28 THE BIOLOGY OF HARDING COUNTY 



Throated Swifts were noted as nesting in the badlands in the 

 White River formation (Slim Buttes and E. Short Pines). The 

 only common mammal is the pale chipmunk (Eutamas). Bob- 

 cats are fairly plentiful. Formerly blacktailed mule deer and 

 bighorn sheep could be found in the larger badland areas. 



(c) The badland life displays several peculiarities: The 

 plants are mainly long-lived, perennial, chiefly compositiaceous, 

 shrubs possessing powerful tap and anchor roots and narrow and 

 pubescent leaves. All shrubs offer great resistance to erosion, 

 under-cutting and slumping. They are also conservative, late 

 flowering, and present to cattle very little edible stuff. Prac- 

 tically every species has yellow flowers. In addition to these 

 perennials there are various annuals which thrive during moist 

 seasons on the moister alluvial flats. 



The animals are uniformly grayish in coloration with the 

 exception of the bat and swifts. The crevices and eavelets furnish 

 homes for the chipmunk, bat, bob cat, Say's Phoebe, Prairie Fal- 

 con, Rock Wren, etc. The Cliff Swallow and White-throated 

 Swift find the cliffs suitable for nesting sites. Several of the 

 mammals are notable jumpers (Bighorn sheep and mule or black- 

 tailed deer). 



6. SANDY AREAS 



In this region most of the sand is found in areas covered by 

 Morton Sandy Loam which covers a considerable portion of cen- 

 tral and southeastern Harding County and northwestern Perkins 

 County. (See soil map). Sandhills or dunes are most extensively 

 developed locally southeast of Buffalo in central Harding county. 

 Here and there along the river valleys sandy stretches occur and 

 then in small areas sand is heaped into dunes. 



(a) Conditions: Though there is no more rainfall in the 

 sand-hills than in the surrounding associations there usually is, 

 except for small bare batches, much more vegetation. This is due 

 to the fact that the sand at once absorbs any rainfall. For a short 

 time after showers the evaporation is very rapid and if this were 

 to continue long this absorbed moisture would soon disappear. 

 However, evaporation from the surface layers of the wet sand 

 soon becomes more rapid than water can be supplied from below 

 by capillary action. . Consequently the capillary tubes become 

 broken and evaporation stops long before any considerable amount 



