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Show [ 204 ] So where the Humtning-bird i~1 Chili~> s bowers On murmuring pinions robs the pendent flowers;. 5.20. Seeks, where fine pores their dulcet balm diftill, And fucks tre treafure with probofcis-bill ;. Fair CYPRErEDIA with fucccfsful guile Knits her fmooth brow, cxtingui{hes her fmilc A Spider's bloated paunch and jointed anus Hide her fine forn1, and ma{k her blufhing charms ; Fair Cyprtpedia. 1. 523· The cyprepedium from South America is fuppofed to be <>f larger {ize and brighter colours than that frorri North America from which this print is taken; it has a large globular nectary about. the fize of a pidgeon's egg of a fi e!hy colour, and an incifwn or depreffion on its upper part, much refembling the body of the large American fpider; this globular nectary is attached to divergent Dendcr petals not unlike the legs of the fame animal. This fpider is called by Linneus Aranea avicularia, with a convex orbicular thorax, the center tranfverfdy excavated, he adds tlu~ it catches fmall birds as well as infeCl:s, and has the venomons bite of a ferpent. Sy!l:em •. Natur. Tom. I. p. I034· M. Lonvilliers de Poincy, (Hifl:oire Nat. des Antilles, Cap. xiv. art II 1.) calls it Phalange, :md defcribes the body to be the fize of a pidgeon's egg, with a hollow on its back like a navel, and mentions its catching the hum-ming- bird in its !l:rnng nets. The f1militude of this flower to this great fpidcr f;ems to be a ve ge:able contrivance to prevent the humming· bird from plundering its honey. Ab:>ut Matlock in D erbyfhirc the fly-ophris is proclucecl, the nectary of which fo much refembles the [mall wallbee, perhaps the apis jchneumonea, that it may be eaf!ly miftaken for it at a fmall diftance. It is probab1e that by this means it may often efcape being plundered. Sec note on lonicera in the next poem. A bird of our own country called a willow-wren (Motacilla) runs up the ftem of the crown-imperial (Frittillar ia coronalis) and fips the pendulous drops within its petals. This fpccies of Motacilla is called by Ray Regulus non crifiatus. White's Hif\:. of Selborne. |
