184 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
iron gray; cheeks and parts surrounding the eyes, a fine 
cinnamon colour; from the lower mandible a strip of black, 
an inch in length, passes down each side of the throat, 
and a lunated spot, of a vivid blood red, covers the hind- 
head, its two points reaching within half an inch of each 
eye; the sides of the neck, below this, incline to a bluish 
gray; throat and chin a very light cinnamon or fawn co- 
lour; the breast is ornamented with a broad crescent of 
deep black; the belly and vent white, tinged with yellow, 
and scattered with innumerable round spots of black, 
every feather having a distinct central spot, those on the 
thighs and vent being heart-shaped and largest; the lower 
and inner side of the wing and tail, shafts of all the larger 
feathers, and indeed of almost every feather, are of a beauti- 
ful golden yellow — that on the shafts of the primaries be- 
ing very distinguishable, even when the wings are shut; 
the rump is white, and remarkably prominent; the tail- 
coverts white, and curiously serrated with black; upper 
side of the tail, and the tip below, black, edged with light 
loose filaments of a cream colour, the two exterior feathers 
serrated with whitish; shafts black towards the tips, the 
two middle ones nearly wholly so; bill an inch and a half 
long, of a dusky horn colour, somewhat bent, rigdid only 
on the top, tapering, but not to a point, that being a little 
wedge-formed; legs and feet light blue; iris of the eye 
hazel; length twelve inches; extent twenty. The female 
differs from the male chiefly in the greater obscurity of 
the fine colours, and in wanting the black mustaches on 
each side of the throat. Thisdescription, aswellas thedraw- 
ing, was taken from a very beautiful and perfect specimen. 
Though this species, generally speaking, is migratory, 
yet they often remain with us in Pennsylvania during the 
whole winter. They also inhabit the continent of North 
America, from Hudson’s Bay to Georgia; and have been 
found, by voyagers, on the north-west coast of America. 
They arrive at Hudson’s Bay in April, and leave it in 
September. Mr. Hearne, however, informs us, that 
“the Golden-winged Woodpecker is almost the only 
species of Woodpecker that winters near Hudson’s Bay.” 
The natives there call it Ou-thee-quan-nor-ow, from the 
golden colour of the shafts and lower side of the wings. 
It has numerous provincial appellations in the different 
states of the Union, such as “ High-hole,” from the situa- 
tion of its nest, and “Hittock,” “Yucker,” “ Pint,” 
“ Flicker,” by which last it is usually known in Pennsyl- 
vania. These names have probably originated from a 
fancied resemblance of its notes to the sound of the words; 
for one of its most common cries consists of two notes or 
syllables, frequently repeated, which, by the help of the 
hearer’s imagination, may easily be made to resemble any 
or all of them. — Wilson. 
From the New-York Commercial Advertiser. 
SCENES ON THE UPPER MISSOURI. 
Since I wrote you my last letter, I have been so much 
engaged in the amusements of the country, and in the use 
of my pencil, that I have been unable to drop you a line 
until the present moment. Before I let you into the plea- 
sures and amusements of this delightful country, however, 
I must hastily travel with you over the tedious journey of 
2000 miles, from St. Louis, over which distance one is 
obliged to pass before he reaches this place. The Mis- 
souri is, perhaps, different from all other rivers in the 
world. There is a terror in its waters which we sensibly 
feel the moment we enter into it from the Mississippi. 
From the mouth of the Yellow Stone to the mouth of the 
Missouri, it sweeps off in one unceasing current, and in 
the whole distance there is scarcely a resting place. Owing 
to the continual falling of its alluvial banks, its water is 
always turbid and opaque, having more the appearance, 
(in colour,) of a cup of chocolate than anything else I can 
think of. I have made experiments with a piece of silver, 
and also with a shell, which is a much whiter substance, 
and have ascertained that they cannot be discovered 
through the sixteenth part of an inch of the water. For 
the distance of about 1000 miles from St. Louis, the shores 
of the river, and in many places the whole bed of the 
stream are filled with snags, trees of the largest size, which 
have been undermined by the falling banks, their roots 
becoming fastened in the bottom of the river, and tops 
pointing down the stream, form a most frightful and dis- 
couraging prospect for the adventurous voyagers. Almost 
every island and sand bar is covered with huge piles of 
these floating trees; and when the river is high it is almost 
impossible for the boat to proceed, in consequence of the 
continued rafts of this material, which almost literally 
cover the surface of the water. With what propriety we 
might call it the “ River Styx,” I will not undertake to 
say, but nothing could be more appropriate than to de- 
nominate it the “ River of Sticks.” The scene is not all 
so dreary, for the eye is delightfully relieved the moment 
you glance it over the beautiful prairie, most of the way 
gracefully sloping down to the water’s edge, carpeted 
with the deepest green, and in distance softening into 
velvet of the richest hues, entirely beyond the reach of 
the artist’s pencil. It has heretofore been very erroneous- 
ly represented in the world, that the scenery on this river 
was monotonous, and wanting in picturesque beauty. This 
intelligence, I find, has come altogether from a set of men, 
who, if they had been capable of relishing the beauties of 
nature, would have passed them in this place without no- 
