REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 127 



several areas, and the species of plants and animals characterizing: 

 them. A full list of mammals of the State, with copious notes on 

 habits, distribution, and economic relations, forms a part of the 

 report. 



A monograph of the wood rats of the genus Neotoma has been 

 recently pubHshed as No. 31 of North American Fauna. Locally 

 these animals do considerable damage, and a single individual in 

 Alameda County, Cal., has been found by the Public Health and 

 Marine-Hospital Service to be infected with plague, so that a 

 knowledge of the distribution and habits of these mammals becomes 

 doubly important. 



A detailed sui"vey of Wyoming, with special relation to its native 

 mammals, birds, and distribution areas, is now being carried on 

 as rapidly as possible, beginning with the sections in the Wind 

 River and Bighorn valle^^s which are covered by the reclamation 

 projects. The extent of the Upper Sonoran zone in these valleys, 

 or the zone of corn and apples, and the crops best adapted to it,, 

 have been subjects of inquiry on the part of the Reclamation Serv- 

 ice and of prospective settlers. At the request of the Director of 

 the Reclamation Service a provisional report has been furnished 

 on the life zones and crop adaptations in the Shoshone Project 

 area, but more definite information is desired, and field work has 

 been undertaken in order to define accurately the zone boundaries. 



A few months of field work in New Mexico practically finished 

 the sun^ey of that territory, and a report on its life zones, mammals, 

 and birds is now being prepared. 



Work was continued in northern Arizona and southwestern Utah, 

 but considerable field work is still necessary before the survey of 

 these States can be completed. 



The ofRce work of mapping ranges of species of birds and mam- 

 mals has been pushed vigorously, and the distribution of a large 

 percentage of the mammals and birds of the United States has 

 been mapped. These maps are constantly in use in planning field 

 work, in investigations of beneficial or injurious species, and in other 

 lines of work. 



A large amount of information on the migration and distribution of 

 North American birds has been gathered and tabulated for future 

 reference. Tliis information is in constant use in various reports 

 and as a guide in formulating protective regulations for game and 

 other useful birds and mammals. 



Considerable field work has been done in the lower Mssissippi 

 Valley States, and a report on their faunal areas, birds, and mam- 

 mals ^vill be published as soon as possible after completion of the 

 field work. 



