1912] Swarth: Birds and Mammals from Vancouver Island 113 



To sum up : There seems to be a well-defined area of Tran- 

 sition Zone at the southern extremity of Vancouver Island, 

 extending up the east coast at least to a point ten miles north 

 of Parksville, probably some distance farther. The great bulk 

 of the island elsewhere is Canadian, except that in Alberni 

 Valley, on the west coast, there is a decided infusion of 

 Transition species. The presence of the wolverine, marmot, 

 marten, pine grosbeak, and Oregon jay, at the altitudes where 

 we found them, is perhaps indicative of a recognizable, though 

 restricted, timberline belt of Hudsonian Zone. The ptarmigan 

 is apparently the only species restricted to the Alpine-Arctic 

 mountain tops, though the pipit also may be found to breed there. 



Vancouver Island is but slightly separated from the mainland 

 and has but few species peculiar to it. There are no birds of 

 this class, but the following mammals are not known to occur 

 elsewhere: Microtus tctramcrus. Marmot a vamoiiverensis, and 

 Sorex vancoiwerensis. The marmot, singularly isolated in the 

 center of the island, is a strongly marked species. The shrew 

 and meadow mouse are not so widely different from allied main- 

 land species. Peromyscus maniculatus austerus ranges un- 

 changed on the island and on the adjacent mainland, though 

 singularly enough there are two distinct subspecies known from 

 Saturna and San Juan islands in the separating channel (see 

 Osgood, 1909, pp. 61, 62). In view of the presence of such 

 genera as Mannota, Gulo, Mustela, and Felis, the non-occurrence 

 of Erethizon, Lynx, and Evotomys, as well as several others from 

 the nearby mainland, seems rather remarkable. The presence of 

 the elk on Vancouver is also of interest. 



