Chapter II: Woodcraft (3)

This most delightful of outdoor pastimes requires for its enjoyment no elaborate or expensive paraphernalia: a rod cut on the spot, a cork float, an ordinary hook baited with angleworm, grasshopper, grub, may-fly, or any of a dozen other handy lures, will answer for most occasions. At the same time, the joys of fishing will often be increased if one possesses and learns how to use a light, jointed rod, with reel, fine line, and artificial baits. The necessary equipment for scientific angling is so light and compact that it should form a part of the outfit of every one who spends much time in the open air.

It should be the invariable practice of anglers to return to the water all uninjured fish that are not needed for food or study. "It is not all of fishing to fish," and no thoughtful boy who has the interests of the country at heart, and no lover of nature, will go fishing merely for the purpose of catching the longest possible string of fish, thus placing himself in the class of anglers properly known as "fish hogs."

Special Service by Boy Scouts

Valuable service may be rendered by boy scouts in all parts of the country by bringing to the attention of the proper state, county, or municipal authorities matters affecting the welfare of the fishes. Among the subjects that should be reported to fish commissioners, fish wardens, or local legal officers are:

(1) All cases noticed where fish are being killed by dynamite, poisons, or other illegal and improper means.

(2) Threatened destruction of fish by the drying of streams or ponds.

(3) The existence of obstructions to the passage of fish on their way to their spawning grounds. All dams in streams in which are migratory fish should have fish-ways or fish-ladders.

Aquarium

_William Leland Stowell, M. D._

Every boy should have an aquarium. The aquarium will give ten times as much pleasure as annoyance, and the longer time you have one undisturbed the greater will be its revelations.

A simple tank can be made from a large water bottle or demijohn. File a line around the top and carefully break it off. For the back yard, cut a paint barrel in two or coat a tub inside with spar varnish. Anything that will hold a few gallons of water, two inches of clean sand, and some water plants will be a suitable home for fish and other creatures. A boy handy with tools can make a frame, and with plate glass and proper cement construct a large tank.

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Starting the Aquarium

You can balance your aquarium by plenty of plants. As they grow they give off oxygen which purifies the water and is breathed by the fish. The water need not be changed for years. The swamps and slow streams afford great numbers of plants. If you know the plants get pond weeds, Canadian water weed, ludwigia, willow moss, or tape grass. (Look in the dictionary for official names of the plants or get special books from the library.) Take some tape grass (vallisneria) to your teacher or doctor and ask him to show you under his microscope how the sap flows and the green coloring matter is deposited. The simplest form of vegetation is algae which grows on the sides of the tank. Lest this grow too thick, put in a few snails. Watch the snails' eggs develop in clusters. Buy if you cannot find banded swamp snails that give birth to their young instead of laying eggs.

Any pond or stream will furnish fish that are beautiful or interesting to watch, e.g., killies, sunfish, cat-fish, carp, shiners, blacknosed dace, minnows--the mud minnow that seems to stand on his tail--darters, etc. If you get your supply from dealers, buy gold fish, of which there are several varieties, fan-tailed, comets, fringe tails and telescope eyed. Mirror carp are lively. Paradise fish are as beautiful as butterflies.

Fish Nests

Every one knows something of birds' nests. Did you ever watch sticklebacks build their barrel-like nest, or the Paradise fish his floating nest, and the father fish take all the care of the young? Did you ever see the newt roll her eggs in small leaves, or the caddis fly make a case of bits of stick, leaves, and sand? For a real marvel watch a pair of diving spiders weave their balloon-like nest under water and actually carry air down to fill it, so that the young may be dry though submerged.

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Put in a few fresh-water clams and insects in variety, water boatmen, diving spiders, and whirligigs. A tank of beetles will be full of interest. Always add two or three tadpoles as scavengers, and watch their legs grow out as the tail grows short and they become frogs. You can find or buy a variety of turtles which will soon be tame and eat from your fingers. Do not keep turtles with fish.

On every hike or tramp carry a wide-mouthed bottle for specimens and a piece of rubber cloth in which to bring home water plants. Fish can be carried wrapped in damp moss for hours and will be found well and lively when put in the aquarium.

Fish Food

Fish require very little food other than the minute creatures that develop in the water.

The dealers supply proper foods for aquaria, or you can prepare your own. Fine vermicelli is good for gold fish, scraped lean beef is just what the sunfish and Paradise fish want. Ant eggs suit many fish, and powdered dog biscuit will fill many mouths. It is evident that an article so brief as this is only suggestive. The libraries contain many books of which two are recommended:

"Home Aquarium and How to Care For It." By Eugene Smith, 1902. Published by Dutton, New York.

"Book of Aquaria." By Bateman and Bennett, 1890. Published by L. Upcott Gill, 170 Strand, W. C., London.

ROCKS AND PEBBLES

_United States Geological Survey_

Geologists study the materials of the earth's crust, the processes continually changing its surface, and the forms and structures thus produced. In a day's tramp one may see much under each of these heads.

