APPENDIX. 47 
APPENDIX. 
The Western Cascade District may be described as a 
wooded country, noted for its gigantic coniferous trees, some 
of which reach a height of three hundred feet, the under- 
growth consisting of vine-maple, willow and alder, beneath 
which a rank growth of moss, matted weeds and ferns, a 
state of things exists admirably adapted to retain that 
moisture which, during the winter months, is so character- 
istic of this North-West Coast. Of course on some parts 
of Vancouver Island and along-the Valley of the Fraser— 
at the Delta, Pitt River, Langley, Sumas, and Chilliwhack 
—open stretches of land occur, and these places may be 
mentioned as the resort of most of the species, in fact very 
little of bird life is met with in the deep woods. So that, 
considering that such species as the Canadian Ruffed 
Grouse, Western Horned Owl, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy 
Woodpecker, etc., species which are represented on the 
Coast by the darker forms, are found throughout the 
Rocky Mountain District and in the Cascade Mountains, 
where the country is as thickly wooded and the foliage as 
dense as that portion to the westward, it may be ques- 
tioned whether sunlight and humidity are the chief factors 
in bringing about this difference of plumage. 
The Eastern Cascade District is a dry open country of 
rolling hills, having their higher summits sparsely clothed 
with forests of coniferous trees, while such deciduous ones 
as the aspen, dogwood, and willow are found skirting the 
borders of rivers and small streams. Although there are 
a few places where sagebush and alkali are the prevailing 
features, still this open country is well supplied with 
nutritious bunch grass, on which immense herds of cattle 
graze the year round, 
