Sage (_Salvia officinalis_), strange curved stamen, 119; nature's arrangement, 112. Salvia, its welcome to the bee, 117. Self-fertilization, 141. Sheep-spit, 80. Showy orchid (_H. orbicularis_),194. Snorting war-horse, 18. Solitude, the pleasures of, 3. "Solomon's ant," 152. Spectabilis, orchid, 182; its favorite haunt, 195. Spiders, _agalena_, _epeira_, _argiope_, 8; a two years' span, 7; a silken vortex; miscellaneous food, 8. _Spiranthes_, "Lady's-tresses," 218. Sprengel, Christian Conrad: --Inspiration from the wild geranium, 108; on the mystery of color, 112; theory of fertilization; a poser to Linnaeus, 113; his wrong theory, 114; divining half the truth, 176; assumption disproved, 178. Spume-bearer (_Aprophora_), its domicile of suds; wonderful power of jumping, 82. Starling, dispossessing woodpecker from nest, 43. Studio Company: --"Tumultuous privacy"; contested territory; snickering squirrels, 4; selected food; unsymmetrical carpentry; drone of bees; carol of birds; flurry of swifts; accompaniments to my toil, 5; wild fox; pet chipmonk; pet toad; his lightning tongue; home in a bowl, 6; an old friend, 9. Summer yellow-bird (_Mnio-tiltidae_), 47. Sweet-pogonia (_P. ophioglossoides_), 145. Swift, Jonathan, on parasites, 44. Tennyson, quoted, 24. "The Secrets of Nature in Forms and Fertilization of Flowers Discovered," Sprengel's work, 113. Thevenot, concerning the thrift of insects, 152. Tiger-beetle (_Cicindela_), 68. Toads, 6. Toad-spit, 80. Tree-hopper, 93. Venus's-slipper (Cypripedium acaule), 205. Vireo, abandons its nest, 45. Wasps: --Wren, 10; microscopic, 45; tiny black, 69; digger, 72, 162; orange-spotted, 79; brown; mud, 161. "Waxwork" bittersweet (_Celastrus scandens_), 88. Welcome of the flowers: --The function of the stamen, 106; difference in cells, 107; condition of the flower, 108; physiological features; recognition of sex in flowers, 109; exchange of courtesies; each flower a law unto itself, 117; action of "jack-in-the-pulpit"; cypripedium and aristolochias; peculiarity of the sage, 119; queer stamens; nature's arrangement, 121; cross-fertilization insured, 122; showers of laurel pollen; curious construction of flower, 124; singular greeting to the bee, 126; remarkable interior arrangement of the Andromeda, 128; hidden anthers of the blue-flag, 129; intercommunication and reciprocity, 135. Wild geranium (_G. sylvaticum_), 112. Wild volapuek, 4. Wilson, cow-bird's eggs, 33. Wind as a fertilizing agent, 154. White, Gilbert, cuckoo's eggs, 32; rich localities, 58. Wood, Alphonso: --On tubercles, 203; on embarrassed bees, 235. Woodchucks, 5.