The earth's crust is made up chiefly of the hard rocks, which outcrop in many places, but are largely covered by thin, loose, surface materials. Rocks may be igneous, which have cooled from a melted condition; or sedimentary, which are made of layers spread one upon another by water currents or waves, or by winds.

Igneous rocks, while still molten, have been forced into other rocks from below, or poured out on the surface from volcanoes. They are chiefly made of crystals of various minerals, such as quartz, felspar, mica, and pyrite. Granite often contains large crystals of felspar or mica. Some igneous rocks, especially lavas, are glassy; others are so fine grained that the crystals cannot be seen.

In places one may find veins filling cracks in the rocks, and {113} made of material deposited from solution in water. Many valuable minerals and ores occur in such veins, and fine specimens can sometimes be obtained from them.

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Sedimentary rock are formed of material usually derived from the breaking up and wearing away of older rocks. When first deposited, the materials are loose, but later, when covered by other beds, they become hardened into solid rock. If the layers were of sand, the rock is sandstone; if of clay, it is shale. Rocks made of layers of pebbles are called conglomerate or pudding-stone; those of limy material, derived perhaps from shells, are limestone. Many sedimentary rocks contain fossils, which are the shells or bones of animals or the stems and leaves of plants living in former times, and buried by successive beds of sand or mud spread over them. Much of the land is covered by a thin surface deposit of clay, sand, or gravel, which is yet loose material and which shows the mode of formation of sedimentary rocks.

Some rocks have undergone, since their formation, great pressure or heat and have been much changed. They are called metamorphic rocks. Some are now made of crystals though at first they were not; in others the minerals have become arranged {114} in layers closely resembling the beds of sedimentary rocks; still others, like slate, tend to split into thin plates.

The earth's surface is continually being changed; the outcropping hard rock is worn away by wind and rain, and is broken up by frost, by solution of some minerals, etc. The loose material formed is blown away or washed away by rain and deposited elsewhere by streams in gravel bars, sand beds, and mud flats. The streams cut away their beds, aided by the sand and pebbles washed along. Thus the hills are being worn down and the valleys deepened and widened, and the materials of the land are slowly being moved toward the sea, again to be deposited in beds.

Along the coast the waves, with the pebbles washed about, are wearing away the land and spreading out its materials in new beds elsewhere. The shore is being cut back in some places and built out in others. Rivers bring down sand and mud and build deltas or bars at their mouths.

Volcanoes pour out melted rock on the surface, and much fine material is blown out in eruptions. Swamps are filled {115} by dead vegetable matter and by sand and mud washed in. These materials form new rocks and build up the surface. Thus the two processes, the wearing down in some places and the building up in others, are tending to bring the surface to a uniform level. Another process, so slow that it can be observed only through long periods of time, tends to deform the earth's crust and to make the surface more irregular. In times past, layers of rock once horizontal have been bent and folded into great arches and troughs, and large areas of the earth's surface have been raised high above sea-level.

At almost any rock outcrop the result of {116} the breaking-up process may be seen; the outer portion is softer, more easily broken, and of different color from the fresh rock, as shown by breaking open a large piece. The wearing away of the land surface is well shown in rain gullies, and the carrying along and depositing of sand and gravel may be seen in almost any stream. In the Northern states and Canada, which at one time were covered by a great sheet of ice, moving southward and grinding off the surface over which it passed, most of the rock outcrops are smoothly rounded and many show scratches made by pebbles dragged along by the ice. The hills too have {117} smoother and rounder outlines, as compared with those farther south where the land has been carved only by rain and streams. Along the coast the wearing away of the land by waves is shown at cliffs, found where the coast is high, and by the abundant pebbles on the beaches, which are built of material torn from the land by the waves. Sand bars and tidal flats show the deposition of material brought by streams and spread out by currents. Sand dunes and barrens illustrate the carrying and spreading out of fine material by the wind.

In many regions the beds of sedimentary rocks, which must have been nearly horizontal when formed, are now found sloping at various angles or standing on edge, the result of slow deforming of these beds at an earlier time. As some beds are more easily worn away than others, the hills and valleys in such regions owe their form and position largely to the different extent to which the harder and softer beds have been worn down by weather and by streams. The irregular line of many coasts is likewise due to the different hardness of the rocks along the shore.

It is by the study of the rocks and of the remains of life found in them, by observing the way in which the surface of the earth is being changed and examining the results of those changes and by concluding that similar results were produced in former times in the same way, that geologists are able to read much of the past history of the earth, uncounted years before there were men upon it.

Plants, Ferns, and Grasses

_By Dr. L. C. Corbett, Horticulturist,
United States Bureau of Plant Industry_

The appearance of the blossoms and fruits of the fields and forests in any locality note the advent and progress of the seasons more accurately than does the calendar. Plants and seeds which have lain asleep during the winter are awakened not by the birth of a month, but by the return of heat and moisture in proper proportions. This may be early one year and late another, but, no matter what the calendar says, the plants respond to the call and give evidence of spring, summer, or autumn as the case may be. The surface of the earth is not flat. We have valleys and we have mountains; we have torrid and we have temperate zones. The plant life of the world has been adjusted to these varied conditions, and as a result we have plants with certain characteristics growing in the tropics at sea-level, but a very different class of plants with {118} different habits and characteristics inhabiting the elevated regions of this same zone. It must be remembered that even under the tropics some of the highest mountains carry a perpetual snow-cap. There is therefore all possible gradations of climate from sea-level to the top of such mountains, even at the equator, and plant life is as a result as varied as is climate. Each zone, whether determined by latitude or by altitude, possesses a distinctive flora.

