NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



405 



green forest. The elk (Cervus canaden- 

 sis), which has long been exterminated, 

 was probably characteristic of the 

 deciduous forest area. 



In addition to the mammals listed 

 above as typical and distinct for the 

 deciduous forest the following generally 

 distributed mammals occurred: meadow 

 vole, common mole, star-nosed mole, 

 short-tailed shrew, eastern cotton-tail 

 rabbit, gray fox, red fox, beaver, otter, 

 raccoon, mink, bob-cat, Virginia deer 

 and black bear. 



The birds characteristically limited 

 to the deciduous forest area for their 

 breeding are quite few. The southern 

 robin is one of these. 



Some of the breeding species occurring 

 here but found also on the Coastal 

 Plain or Southeastern Mesophytic Ever- 

 green forest are as follows: red-billed 

 woodpecker, orchard oriole, cardinal, 

 summer tanager, Louisiana water- 

 thrush, Kentucky warbler, hooded warb- 

 ler, yellow-breasted chat, Carolina wren, 

 tufted titmouse, Carolina chickadee, 

 and blue-gray gnatcatcher. 



Species breeding in the deciduous 

 forest area but also found in the North- 

 eastern Evergreen Deciduous Transition 

 forest, are as follows : ruby-throated hum- 

 ming bird, Baltimore oriole, cliff swallow, 

 and the white-breasted nuthatch. 



The insect fauna of the Deciduous for- 

 est region was probably that typical of 

 deciduous forests in general. There 

 were no marshes, bogs or sand dunes in 

 this area so that the insects found 

 inhabiting such places were absent. 

 Streams, many of them with consider- 

 able fall, are numerous. There were 

 probably many small clearings in the 

 forests which would have a fauna differ- 

 ent from the solid forest. 



Northern Mesophytic Evergreen Forest 



The Northern Mesophytic Evergreen 

 forest area includes within its boundaries 

 all of Garrett County, except a small 

 corner in the extreme northwestern 

 part. This area extends north and 

 south as a narrow belt across the western 

 one-third of Pennsylvania, Garrett 



County in Maryland and south across 

 West Virginia, including a small spot in 

 Virginia. This region was characterized 

 throughout by a pure or nearly pure 

 stand of needle-leaved evergreen trees, 

 among which deciduous trees were often 

 present either as minor components of 

 the forest or else as trees of lower 

 stature. In the eastern portion the 

 white pine (Pinus strobus), the hemlock 

 (Tsuga canadensis), the jack pine (Pinus 

 banksiana), and the balsam fir (Abies 

 balsamea) were among the most common. 

 White oak and white pines were formerly 

 present in pure stands. 



The mammals characteristic of this 

 region are the smoky shrew (Sorex 

 fumeus), the snowshoe hare (Lepus 

 americanus virginianus}, the cloudland 

 deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus 

 nubiterrae) , the red squirrel (Scuirus 

 hudsonicus loquax), and the hairy-tailed 

 mole (Parascalops breweri). 



Other mammals found in this region 

 and also common in the other regions of 

 the state are the meadow vole, eastern 

 cotton-tail rabbit, beaver, otter, rac- 

 coon, mink, Virginia deer, black bear, 

 red fox, bob-cat, short-tailed shrew, 

 star-nosed mole, and the common mole. 



Among the birds mainly restricted 

 to the Northern Mesophytic Evergreen 

 forest area are two, the Carolina junco, 

 and Cairn's warbler. 



Characteristic birds found as migrants 

 throughout the state are the magnolia 

 warbler, Blackburnian warbler, black- 

 throated green warbler, water-thrush, 

 Canadian warbler, red-breasted nut- 

 hatch, brown creeper, and the veery. 



Northeastern Evergreen-Deciduous 

 Transition Forest 



This region lies as a narrow belt to the 

 west of the Northern Mesophytic Ever- 

 green forest and is about one-third its 

 width. It includes only a small portion 

 of the extreme northwest corner of 

 Garrett County. It is a region in which 

 the trees of the deciduous forest area to 

 the west and those of the eastern portion 

 of the Northern Mesophytic Evergreen 

 forest were intermingled in nearly equal 



