Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1908-02-07
TITLES OUT OF TONE
inCOngTuous Names an Observer
In a Museum Noted.
BIRDS OF ANOTHER COLOR.
The Purple Finch, For instance, 10 Nok
Purple, but Wine colorsd, and the
Great Blue Heron 10 oray--FlOwsrs
With Fantastic Designations.

&rear Blue Horon - Gfay--FIoWors |
With Fantastic Designations.
1.-THE purple fneh," read the man,
a. he stood before a glass case Of |
birds in science museum. He squint- |
ed at the bird and then remarked |
scornfully, "But the bird is not pur-
pie; 1t IL 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 decided gray. The neigh
Dor OF the blue heron was the green
heron" a bird almost brown. with the
tiniest hecks Of green on 1t. Only by
a big stretch of the imagination could
It be called green. A familiar looking
water bird bore the name "black
duck" although it 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 purple grac-
kle." 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 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
and the curator to tell him how wrong
~ and absurdly birds were named.
The curator laughed. MY dear fell
low" he protested, you have hap
pened on about the only birds in the
museum that are incorrectly named
, As a 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 yell
low bird. the woodpecker, the phoebe.
the red winged blackbird. the bobo-
link ETC.? II you'll 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 an OK.
The black eyed Susan. commonly
known as the yellow daisy, 10 better
named, but 1t is certainly extremely
fantastic. 1t is crying shame that
certain little sweet pale lavender
flower which grows profusely should
bear the hideous name of one lowered
cancer root because its root vaguely
resembles cancer. But the name
sticks
'"Then there IL the lady's slipper. Can
you imagine lady's slipper fashioned
like that2 It Is pouchy and clumsy,
and It's name Is no compliment to the
fair sex. Another far fetched name Is
solomon's seal. You know the flower
IL a tiny greenlsh or creamy white at
fair and is very unattractive in APP
pearance. something like wintergreen
blossoms. Wen, 1t gets Its name from
its root, which bears a round scar left
by the broken of old stalk which IL
80 unlike the impression of a 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. 1t Is far pref
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 In the second place II
Is nothing at all like a violet. The
wild geranlum Is a fragile flower, Law
ender In color, something on the hepat-
lea type, only considerably larger, 80
you can see how much likeness Il has
to the sturdy garden geranlum.
you've seen that crimson flower
which ut a distance looks like a wild
rose and whose leaves are much like
grape leaves and whose stems are very
sticky2 Wen. It's name Is purple flow.
ering raspberry, while its color is an
unmistakable crimson.
'eThe blue vervain Is a tall weed. with
tiny, homely flowers, which grows in
waste places beside the road. and 1t
has a queer Latin name which means
mfr. Vernon, belonging to New York.
and Is named after an early English
botanlst 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 Betsl
II seems lncongruous and filppant for
this delicately tinted flower On the
] anf4 h. ID
the name cowsllps to the small flowers
Of the Meadow II Is certainly an ap-
propriate one. but | wonder who con-