But altitude and latitude are not the only factors which have been instrumental in determining the plants found in any particular locality. This old earth of ours has not always been as we see her to-day. The nature we know and observe is quite different from that which existed in earlier ages of the earth's history. The plants, the trees, and the flowers that existed upon the earth during the age when our coal was being deposited were very different from those we now have. There has been a change, but, strange as it may seem, there are in some places upon the earth to-day some of the same species of plants which were abundant during the coal-forming periods. These are among the oldest representatives of the plant world now extant. Then we are told that there was a period when the north temperate zone was covered with a great ice field which crowded down as far as southern Pennsylvania and central Ohio. This naturally brought about a profound change in the location and character of the plants of this region. There are in the Black Hills of Dakota species of plants which have no relatives anywhere in the prairie region, and no means is known by which these representatives of a Rocky Mountain family could find their way into the Black Hills, save that, previous to the ice age, this species was generally scattered over the territory, and that, during the ice age, the species was perpetuated in the hills, but was killed out between there and the Rocky Mountains where it is found in abundance. These are some of the natural reasons for the existence of varied plants in different localities. They are sufficient to explain the reason for the existence of local floras.

But nature has provided untold ways for the perpetuation as well as the dispersal of plants for the purpose of, so far as possible, enabling the plants of the world to take possession of all parts of the earth's surface. If this adjustment were complete, the plants would be practically alike all over the surface of the earth, but we have already explained why this cannot be and why we have a different flora in each zone, whether it be marked by lines of latitude or height of {120} the mountains. Plants are perpetuated by seeds, by bulbs, and by woody parts. Some seeds are highly perishable and must be sown as soon as ripe; others remain years without losing their power to produce plants. Some grow as soon as they come in contact with the soil; others must fall, be buried and frozen before they will germinate. Some plants are perpetuated by bulbs, tubers, or roots in which a supply of food material is stored away to carry the plant over a period when its above-ground parts cannot thrive owing to frost or drought. Upon the return of favorable conditions, these resting parts throw out shoots and again make the round of growth, usually producing both seeds and underground parts for the preservation of the species. There are both wild and cultivated plants in nearly all sections which illustrate these methods of preservation. Besides plants which have bulbs, tubers, or perennial roots, we have the large, woody plants which live many years and so perpetuate themselves, not only as individuals the same as plants with perennial roots; but they, too, as a rule, produce seed for the multiplication of their kind.

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The agencies which serve to spread plants about over the earth's surface are very varied and interesting. Nature has provided seeds with many appendages which assist in their dispersal. Some seeds have wings, and some parachutes to take advantage of the wind. Some seeds are provided with hooks and stickers by which they become attached to the fur of animals and are in this way enabled to steal a free ride. Other seeds are provided with edible coverings which attract birds, but the seeds themselves are hard and not digestible; the fruit is eaten and the seeds rejected and so plants are scattered. Besides these methods of perpetuation and dispersal, some plants are perpetuated as well as dispersed by vegetative reproduction, i. e., by cuttings as in the case of willows; by runners as in the case of the strawberry; and by stolons as with the black raspberry. (For further information on this point see Bailey's "Lessons with Plants.")

Some plant characteristics, however, of greatest interest to the scout may be enumerated. Plants not only mark zones, but they indicate soils with certain characteristics, and the crop wise say that the soil on which chestnut abounds is suitable for buckwheat or peaches. Plants also indicate the influence of local conditions such as lakes, ponds, or even variations in contour. A knowledge of the local flora of a region will at once tell one whether he is upon a northern or a southern hillside by the plants of the area. The creek bottom will {121} abound with species not to be found on the hillsides, but species common to both plain and mountain will mark the progress of the season up the slope.

In the north temperate zone the moss if any will be found growing upon the north side of the tree trunk. Each hundred feet of elevation in a given latitude makes from one to two days difference in time of blooming of plants. The character of the vegetation of a region is an index to its climate. Certain plants are adapted to frigid regions, others to temperate, and still others to tropical areas. Some plants are adapted to humid sections, while others are admirably adjusted to desert conditions. A knowledge of these differences in plants will be of the greatest value to the scout, and if this is supplemented by information about the value and uses of the various plant products many hardships can be avoided. Many plants produce valuable juices, gums, and resins, while others yield us valuable timber for building and cabinet uses.

While it is impossible to even suggest the great variety of plants found within the confines of the United States, the following books on botany will be found helpful in each of the different sections for which they are designed.

Bibliography

For the botany of the Northeastern United States use:

"New Manual of Botany," 7th ed. Asa Gray.

"Illustrated Flora of the United States and Canada." N. L. Britton and Hon. Addison Brown.

