224 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



cherry-tree is now and then met with. Moreover these 

 birds, hke all others found in the like habitat, are very 

 scarce. It is evidently only a few of them that penetrate 

 beyond the outskirts of the forest. 



There are also woodpeckers in the recesses of the 

 forest ; yet even these naturally wood-seeking birds do 

 not seem to be numerous, though they are difficult to 

 discover. You hear them tapping the trees ; but though 

 they cannot have been much disturbed by man, they are 

 so extremely cautious that you may look for a bird that 

 is close at hand for an hour, and then not discover it. 

 There are at least a dozen species in these forests, some 

 green, some grey, and some variegated ; but I obtained, 

 and therefore identified, but very few of them. Amongst 

 the best known was the flicker, or golden-winged wood- 

 pecker, Golaptes auratus, and a bird known locally as " the 

 marshal," and sometimes " the soldier," the specific name 

 of which I have not, I find, any record. It is a very 

 gaudy woodpecker with a great deal of scarlet in the 

 colour of its plumage. 



There are also owls in these forests, the long-eared, 

 Asio americanus, which does not, in my opinion, differ 

 from Asio otits. It may be described as a local variety 

 of that bird. There are several other species, or varieties, 

 of owls ; but these I cannot identify with certainty, the 

 gloom of the forest making it exceedingly difficult to 

 recognise a bird when seen, perhaps, but for a moment. 



Among mammals the commonest are squirrels, grey 

 and black ; most of the other small animals of this 

 region being nocturnal and therefore rarely seen. The 

 polecat {Mustda americana) is the most conspicuous of 

 these. There are also chipmunks {Tamias striahis), but 

 I am not sure that I have given the absolutely correct 

 specific name of this little animal, because the chipmunk 

 of the Ohio forests seemed to vary somewhat from the 

 common chipmunk found farther south ; also there were 

 clearly local varieties even in this limited district. 



