The false Solomon's seal. BY the way.
Is disgracefully named. It e far pref
tier than the real Solomon's seal and
should have a pretty name OF its own.
Now, the name doetooth violet Is
another bad one. In the first place the
flower does not at ell resemble a tooth
OF any sort. and IN the second place II
IS nothing at all like a violet The
wild geranium Is a fragile flower, Law
ender in color. something on the hepat.
ica type, only considerably larger. so
you can see how much likeness II has
to the sturdy garden geranlum.
You've seen that crimson flower
which at a distance looks Ike a wild
rose and whose leaves are much like
grape leaves and whose stems are very
stickyi Well. its name Is purple flow
ering raspberry, while its color is an
unmistakable crimson.
The blue vervain is a tall weed. with
tiny, homely flowers which grows In
waste places beside the road. and It
is purple. not blue. The iron weed
has queer Latin name which means
Mr.. Vernon. belonging to New York
and is named after an early English
botanist Of New York state.
How do you suppose those pink,
fragrant blossoms along the roads
which are near cousins to the gauden
phlox got the name Of bouncing Bets1
II seems incongruous and dippant for