For the botany of the Southern United States use:

"Flora of the Southern United States." A. W. Chapman.

"Southern Wild Flowers and Trees." Alice Lounsberry.

For the Botany of the Rocky Mountain region use:

"New Manual of Botany of the Central Rocky Mountains." John M. Coulter; Revised by Aven Nelson.

"Rocky Mountain Wild Flower Studies." Burton O. Longyear.

"The Trees of California." Willis Linn Jepson.

For general information regarding the shrubby plants of the United States use:

"Our Shrubs of the United States." Austin C. Apgar.

"Our Northern Shrubs." Harriet Louise Keeler.

For the wild flowers outside of those already mentioned for the Southern United States and the Rocky Mountain region use:

"Our Garden Flowers." Harriet Louise Keeler.

"How to Know the Wild Flowers." Frances Theodora Parsons.

"Field Book of American Wild Flowers." F. Schuyler Mathews.

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For the ferns and grasses it will be found worth while to consult:

"How to Know the Ferns." Frances Theodora Parsons.

"The Fern Collector's Guide." Willard Nelson Clute.

"New England Ferns and Their Common Allies." Helen Eastman.

"The Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the North United States." Edward Knobel.

For the study of the monarchs of our forests the following books will all be found exceedingly useful:

"Manual of the Trees of North America." Charles Sprague Sargent.

"Trees of the Northern United States." Austin C. Apgar.

"Handbook of the Trees of the Northern United States and Canada." Romeyn Beck Hough.

"North American Trees." N. L. Britton.

"Familiar Trees and Their Leaves." 1911. F. Schuyler Mathews.

Besides these, several states have issued through their state experiment stations bulletins dealing with the local plant inhabitants. In some instances these publications cover forest trees, grasses, and shrubs, either native or introduced. Several of the educational institutions, as well as the experiment stations, now regularly issue nature study leaflets or bulletins which treat of popular subjects of interest in connection with outdoor things. It would be well to write the state experiment station in your state for literature of this nature.

MUSHROOMS, FUNGI, OR TOADSTOOLS

_By Ernest Thompson Seton, Chief Scout
Revised by Dr. C. C. Curtis_

There are thousands of different kinds of toadstools or mushrooms in the world; most of them are good to eat, yet all have a bad reputation, because some are deadly poisonous.

False tests. First of all let us dispose of some ancient false tests that have led many into disaster.

Cooking or otherwise trying with silver proves absolutely nothing. It is believed by many that the poisonous mushrooms turn silver black. Some do; some do not; and some eatable ones do. There is nothing in it.

Bright colors on the cap also mean nothing; many gorgeous toadstools are wholesome food. But the color of the pores {123} means a great deal, and this is determined by laying the fungus cap gills down on gray paper for six or eight hours under a glass.

Poisonous Toadstools

Of all the poisonous kinds the deadliest are the Amanitas. Not only are they widespread and abundant, but they are unhappily much like the ordinary table mushrooms. They have however one or two strong marks: Their stalk always grows out of a "poison cup" which shows either as a cup or as a bulb; they have white or yellow gills, and white spores. The worst of these are:

Deathcup, Destroying Angel, Sure-death, or Deadly Amanita (_Amanita phalloides_)

One and one half to five inches across the cup; three to seven inches high; white, green, yellowish olive, or grayish brown; {124} smooth but sticky when moist; gills white; spores white; on the stem is an annulus or ring just below the cap.

Fly Amanita (_Amanita muscaria_)

About the same size; mostly yellow, but ranging from orange red to or almost white; usually with raised white spots or scales on the top; gills white or tinged yellow; spores white; flesh white.

Hated Amanita (_Amanita spreta_)

Four to six inches high; cap three to five inches across; white, tinged with brown in places especially in the middle of the cap, where it has sometimes a bump.

There are over a score more of amanitas varying in size and color, but all have the general style of mushrooms, and the label marks of poison, viz., white or yellow gills, a poison cup, and white spores.

Emetic Russula (_Russula emetica_)

In a less degree this russula is poisonous. It is a short-stemmed mushroom, two to four inches high, about the size of the Fly Amanita; its cap is rosy red, pinkish when young, dark red when older, fading to straw color in age; its gills and spores white. Its peppery taste when raw is a fair notice of danger.

_Symptoms of Poisoning_: Vomiting and purging, "the discharge from the bowels being watery with small flakes suspended {125} and sometimes containing blood," cramps in the extremities. The pulse is very slow and strong at first but later weak and rapid, sometimes sweat and saliva pour out. Dizziness, faintness, and blindness, the skin clammy, cold, and bluish, or livid; temperature low with dreadful tetanic convulsions, and finally stupor.

_Remedy_: "Take an emetic at once, and send for a physician with instructions to bring hypodermic syringe and atropine sulphate. The dose is 1/180 of a grain, and doses should be continued heroically until 1/20 of a grain is administered, or until, in the physician's opinion, a proper quantity has been injected. Where the victim is critically ill, the 1/20 of a grain may be administered." (McIllvaine & Macadam.)

