[Illustration: Timber wolves.]
=Birds=
Among the feathered tribes of the woods you will find the owl, the
woodcock, and the grouse. Of the smaller birds, the nuthatch, the wood
and hermit thrush, whippoorwill, woodpeckers, wood-pewee, and others.
Most of the birds prefer the edge of the woods, where they can dip into
the sunshine and take long flights through the free air of the open; but
the hermit-thrush, shyest and sweetest of singers, makes his home deep
in the silent, shadowy forest. In these depths, and oftenest near a bog
or marsh, you may also hear the call of the partridge, or more properly,
the ruffed grouse. As given by the writer William J. Long, the call is
like this:
"Prut, prut, pr-r-r-rt! Whit-kwit? Pr-r-r-rt, pr-r-r-rt! Ooo-it, ooo-it?
Pr-r-reeee!"
Or perhaps you will be startled by the rolling drum-call. This begins
slowly, increases rapidly, and ends something like this: "Dum! dum! dum!
dum-dum-dum-dumdumdum!" The drum-call is made by the male bird who,
beating the air with his wings, produces the sound. It is said to be a
mating-call, but is heard at other times as well, long after the
mating-season is over.
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