A FAMILY OF BACKWOODSMFN. 4 1 



engines. The stillness is broken only by the distant 

 ring of the wood-chopper's axe. 



If you follow the sound, you may come upon a 

 strong, broad-shoulderfed man, swinging a bright axe 

 and covering the ground around the foot of a tree 

 with the clean, sweet-smelhng chips. A little distance 

 off is another wood-chopper, giving such blows that 

 you may sometimes hear him half a mile away. He 

 also strew^s chips far and wide. 



The tool of this second woodman is more like a 

 chisel, and he never parts with it, for it is his long, 

 powerful bill. His neck is tremendously strong, so 

 that by drawing back his head he can strike a blow 

 which tears off great sheets of decaying bark, or even 

 large chips of sound wood. 



This wood-chopper, or woodpecker, as he is com- 

 monlyjcalled, is the largest of his family, and is only 

 found where there are tall trees and plenty of them. 

 Like the lumbermen, he is found only in the wild, 

 unsettled parts of the country, and when the forests 

 are cut down he moves on to fresh woods. 



THE DOWNY WOODPECKER. 



There are plenty of trees, as you know, among 

 farms or even in the city parks, though they do not 

 form dense forests. Here the smaller members of the 