WHOLESOME TOADSTOOLS

IMPORTANT NOTE.--Experimenting with mushrooms is dangerous; it is better not to eat them unless gathered under expert direction.

The Common Mushroom (_Agaricus campestris_)

Known at once by its general shape and smell, its pink or brown gills, white flesh, brown spores and solid stem.

Coprinus

Also belonging to the gilled or true mushroom family are the ink-caps of the genus.

They grow on dung piles and rich ground. They spring up over night and perish in a day. In the last stage the gills turn as black as ink.

Inky Coprinus (_Coprinus atramentarius_)

This is the species illustrated. The example was from the woods; often it is less tall and graceful. The cap is one inch {126} to three inches in diameter, grayish or grayish brown, sometimes tinged lead color. Wash and stew: Stew or bake from twenty to thirty minutes after thorough washing, being the recognized mode.

All the Clavarias or Coral Mushrooms are good except Clavaria dichotoma which is white, and has its branches divided in pairs at each fork. It grows on the ground under beeches and is slightly poisonous; it is rare.

The Delicious Morel (_Morchella deliciosa_)

One and a half to three inches high; greenish with brown hollows. There are several kindred species of various colors. This is known by the cylindrical shape of its cap. Wash, slice, and stew.

Puffballs (_Lycoperdaceae_)

The next important and safe group are the puffballs before they begin to puff. All our puffballs when young and solid white inside are good, wholesome food. Some of them, like the brain puffball or the giant puffball, are occasionally a foot in diameter, and yield flesh enough to feed a dozen persons.

They are well known to all who live in the country, their smooth rounded exterior, without special features except the {127} roots, and their solid white interior are easily remembered. Peel, slice, and fry.

Bibliography

The following are standard and beautifully illustrated works on mushrooms and toadstools. They have been freely used for guidance and illustrations in the preparation of the above:

"Edible Fungi of New York." By Charles H. Peck. Published by New York State Museum, Albany, 1900.

"The Mushroom Book." By Nina L. Marshall. Published 1902 at New York by Doubleday, Page & Co. $3.50.

"One Thousand American Fungi." By McIllvaine and Macadam. Published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company of Indianapolis, 1902. $3.00. Add 40 cents express.

"Mushrooms." G. F. Atkinson. Holt & Co.

"The Mushroom." M. E. Hard. The Ohio Library Co., Columbus, Ohio.

COMMON NORTH AMERICAN TREES

White Pine (_Pinus strobus_)

A noble evergreen tree, up to 175 feet high. This is the famous pine of New England, the lumberman's prize. Its leaves are in bunches of five, and are 3 to 5 inches long; cones 4 to 6 inches long. Wood pale, soft, straight-grained, easily split. Newfoundland to Manitoba and south to Illinois.

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There are many different kinds of pines. They are best distinguished by their cones.

Hemlock (_Tsuga Canadensis_)

Evergreen. Sixty to seventy feet high. Wood pale, soft, coarse, splintery, not durable. Bark full of tannin. Leaves 1/2 to 3/4 inches long; cones about the same. Its knots are so hard that they quickly turn the edge of an axe or gap it as a stone might; these are probably the hardest vegetable growth in our woods. Its topmost twig usually points easterly. Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Delaware and Michigan.

Red Cedar (_Juniperus Virginiana_)

Evergreen. Any height up to 100 feet. Wood, heart a beautiful bright red; sap wood nearly white; soft, weak, but extremely durable as posts, etc. Makes a good bow. The tiny scale-like leaves are 3 to 6 to the inch; the berry-like cones are light blue and 1/4 of an inch in diameter. It is found in dry places from Nova Scotia to Florida and west to British Columbia.

Cottonwood (_Populus deltoides_)

Small and rare in the Northeast, but abundant and large {129} in West; even 150 feet high. Leaves 3 to 6 inches long. Found from Quebec to Florida and west to the mountains.

Shagbark or White Hickory (_Hicoria ovata_)

A tall forest tree up to 120 feet high. Known at once by the great angular slabs of bark hanging partly detached from its main trunk, forced off by the growth of wood, but too tough to fall. Its leaves are 8 to 14 inches long, with 5 to 7 broad leaflets.

Black Walnut (_Juglans nigra_)

A magnificent forest tree up to 150 feet high. Wood, a dark purplish-brown or gray; hard, close-grained, strong, very durable in weather or ground work, and heavy; fruit round, 1-3/4 inches through. Leaflets 13 to 23, and 3 to 5 inches long. Found from Canada to the Gulf.

White Walnut or Butternut (_Juglans cinerea_)

A much smaller tree than the last, rarely 100 feet high, with much smoother bark, leaves similar but larger and coarser, compound of fewer leaflets, but the leaflet stalks and the new twigs are covered with sticky down. Leaves 15 to 30 inches long, leaflets 11 to 19 in number and 3 to 5 inches long; fruit oblong, 2 to 3 inches long. New Brunswick and Dakota and south to Mississippi.

