72 Tinker, Ornithology of Clay and Palo Alto Counties, la. [jan. 



low, and box-elder have been planted on the uplands. These are 

 so open, however, as to have no appreciable effect on the terrestrial 

 vertebrate fauna, with the exception of the birds, the local distribu- 

 tion of which they are profoundly modifying. 



LOWLAND. 



Lowland Prairie (Meadows). The low, generally poorly drained, 

 areas have in many instances been reserved for hay-land or pasture. 

 In some places the original vegetation has been supplanted by tame 

 grasses; in other places it remains undisturbed. The original 

 vegetation consists of a dense growth of tall grasses and herbaceous 

 forms. (Plate XI, Fig. 2.) 



Swamps {Sloughs). The swamps are mostly devoid of trees and 

 filled with a rank growth of grasses and sedges. The vegetation 

 grows principally in clumps and on hummocks composed of roots 

 and decaying vegetation. They are mostly uninfluenced by man, 

 except as they are drained. 



Shores of Lakes and Streams (Marginal Forests). This habitat 

 supports the only natural timber in the region, and, where undis- 

 turbed, there is always a comparatively dense growth along the 

 shores of the streams and larger lakes. The timber zones are, 

 however, much narrower, and the trees more scrubby, than in the 

 southern parts of the state. In most places at the present time 

 this timber has been largely removed. (Plate XII, Fig. 1.) 



AQUATIC. 



The aquatic life is found in the lakes, ponds, sloughs and streams. 

 The conditions in these habitats are very similar, as the lakes are 

 for the most part shallow and the streams slow-flowing. (Plate 

 XII, Fig. 2.) 



