NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



259 



and this region is a portion of the Mis- 

 souri Coteau. 



At the southeastern corner of the 

 province, and north along the eastern 

 boundary to the 52nd parallel, the 

 average elevation is 1700 ft., and ascends 

 to about 2500 ft. in the Porcupine Hills 

 between the 52nd and 53d parallels. 

 From this point the descent is fairly 

 rapid until a low point of 870 ft. is 

 reached where the Saskatchewan River 

 crosses the boundary. North of this 

 point, the ascent is gradual to about 

 1250 ft. at the northeast corner. Lake 

 Athabasca, in the northwest corner, 

 has a level of 700 ft., the lowest point 

 in the province. Numerous hills of 

 glacial origin occur in various parts of 

 the province, and rise in some cases 

 nearly a thousand feet above the sur- 

 rounding territory. 



The chief rivers drain into Hudson 

 Bay. The Qu'Appelle, running east- 

 ward at about 50° 30' north latitude, is 

 a tributary of the Assiniboine River 

 which joins the Red at Winnipeg. The 

 Saskatchewan has two great branches 

 which rise in the Rocky Mountains 

 west of Alberta. The Churchill River, 

 crossing the Province still farther north, 

 drains a great part of the northern 

 forest, and has its source in central 

 Alberta. Among the lesser rivers, two 

 of special interest are (1) Frenchman 

 River, arising in the Cypress Hills, 

 which empties into the Gulf of Mexico, 

 via the Missouri; and (2) Clearwater, a 

 strong tributary of the Athabasca, 

 that drains to the Arctic Ocean. 



The direction of the isothermal lines 

 shows markedly the influences of the 

 Rocky Mts., and of Hudson Bay, for 

 they have a well-defined dip from north- 

 east to southwest. The range of tem- 

 perature is great, occasionally reaching 

 above 90° in summer, and below -50° in 

 winter. 



The annual rainfall in the southwest 

 is from 10 to 13 in. in the forested north- 

 ern half, it is frequently more than 20 in. 



South of a line drawn across the 

 Province from 52° 30' on the western 

 boundary to 51° 45' on the eastern, the 



vegetation is typically that of the 

 prairies, with few trees or none, and with 

 grasses predominating. (In its western 

 part, a continuation of the plains of 

 Alberta, page 254; toward the east, 

 passes into the true prairie. North of 

 this line, a belt perhaps 50 to 75 mi. 

 wide is called "the park country," and 

 in this belt, dense thickets of aspen and 

 willow are interspersed with typical 

 grassy plains.) (The transition zone 

 of poplar-savanna; see Alberta, page 

 255, and Manitoba, page 263.) 



The forested area includes the rest 

 of the Province (for description, see 

 northern coniferous forest of Alberta, 

 page 255, and Manitoba, page 264). 

 North of a line drawn through the south- 

 west extremities of Athabasca, Cree, 

 Reindeer Lakes, the forest becomes 

 thin, and at the extreme northeast 

 corner of the Province, almost vanishes 

 into the Barren Grounds (see Manitoba, 

 page 264). 



Aside from considerable collecting of 

 plants, insects, and birds in the prairie 

 region, a very little collecting of birds 

 in the north by numerous naturalists, 

 and some work on life histories of 

 insects by Prof. A. E. Cameron of the 

 University of Saskatchewan, the prov- 

 ince is virgin territory to the naturalist. 

 As for bird life, the southwest corner 

 has been described by F. M. Chapman 

 in Camps and Cruises, and by A. C. Bent 

 in the Auk for 1907 and 1908. P. A. 

 Taverner of the Victoria Museum, 

 Ottawa, Mr. H. H. Mitchell, Provincial 

 Naturalist, Regina, Sask. and others, 

 have collected birds in many parts of 

 the prairies. Still earlier work in this 

 field is well digested in Macoun's Cata- 

 logue of Canadian Birds. Cap't, Angus 

 Buchanan, whose book on his 1914 trip 

 through northern Saskatchewan has 

 been published by John Lane, collected 

 birds as he travelled, and his collection 

 has been described by J. H. Fleming 

 in the Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



A rich hunting-ground for the natural- 

 ist is offered in the prairie pools. At 

 Saskatoon, within 5-minute walk of the 

 biological laboratories of the University, 



