36 DEPARTMENTAL EEPOETS. 



ciK'c. and Wel)l)('i- hikes. Several iiiiportaiit problems in the distri- 

 biiliou of iiiaiiiiuals in this section remain to be worked out, and 

 several zone lines will be run — one through Beckwith Pass, another 

 from Tahoe to Plaoerville, and still another through the Yosemite 

 A'aUey and across the range to Mono Lake. Work has now been 

 continued in California for several seasons, and much of the north- 

 ern and central part of the State has been covered, but the compli- 

 cated character of the topography renders progress necessarily slo^A^ 

 'J'lic difticultj' is further increased by inadequate appropriations, which 

 necessitate doing the work piecemeal, and consequently extending it 

 over several years. 



In Texas special attention was given to the southern half of the 

 State, and more i^articularly to the region along the Gulf coast from 

 Corpus Christi to Brownsville and west to the lower Rio Grande below 

 Laredo. This work was intrusted to Mr. Vernon Bailej^ and Mr. H. C. 

 Oberholser, who collected data for more accurately outlining the life 

 zones in this part of the State. Several points along the line of the 

 Southern Pacific Railroad west of San Antonio were also visited. 

 In this region, as Avell as at Henrietta, in north-central Texas, Mr. 

 Oberholser devoted considerable time to securing information respect- 

 ing the ranges of certain mammals, and also made some experiments 

 in destroying prairie dogs by various methods. 



The plans for work in Alaska last summer were successfully carried 

 out, and a report on the biological reconnoissance of the Yukon River 

 is now in jsress. Through the liberality of ^Iv. Edward H. Harriman, 

 of New York, the Division is fortunately able to continue its investi- 

 gations along the Alaska coast this season, thereby supplementing 

 the work done in 1899. Mr. W. II. Osgood, Avho conducted the party 

 down the Yukon last summer, has been detailed to visit several jjoints 

 in British Columbia and Alaska, including the Queen Charlotte 

 Islands, B. C, Cook Inlet, Kadiak, Unalaska, and, if possible, some 

 of the Aleutian Islands. The investigations of last summer brought 

 to light certain problems which require special attention and also 

 showed the localities which can be most profitably" worked. While 

 the in-esent plans do not contemplate such detailed work as is being 

 done in California and other parts of the United States, still the jjopu- 

 lar interest in Alaska demands that as much information as possible 

 on the natural history of the Teri-itory be made generalh' available. 



A more careful study of the distribution of species found in the 

 boreal zone along our northern border has long been needed ; but in 

 order to carry on this investigation successfully it is necessary to 

 revisit some of the points at which the species were originally col- 

 lected, and also to study their distril)ution in the provinces of Canada 

 immediately adjoining the Northern United States. Plans for this 

 work have been under consideration for several years, l)ut it has not 

 been possible to cany them out until this season. Througii the cor- 

 dial cooperation of the commissioner of the Hudson Bay Company, 

 arrangements were made for sending a small party in charge of Mr. 

 Edward A. Preble to the region about the southern end of Hudson 

 Bay. The party left Winnipeg, Manitoba, about June 15 under 

 instructions to work northward and westAvard to Fort Churchill, or 

 as far as the conditions of travel or the short season would permit. 

 jNIany facts of interest regarding tlie disti'ibution of mammals, birds, 

 and trees which occur in this region and in the Northern States about 

 the Great Lakes are sure to be brought to light as a result of this 

 expedition. 