Common Birch or Aspen-leaved Birch (_Betula populifolia_)

A small tree on dry and poor soil, rarely 50 feet high. Wood soft, close-grained, not strong, splits in drying, useless for weather or ground work. A cubic foot weighs 36 pounds. Leaves 2 to 3 inches long. It has a black triangular scar at each armpit. The canoe birch is without these black marks. New Brunswick to Ontario to Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Black Birch, Sweet Birch, or Mahogany Birch (_Betula lenta_)

The largest of the birches; a great tree, in Northern forests up to 80 feet high. The bark is scarcely birchy, rather like that of {130} cherry, very dark, and aromatic. Leaves 2-1/2 to 6 inches long. Newfoundland to Western Ontario and south to Tennessee.

Beech (_Fagus Americana_)

In all North America there is but one species of beech. It is a noble forest tree, 70 to 80 and occasionally 120 feet high, readily distinguished by its smooth, ashy-gray bark. Leaves 3 to 4 inches long. It shares with hickory and sugar maple the honor of being a perfect firewood. Nova Scotia to Wisconsin, south to Florida and Texas.

Chestnut (_Castanea dentata_)

A noble tree, 60 to 80 or even 100 feet high. The most delicious of nuts. Leaves 6 to 8 inches long. Maine to Michigan and south to Tennessee.

Red Oak (_Quercus rubra_)

A fine forest tree, 70 to 80 or even 140 feet high. Hard, strong, coarse-grained, heavy. It checks, warps, and does not stand for weather or ground work. The acorn takes two {131} seasons to ripen. Leaves 4 to 8 inches long. Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Texas and Florida.

White Oak (_Quercus alba_)

A grand forest tree, over 100 up to 150 feet high. Wood pale, strong, tough, fine-grained, durable and heavy, valuable timber. Called white from pale color of bark and wood. Leaves 5 to 9 inches long. Acorns ripen in one season. Maine to Minnesota, Florida and Texas.

White Elm or Swamp Elm (_Ulmus Americana_)

A tall, splendid forest tree, commonly 100, occasionally 120 feet high. Wood reddish-brown, hard, strong, tough, very hard to split, coarse, heavy. Soon rots near the ground. Leaves 2 to 5 inches long. Flowers in early spring before leafing. Abundant, Newfoundland and Manitoba to Texas.

Sycamore, Plane Tree, Buttonball or Buttonwood (_Platanus occidentalis_)

One of the largest of our trees; up to 140 feet high; commonly hollow. Little use for weather work. Famous for shedding {132} its bark as well as its leaves; leaves 4 to 9 inches long. Canada to Gulf.

Black or Yellow Locust, Silver Chain (_Robinia pseudacacia_)

A tall forest tree up to 80 feet high; leaves 8 to 14 inches long; leaflets 9 to 19, 1 to 2 inches long, pods 2 to 4 inches long, 4 to 7 seeded. This is the common locust so often seen about old lawns.

Red, Scarlet, Water, or Swamp Maple (_Acer rubrum_)

A fine, tall tree, often over 100 feet high. Noted for its flaming crimson foliage in fall, as well as its red leaf stalks, flowers, and fruit, earlier. Leaves 2 to 6 inches long. Like all the maples it produces sugar, though in this case not much. Western North America.

The sugar maple is a larger, finer tree.

White Ash (_Fraxinus Americana_)

A fine tree on moist soil. Seventy to 80 or even 130 feet high. Yellow in autumn; noted for being last to leaf and first {133} to shed in the forest. Called white for the silvery under sides of the leaves; these are 8 to 12 inches long, each leaflet 3 to 6 inches long. Nova Scotia to Texas.

For a full unbotanical account of one hundred and twenty of our finest trees with their uses as wood, their properties, and the curious and interesting things about them see:

"The Forester's Manual: or Forest Trees That Every Scout Should Know." By Ernest Thompson Seton.

NATIVE WILD ANIMALS

Every scout ought to know the principal wild animals that are found in North America. He need not know them as a naturalist, but as a hunter, as a camper. Here is a brief account of twenty-four of them, and those who wish to know more will find the fullest possible account in "Life Histories of North America," by E. T. Seton. (Scribners, 1909.) These two volumes are found in all large libraries.

Elk or Wapiti (_Cervus canadensis_)

This is smaller than the moose. It stands four to five feet at the shoulder and weighs four hundred to eight hundred pounds. It is known by its rounded horns and the patch of yellowish-white on the rump and tail. At one time this splendid animal was found throughout temperate America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, north to Massachusetts, the Ottawa River, the Peace River, and British Columbia; and south to Georgia, Texas, and southern California. It is now exterminated except in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta; Vancouver Island, Washington, Wyoming and a few localities in the mountain states and in parks where it has been reintroduced.

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The elk of Washington is very dark in color; that of the Southwest is very pale and small.

White-tailed Deer (_Odocoileus virginianus_)

This is the best known of the common deer of America. It is distinguished by the forward bend of the horns, with the snags pointing backward, and by its long tail which is brown or blackish above and pure white below. Its face is gray, its throat white. A fair sized buck weighs two hundred pounds, live weight. A few have been taken of over three hundred and fifty pounds weight. In the Southern states they run much smaller. Several varieties have been described. It was found formerly in all of the timber states east of the Rockies; also in Ontario south of Lake Nipissing, in south Quebec and south New Brunswick. At present it is exterminated in the highly cultivated states of the Middle West, but has spread into northern Ontario, New Brunswick, and Manitoba.

