OCT., 1900.] FAUNAL DISTRICTS. 9 



hahamifera) are very common; they share the river bottom with wil- 

 lows and extend well up the steep canj^on sides, where the}' occupy 

 larj^e areas adjacent to the pines, tirs, and spruces. Skaj^way is 

 surrounded I)}' high mountains, and its fauna is limited chietly by 

 altitude. Glacier Station, 1-1 miles distant, and about 1,900 feet 

 higher, is near the }>oundary between the Lynn Canal and White Pass 

 districts. The station is situated on the side of a wooded gulch through 

 which a fork of Skagwaj' River flows. The immediate vicinity is 

 similar to the country aljout Skagway, but shows the influence of the 

 Hudsonian zone of the White Pass district, which begins only a short 

 distance beyond. On either side of the gulch are glaciated granite 

 clift's supporting an irregularly distributed vegetation, chiefly groves 

 of poplars and dense thickets of alders, while in the bottom of the 

 gulch conifers are the prevailing trees. The most common trees and 

 shrubs are lodgepole pines [Pinus 'laurrayanri)^ alpine firs {Ahiea 

 las'wcariKt)^ tidewater spruces [Picea sitc/umsis), poplars or aspens 

 {Popuhos tvemnloides and Populics halsamiferd)^ alders {Ahius sinuata), 

 dwarf birches {Betula glandulosa)^ currants {Pibes laxijlorxim), and 

 huckleberries ( Yacchiium ovalifoUum). The black crowberry {Empe- 

 truni nigrum) and several other heather-like plants occur in the gulch 

 but are more common higher up. Along the trickling streams are 

 man}' ferns and mosses, as well as occasional patches of the lichen 

 known as 'reindeer moss.' Among the mammals of this region are 

 the Streator shrew {Soi'ex ]). str'eatori), the Bangs white-footed mouse 

 {Peromyscus 07'eas), the Dawson red-backed mouse {Evokmiys dawsoni)^ 

 the long-tailed vole {Mlcrotus mord^ix)^ and the red squirrel {Sciurus 

 h. petulans). Characteristic birds are the sooty song sparrow {Melo- 

 spiza m. rufina), the Townsend fox sparrow {Passerella i. tmvnsendl)^ 

 the Oregon snowbird {Junco h. oregonus), and the varied thrush {IFcs- 

 pet'ocicJda ncBvia). 



White Pass district. — The summits of the mountains that rise 

 directl}' east of Skagwa}' are covered with glaciers and perpetual 

 snow, which feed numerous streams that flow down between mass- 

 ive walls of granite. The sides of the wider canyons have been 

 smoothed and scored hy glaciation, and the smaller and more recent 

 ones are but jagged rock-bound chasms. These unfavorable conditions 

 cause a rapid change in the character of the plant and animal life, and 

 from Glacier to the summit of White Pass the zones are Hudsonian 

 and Arctic-alpine. A few hundred feet abovfe Glacier the trees become 

 smaller and more scattered, and at Summit only the alpine juniper 

 {JxLnip>eru^'< nana)., the bearl^erry {Arctostaphylos uvaimsi), and depau- 

 perate alpine hemlocks {Tsuga mertensiana) occur. Heathers and 

 mosses prevail and large areas of reindeer moss arc conspicuous. 

 For some distance on the summit of White Pass (Plate II, fig. 1) the 

 elevation and phj^siograph}' are nuich the same; the country- is slightly 



