2 University of Michigan 



Lake Michigan and about one mile distant from it. The 

 shores are for the most part high sand bluffs, except on the 

 north where they are low and marshy. The Manistee River, 

 the main water course of the county, enters the lake on the 

 northeast and flows out on the northwest through a deep chan- 

 nel into Lake Michigan. The Little Manistee, a much smaller 

 stream, empties into Lake Alanistee at the southern end. There 

 are very few small lakes or ponds in the vicinity. 



Most of the region studied consists of slightly rolling sand 

 plains high above the surface of the lake. These sand plains 

 were once covered with pine but have been cut over and are 

 growing up to bushes and small second growth timber. Por- 

 tions of the plains are being cleared for farms, but much of 

 the country is still wild land. Large dunes occur along Lake 

 Michigan, and many of these are shifting. 



Perhaps the most striking physiographic feature of the 

 country is the flood-plain of the Alanistee River. For eighteen 

 or twenty miles above Manistee the river has a flood-plain 

 varying in width from one-half to three or four miles through 

 which it has meandered leaving it intersected by hundreds of 

 bayous. The vegetation on the flood-plain is of the low marsh 

 type — willows and other lowland bushes, reeds, rushes, and 

 marsh grass. The bayous are largely choked with water plants. 



The slope from the sand-plain to the flood-plain is for the 

 most part very steep, although in some few places it is more 

 gradual. The vegetation of the slopes is similar to that of the 

 sand plains except that it is more luxuriant. 



The reptile-amphibian fauna of the region, though com- 

 posed of a comparatively large number of species, is not repre- 

 sented by large numbers of individuals. Only a few of the 

 more common species occur in large numl)ers and many are 

 only occasionally met with. As was to be exi)ected, the flood- 



