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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



season. The animal life is scanty, 

 armadillos, forest rabbits, and foxes 

 being dominant mammalian types. 



5. GRASSLAND BIOTA (PRAIRIES; LLANOS ; 



CAMPOS ; pampas; pajonales) 



The diverse grassland areas of tropi- 

 cal America are alike in the tall coarse, 

 character of the grasses and in the 

 occurrence with them of numerous 

 shrubs and perennial herbaceous plants. 

 In some localities the vegetation is low 

 and open, as on the limestone mesas of 

 Venezuela; in others it is more luxuriant 

 and more nearly perennial in its activity. 

 Only restricted areas of grassland are 

 without trees. Little distinction can 

 be made between the animal life of the 

 Grassland and Savanna due to the lack 

 of information, particularly as to the 

 smaller forms. 



6. SAVANNA biota (aRID GRASSLAND; 

 GALLERY SAVANNA) 



The Savannas are tropical grasslands 

 occupied by greater or less numbers of 

 trees or shrubs, growing singly or in 

 groups, and being chiefly deciduous ex- 

 cept in the case of the palms. The 

 grasses vary in density and stature, up 

 to 1 m. in height. 



The Savannas of South America are 

 characterized by two or three species of 

 savanna deer and brocket, tayra, skunks, 

 savanna foxes, peccaries, etc. Monkeys 

 live in groves of trees in some localities 

 and may move from grove to grove 

 through bushes when they occur. 



7. SEMI-DESERT BIOTA 



The principal area of Semi-desert is in 

 the lower valley of the Rio Grande and 

 in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas — 

 others occurring on the coast of South 

 America. Thorny deciduous shrubs and 

 small trees make up the principal part 

 of the open vegetation together with 

 evergreen shrubs, cacti, scattered bunch 

 grasses, and herbaceous plants of sea- 

 sonal activity. 



Rats, mice, and ground-squirrels are 

 the dominant animals, though pec- 

 caries, deer, and coyotes also occur. 



8. DESERT BIOTA 



The Desert areas of Tropical America 

 are chiefly in northern Mexico and on 

 the Pacific Coast of South America. 

 They are alike in the low stature and 

 open stand of the vegetation and in the 

 restriction of its activity to the rainy 

 seasons. They differ in the density of 

 their shrubbery and in the relative 

 abundance of succulent and non-succu- 

 lent plants. There are both deciduous 

 and evergreen shrubs; grasses are of 

 local occurrence. 



The Deserts are characterizcvi by 

 numerous reptiles, usually diurnal and 

 conspicuous and numerous nocturnal 

 rodents, particularly^ small ones able to 

 hide. Jack-rabbits and coyotes are 

 common except in extreme deserts. 



The following birds breed in the 

 Mexican Plateau desert: Mearn's quail, 

 Merriam's turkey, chachalaca, black 

 vulture, zone-tailed hawk, Sennett's 

 white-tailed hawk, Mexican black hawk, 

 Mexican goshawk, fiammulated screech 

 owl., prairie falcon, Aplomado falcon, 

 Audubon's caracara, Me..ican screech 

 owl, burrowing owl, ferruginous pygmy 

 owl, thick-billed parrot, grooved-billed 

 ani, road-runner, California cuckoo, 

 cactus woodpecker, Arizona woodpecker, 

 ant-eating woodpecker, Stephen's noor- 

 will, Texas nighthawk, Rivoli lum- 

 mingbird, blue-throated hummingbird, 

 black-chinned hummingbird, Lucifer 

 hummingbird, white-eared hun ning- 

 bird, broad-billed hummingbird, sjissor- 

 tailed flycatcher, Cassin's kingbird, 

 Derby, flycatcher, sulphur-bellied fly- 

 catcher, Mexican crested flycatcher, ash- 

 throated flycatcher, Coues' flycatcher, 

 gray flycatcher, buff-breasted flycatcher, 

 vermilion flycatcher, scorched horned 

 lark, blue-eared jay, Arizona jay, white- 

 necked raven, San Diego red-wing, 

 Scott's oriole, Arkansas goldfinch, Wor- 

 then's sparrow, black-chinned sparrow, 

 desert sparrow, Cassin's sparrow, Scott's 

 sparrow, canyon towhee, Abert's towhee, 

 western blue grosbeak, hepatic tanager, 

 Cooper's tanager, Mexican cliff swallow, 

 phainopepla, Stephen's vireo, least vireo, 

 gray vireo, oUve warbler, Sonora yellow 

 warbler, black-fronted warbler, long- 