Mule Deer (_Odocoileus hemionus_)

This is the commonest deer of the hill country in the centre of the continent. It is found in the mountains from Mexico to British Columbia and northeasterly Saskatchewan and the Lake of the Woods. It is known by its {135} double-forked horns, its large ears, the dark patch on the forehead, the rest of the face being whitish. Also by its tail which is white with a black bunch on the end. This is a larger deer than the White-tail. There are several varieties of it in the South and West.

Moose (_Alces americanus_)

This is the largest of the deer tribe. It stands five and a half to six and a half feet at the withers and weighs eight hundred to one thousand pounds. It is readily distinguished by its flat horns and pendulous, hairy muzzle. It is found in all the heavily timbered regions of Canada and Alaska and enters the United States in Maine, Adirondacks, Minnesota, Montana, Idaho, and northwestern Wyoming. Those from Alaska are of gigantic stature.

In all our deer the antlers are grown and shed each year, reaching perfection in autumn for the mating season. They are found in the males only, except in the caribou, in which species the females also have small horns.

Antelope (_Antilocapra americana_)

The antelope is famous as the swiftest quadruped native in America. It is a small creature, less than a common deer; a fair-sized buck weighs about one hundred pounds. It is known by its rich buff color with pure white patches, by having only two hoofs on each foot, and by the horns which are of true horn, like those of a goat, but have a snag or branch and are shed each year. In the female the horns are little points about an inch long.

Formerly the antelope abounded on all the high plains from Manitoba to Mexico and west to Oregon and California. It is now reduced to a few straggling bands in the central and wildest parts of the region.

Mountain Goat (_Oreamnos montanus_)

The mountain goat is known at once by its pure white coat of wool and hair, its black horns, and peculiar shape. It is {136} above the size of a common deer; that is, a full grown male weighs two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds; the female a third less. It is famous for its wonderful power as a rock climber and mountaineer. It is found in the higher Rockies, chiefly above timber lines, from central Idaho to Alaska.

Woodchuck (_Marmota monax_)

The common woodchuck is a grizzly brown on the back, chestnut on the breast, blackish on the crown and paws, and whitish on the cheeks. Its short ears and bushy tail are important characteristics. It measures about twenty-four inches of which the tail is five and a half inches and weighs five to ten pounds.

It is found in all the wooded parts of Canada from the Rockies to the Atlantic and south in the eastern states to about 40 degrees latitude.

Beaver (_Castor canadensis_)

The beaver is known by its great size--weighing from twenty-five to fifty pounds--its chestnut color, darker on the crown, its webbed feet, and its broad, flat, naked, scaly tail. The pelt of this animal is a valuable fur. The creature is famous for building dams and digging canals. It was found wherever there was water and timber in North America north of Mexico, but is now exterminated in most highly settled regions.

Muskrat (_Fiber zibethicus_)

The muskrat is about the size of a cat; that is, it is twenty-one inches long, of which the tail is ten inches. In color it somewhat resembles the beaver, but its feet are not conspicuously webbed, its tail is long and flattened vertically, not {137} horizontally. This abundant animal is found throughout North America within the limit of trees wherever there is fresh water. It is the most abundant fur on the market.

Jack Rabbit (_Lepus Californicus_)

The jack-rabbit, famous for its speed and its ears, is known by its size, which about doubles that of a common rabbit and the jet black stripe running from its back into its tail. It is found on the plains from Nebraska to Oregon and south to Mexico. There are several different varieties.

Cottontail (_Sylvilagus floridanus_)

The common eastern cottontail is known from the snowshoe by its smaller feet and its much larger, longer tail, which is gray above, and snow-white underneath. Sometimes the common tame rabbit resembles the cottontail in general color, but the latter has the top of its tail black.

The cottontails do not turn white in winter. They are found in most parts of the United States, entering Canada only in the Ontario peninsula and southern Saskatchewan.

Cougar or Panther (_Felis couguar_)

The cougar has been called the American lion; it is the largest cat in the western world except the jaguar or American {138} tiger. It is known by its unspotted brown coat, its long, heavy tail, and its size. A male cougar weighs one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds; a few have been taken over that. The females are a third smaller. The young in first coat have black spots.

The cougar never attacks man but preys on deer, horses, calves, etc. There are several different forms; one or other of these is (or was) found from Ottawa, Minnesota, and Vancouver Island to Patagonia.

Wild Cat or Bob Cat (_Lynx rufus_)

This is somewhat like the Canada lynx but is more spotted, has smaller feet, and the tail has several dark bars above and is pure white on the under side of the tip.

There are several species of bob cats; they cover the timbered states and enter Canada in Ontario, going north to Lake Simcoe.

