ORIGINAL BIOTA OF THE AMERICAS 



73 



kingfisher, Texas woodpecker, cactus 

 woodpecker, goldeu-fronted woodpecker, 

 Stephens' poor-will, Merril's parauque, 

 Texas nighthawk, Reiffer's humming- 

 bird, buff-bellied hummingbird. Couch's 

 kingbird, scissor-tailed flycatcher, Mex- 

 ican crested flycatcher, Derby fly- 

 catcher, vermilion flycatcher, beardless 

 flycatcher, Texas horned lark, green 

 jay, white-necked raven, red-eyed cow- 

 bird. Vera Cruz red-wing, Rio Grande 

 meadowlark, Audubon's oriole, Ben- 

 nett's oriole, Bullock's oriole, great- 

 tailed grackle, house finch, Arkansas 

 goldfinch, Texas seaside sparrow, west- 

 ern lark sparrow, black-throated spar- 

 row, botteri sparrow, Cassin's sparrow, 

 Texas sparrow, gray-tailed cardinal, 

 Texas pyrrhuloxia, western blue gros- 

 beak, varied bunting, painted bunting, 

 Sharpe's seedeater, lesser cliff swallow, 

 gray-breasted martin, rough-winged 

 swallow, phainopepla, white-rumped 

 shrike, small white-eyed vireo, Texas 

 vireo, Sennett's warbler, Florida yellow- 

 throat, Rio Grande yellow-throat, west- 

 ern mockingbird, Sennett's thrasher, 

 curve-billed thrasher, cactus wren, lo- 

 mita wren, black-crested tit-mouse, 

 verdin, and plumbeous gnatcatcher. 



Breeding birds preferring a moist 

 habitat, generally near a stream or 

 swamp, include the following: snowy 

 plover, Wilson's plover, and marsh 

 hawk. 



16. BROAD THICK-LEAVED EVERGREEN 

 SEMI-DESERT BIOTA (WINTER RAIN 

 region) (pacific SEMI-DESERT, 



SHREVE; CALIFORNIA CHAPARRAL, AND 

 WOODLANDS OF MEDITERRANEAN TYPE, 

 hardy; COASTAL CHAPARRAL AND PINE- 

 OAK WOODLAND IN PART, CLEMENTS) 



' 'A region of great topographic diversi- 

 ty in which the vegetation varies locally 

 from encinal (open oak forest, chiefly 

 evergreen), through chaparral (a closed 

 scrub of evergreen shrubs), to desert 

 (ephemeral herbaceous plants, small 

 perennials, local succulents). . . . 

 The principal chaparral plants are 

 chamiso {Adenostoma fasciculatum) and 

 species of manzanita (Arctostaphylos)." 



The mammals include black-tailed 

 deer (Odocoileus columbianus scaphiolus), 

 coyote {Canis ochropus), and black- 

 tailed jackrabbit (Lepus calif or niciis 

 subspp.). 



17. MAGNOLIA, BAY, HOLLY, "hAM- 



MOCKS' (temperate 



RAIN forest) 



Various correspondents contend that 

 there is no forest of this type in the 

 Americas. Various others have mapped 

 the areas in the states adjacent to the 

 Gulf of Mexico, especially Florida, as 

 of this type. Pittier is inclined to con- 

 sider some of the South American 

 forests in high altitude as coming under 

 Schimper's definition. From diagrams 

 of the distribution of temperature and 

 rainfall in the Australian and Asiatic 

 areas commonly called temperate rain 

 forest localities, there is evidently no 

 climatic reason why this type should not 

 occur in some locahties in the southern 

 states. The botanical objections to 

 considering the magnolia, bay, holly 

 "hammocks" temperate rain forest 

 seems to be the sclerophyll character 

 of the leaves. This may be another 

 case where more consideration of the 

 animals and lower plants should be 

 allowed to dictate. So far as the ani- 

 mals living under the forest cover are 

 concerned the failure of the leaves to 

 fall is more important than the char- 

 acter of their covering. For lists of 

 animals see under the Florida account, 

 page 427. 



18. TROPICAL HAMMOCKS (SUBTROPICAL 

 RAIN forest) 



Some small areas in southeastern 

 Florida have sufficient rainfall correctly 

 distributed to give a tropical rain forest. 

 Some areas of this type have reached a 

 climax which may be considered as a 

 less luxuriant type of rain forest. Their 

 small size does not permit tlieni to 

 afford shelter to the larger tropical 

 animals but the biota is generally taxo- 

 nomically related to tiie biota of the 

 West Indies. 



