areas where I have found it. I know of at least four areas 
     
     where it can be found in the hundreds. In spite of this, 
     
     many people have not seen the Pink Lady's Slipper in the . 
     
     wild. 
     
    

    
     This plant seems to be adapted to a wide range of en— 
     
     vironments. I recall one extensive area near Alberton 
     
     where my companion and I had to wear rubbers. On the other 
     
     hand I have found the plant on high, dry ground. The Bio- 
     
     logy Department at U.P.E.I. has an excellent colored slide 
     
     of a Slipper growing among crowberries! The limiting fact- 
     
     or seems to be that, to be successful, the Pink Lady's 
     
     Slipper must be associated with a particular kind of my- 
     
     corhizal fungus. This is very likely the_reason why people 
     
     who have tried transplanting Slippers to their back garden 
     
     have had little success. The plants may live as long as 
     
     three years with a reduced number of flowers each year. 
     
     The fungus referred to is also associated with the germin— 
     
     ation of the seed so there's little point in the amateur 
     
     gardener trying to grow Lady's Slippers from seed. l 
     
    

    
     I believe there is still much to be learned about the Pink Lady's 
     
     Slipper in P.E.I. What is the range of ph within which the plant will suc— 
     
     ceed? What insect or insects are asSociated with pollination? What is the 
     
     average population of these insects and how variable is it? These are only 
     
     a few of the questions that I believe to be unanswered, there are many 
     
    
   
   
    
     more. Would not this make an excellent project for a biology student at 
     
     U.P.E.I. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Group of Swen Visas 0 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY EVELYN MEADER 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Daily visitors to my bird cafeteria this winter 
     
     have been a group of seven Hungarian Partridges. In 
     
     fact the day of the first super storm there were 
     
     seven scratching and pecking out front and a covey 
     
     of ten hunkered down out back. The ten have travell- 
     
     ed on in Littlest Hobo style but the seven have 
     
     stayed for dinner. Their straight rows of three-toed 
     
     tracks lace the lawn's snow blanket. Sometimes when 
     
     we haven't noticed the little creatures all dug in 
     
     they burst upwards in a blast of mutual alarm when 
     
     we go to replenish the feeders. A half dozen feed 
     
     like staccato pecking machines, their motor-propell- 
     
     ed heads driving up and down, up and down picking up 
     
     seeds. A sentry stands guard while the rest feed 
     
     steadily. If slightly anxious they all stretch up 
     
     tall and thin and scuttle to shelter under a nearby 
     
     bush. If startled they take to the air as if from a catapult. Their friend- 
     
     liest habit is when they all cozy up together and snuggle down in the shel- 
     
     ter of a snowdrift, where they create a dark feathery splotch, snoozing 
     
     warmly together. After a storm another avian family of winter visitors, 
     
     some rusty-capped American tree sparrows fly down to the ground near the 
     
     partridges. It looks as if the smaller birds take advantage of the larger's 
     
     snow scraping skill to find uncovered seeds. 
     
    

    
     Our group of seven may never set up easel and palette in artistic oc— 
     
     cupation but they do fill a corner of Winter's canvas with intriguing ex— . 
     
     hibitions of brushes with survival. 
     
    
   
   
    
     -10-