Fox (_Vulpes fulvus_)

The fox is about four feet from snout to tail tip; of this the tail is sixteen inches or more; it stands about fifteen inches at the shoulder. It rarely weighs over fifteen pounds and sometimes barely ten. The fox is known by its bright, sandy-red coat, black ears and paws, its white throat, and the white tip at the end of the tail. At a distance the fox's ears and tail look very large. The silver or black fox is a mere color freak with black coat and white tail tip. Red foxes are found throughout the heavily timbered parts of North America north of latitude thirty-five degrees.

Gray Wolf (_Canis occidentalis_)

The wolf is simply a big wild dog with exceptionally strong jaws and general gray color, becoming dirty white on the under part. The wolf is found in all parts of North America, except where settlement has driven it out, and varies in color with locality. The Florida wolves are black, Texan wolves are reddish, and Arctic wolves are white. Wolves weigh from {139} seventy-five to one hundred and twenty pounds and are distinguishable from coyotes by the heavy muzzle and jaws, greater size, and comparatively small tail, which is often held aloft. Wolves nowadays rarely molest man.

Coyote (_Canis latrans_)

The common coyote is like a small and delicate edition of the gray wolf. It is much smaller, weighing only twenty to thirty pounds, and is distinguished by its sharp, fox-like muzzle and large bushy tail, which is rarely raised to the level. In color it is much like the ordinary gray wolf but usually more tinged with yellow. It is found in all the interior country from Wisconsin to Oregon and from Mexico to Great Slave Lake. There are several different varieties. It never attacks man.

Otter (_Lutra canadensis_)

The otter is a large water weasel with close, dense, shiny fur and webbed feet. It is known by its color--dark brown above shaded into dark gray below and white on the cheeks without any markings--and by its size. It is about forty inches long and weighs about twenty pounds. It is found throughout North America within the limit of trees. Its fur is very valuable. It feeds on fish.

Weasel (_Putorius noveboracensis_)

The common weasel of New England is about the size of a big rat; that is, it is sixteen inches long and all brown with the exception of white chin, throat, breast, and paws, and black tip to the tail. In winter it turns white except the tail tip; that does not change.

The whole continent is inhabited by weasels of one kind or another. To the north there is a smaller kind with shorter tail; on the prairies a large kind with a very long tail; but all are of the same general style and habits. A very small one, {140} the least weasel, is only six inches long. It is found chiefly in Canada.

Mink (_Putorius vison_)

The mink is simply a water weasel. It is known by its size, larger than that of a common weasel, as it is twenty-four inches long of which the tail is seven inches; also by its deep brown color all over except the throat and chin which are pure white. Its fur is brown, harder and glossier than that of the marten, and worth about a quarter as much. It does not turn white in the winter. One form or another of mink is found over all the unarid parts of North America from the north limit of trees to the Gulf of Mexico.

Skunk (_Mephitis mephitica_)

The skunk is known at once by its black coat with white stripes, its immense bushy tail tipped with white, and its size, nearly that of a cat. It weighs three to seven pounds. It ranges from Virginia to Hudson Bay. In the Northwest is a larger kind weighing twice as much and with black tip to tail. Various kinds range over the continent south of latitude 55 degrees. It is harmless and beautiful. The smell gun for which it is famous is a liquid musk; this is never used except in the extreme of self-defence.

Badger (_Taxidea taxus_)

The common badger is known by its general whitish-gray color, the black and white markings on the head, the black paws, and the strong claws for digging. It weighs from twelve to twenty-two pounds. That is, it is about the size of a 'coon. {141} It is found in all the prairie and plains country from the Saskatchewan Valley to Mexico and from Wisconsin to the Pacific.

Raccoon (_Procyon lotor_)

The 'coon looks like a small gray bear with a bushy ringed tail and a large black patch on each eye. Its paws look like hands, and it has the full number of five fingers or toes on each extremity. It is found in all wooded regions from Manitoba south to Mexico and from Atlantic to Pacific, except the desert and Rocky Mountain region.

Opossum (_Didelphis marsupialis_)

The opossum is famous for carrying its young in a pouch in front of the body. It may be known by its dirty-white woolly fur, its long, naked, prehensile tail, its hand-like paws, its white face and sharp muzzle, and the naked pink and blue ears. In size it resembles a cat. The 'possum is found from Connecticut to Florida and westerly to California.

Gray-squirrel (_Sciurus carolinensis_)

America is particularly rich in squirrels. Not counting ground-squirrels or chipmunks, we have over seventy-five different forms on this continent. The widest spread is probably the red-squirrel; but the best known in the United States is the common gray-squirrel. Its gray coat white breast, and immense {142} bushy tail are familiar to all eastern children. It is found in most of the hardwood timber east of the Mississippi and south of the Ottawa River and the State of Maine. Most of the nut trees in the woods of this region were planted by the gray-squirrel.

Black Bear (_Ursus americanus_)

This is the common bear of America. It is known at once by its jet black color and brown nose. Its claws are short, rarely over an inch long, and curved, serving better as climbers than do the long claws of the grizzly. Two hundred pounds would be a good sized female, three hundred a male; but Florida black bears have been taken weighing five hundred pounds. Sometimes freaks with cinnamon-brown coats are found.

This bear is found throughout North America wherever there is timber.

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