GOOD-BYE TO THE WOODS 215 



Of course it was on the ground, in the moss and creep- 

 ing plants, under some bushes of dwarf birch, screened 

 by spruces. The structure closely resembled that of 

 the Whitethroat, was lined with grass and fibrous 

 roots; no down, feathers, or fur were observable. The 

 young numbered four. 



The last woods was the limit of other interesting 

 creatures — the Ants. Wherever one looks on the 

 ground, in a high, dry place, throughout the forest 

 country, from Athabaska Landing northward along 

 our route, there is to be seen at least one Ant to the 

 square foot, usually several. Three kinds seem com- 

 mon — one red-bodied, another a black one with brown 

 thorax, and a third very small and all black. They 

 seem to live chiefly in hollow logs and stumps, but are 

 found also on marshes, where their hills are occasionally 

 so numerous as to form dry bridges across. 



I made many notes on the growth of timber here and 

 all along the route; and for comparison will begin at the 

 very beginning. 



In March, 1907, at my home in Connecticut, I cut 

 down an oak tree (Q. palustris) that was 110 feet high, 

 32 inches in diameter, and yet had only 70 rings of 

 annual growth. 



In the Bittcrroot Mountains of Idaho, where I 

 camped in September, 1902, a yellow pine 6 feet 6 

 inches high was 5\ inches in circumference at base. 

 It had 14 rings and 14 whorls of branches corresponding 

 exactly with the rings. 



At the same place I measured a balsam fir — 84 feet 

 high, 15 inches in diameter at 32 inches from the 



