Bird Life of North Dakota 9 



wet seasons. Formerly these coulees and the chain of lakes connected by 

 them emptied considerable water into Devils Lake through Mauvaise Coulee 

 and by several converging coulees 'into both the eastern and western arms 

 of Stump Lake. The headwaters of Mauvaise Coulee, the most important 

 drainage line of the basin, were gathered beyond the international boundary 

 line, and in its course southward it drained the Sweetwater chain of lakes 

 by Lake Irvine, through which it passed, and entered Mauvaise Bay of 

 Devils Lake as a large and permanent stream. Today no surface streams 

 flow into either Devils Lake or Stump Lake except very minor flows during 

 spring thaws and after excessive falls of rain. The waters of Devils and 

 Stump lakes are decidedly alkaline, as are those of nearly all the other 

 lakes in the general region. The notable exceptions are Sweetwater, Court, 

 and Fort Totten lakes, which are fresh. 



Devils Lake is characterized by broad, shallow and irregular bays con- 

 nected by "narrows." On the north 'and south sides of Devils Lake, near 

 the middle, is considerable hardwood timber. The woods come close to the 

 lake and on the southern side are limited chiefly to the northern slopes of 

 Sully's Hill. 



This central area, the Devils-Stump Lake region, furnishes a very dis- 

 tinctive habitat and is occupied as a breeding ground by thousands of water- 

 loving birds. Some of the more characteristic are the double-crested cormo- 

 rant, grebes, common and black terns, Franklin's gull, white-winged scoter, 

 pintail, redhead, goldeneye, blue-winged teal, mallard, and baldpate. The 

 upland plover was formerly common, as is now the purple martin, tree swal- 

 low. Wilson phalarope, and belted piping plover. 



South from this central area the Drift-Prairie is contracted to less than 

 one-half of its northern width, land contains the Sheyenne and James rivers 

 with their valleys. These different areas give a great variety of habitats 

 and all have some characteristic breeding birds. 



The Great Plains 



On the western border of the Drift-Prairie Plain rises the similar and 

 even more abrupt escarpment of the Great Plains plateau known as the 

 Coteau du Missouri. This plateau occupies fully one-half of the state and 

 its irregular surface varies in elevation from 1,800 to 2,700 feet above the 

 sea. The relief is due to the eft'ects of erosion, and only in the eastern sec- 

 tion has the surface resulted from ice action. By far the most interesting 

 feature of the unglaciated region is the famous Bad Lands, typically devel- 

 oped along the Little Missouri. The true Bad Lands, that is, the very rough 

 areas that are difficult to travel through, are confined to the vicinity of 

 streams. Back from these for six miles the land is a rolling plain and is 

 not "bad." 



The soft cretaceous clays and sands have been carved by running water 

 into a multitude of steep-sided hills, isolated buttes and an endless variety 

 of fantastic forms. The erosion is greatly facilitated by the sparseness of 



