16 ANIMAL LIFE OF CARLSBAD CAVERN 



on the wide expanse of high level plains. Other charac- 

 teristic woody plants are the two other junipers, nut 

 pine, gray and Vasey shrubby oaks, mountain ma- 

 hogany, small-leaved mulberry, hackberry, Apache 

 plume, catsclaw, skunk bush, service berry, star leaf, 

 silk tassel bush, syringa bush, manzanita, many species 

 of rabbit brush, banana-fruited yucca, and Parry 

 century plant. 



Some of the characteristic Upper Austral species of 

 mammals in the Carlsbad Cave region are the Texas 

 mountain sheep, gray mule deer, rock squirrel, Rowley 

 white-footed mouse, white-throated wood rat, gray fox, 

 and plateau bobcat. 



The conspicuous species of birds of the zone are the 

 Mearns quail, poor-will, horned lark, raven, Wood- 

 house jay, piny on jay, black-chinned sparrow, Scott 

 sparrow, canyon towhee, and Cooper tanager. 



The Upper Austral reptiles are less numerous than 

 are those of the lower zone, but the few characteristic 

 species include the black-tailed rattlesnake, plains 

 rattlesnake, prairie bull snake, western collared lizard, 

 scaly fence lizard, Poinsett scaly lizard, and desert 

 horntoad. 



The higher and less arid Transition zone, colored 

 blue on the map, covers a limited area along the top of 

 the Guadalupe Mountains, some fifteen miles west of 

 the Carlsbad Cave and a larger area of the Sacramento 

 and White Mountain plateau to the northwest. 

 Throughout the state it generally covers the tops of 

 the lower ranges and the middle slopes of the higher 

 ranges from about 7,000 to 8,500 feet on northerly 



