Eel. The Eelephant. 32.
The Ant. The Pheasant. 33.
The Hare. The Harrier. 34.
The Pen-guin. The Sword-fish. 35.
The Gnu. The Newt. 36.
The Ray. The Raven. 38.
The Ape. The Grape. 40.
The Doe. The Dodo. 41.
The Pipe-fish. The Sea-gar. 42.
The Elk. The Whelk. 43.
The P-cock. The Q-cumber. 44.
The Sloe. The Sloth. 45.
The Cow. The Cowry. 46.
The Antelope. The Cantelope. 47.
The Pansy. The Chim-pansy. 48.
Naught. Nautilus. 49.
Intro-duc-tion.
[Illustration]
By other Nature books I'm sure,
You've often been misled,
You've tried a wall-flower to secure.
And "picked a hen" instead:
You've wondered what the egg-plants lay,
And why the chestnut's burred,
And if the hop-vine hops away,
It's perfectly absurd.
I hence submit for your inspection,
This very new and choice collection,
Of flowers on Storks, and Phlox of birds,
With some explanatory words.
Not every one is always able
To recognize a vegetable,
For some are guided by tradition,
While others use their intuition,
And even I make no pretense
Of having more than common sense.
Indeed these strange homologies
Are in most flornithologies,
And I have freely drawn upon
The works of Gray and Audubon,
Avoiding though the frequent blunders
Of those who study Nature's wonders.
[Illustration]
Burr. Bird.
[Illustration: Burr. Bird.]
Who _is_ there who has never heard,
About the Burdock and the Bird?
And yet how very very few,
Discriminate between the two,
While even Mr. Burbank can't,
Transform a Bird into a Plant.
[Illustration: Burbank.]
The Crow. The Crocus.
[Illustration: The Crow. The Crocus.]
Some are unable, as you know,
To tell the Crocus from the Crow;
The reason why is just be-caws
They are not versed in Nature's laws.
The noisy cawing Crows all come,
Obedient to the Cro'custom,
A large Crow Caw-cus to convoke.
You never hear the Crocus croak!
The Clover. The Plover.
[Illustration: The Clover. The Plover.]
The Plover and the Clover can be told apart with ease,
By paying close attention to the habits of the Bees,
For En-to-molo-gists aver, the Bee can be in Clover,
While
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