1916] Kellogg: Mammals and Birds of Northern California 339 



narrow canon leading up to a mass of snow-covered peaks gave 

 one the impression of having entered a really wild and rugged 

 country. Below North Fork, or Helena, as the small settlement 

 is called, the Trinity River enters a deep rocky canon. 



Helena is a postoffiee town consisting of a hotel, store and 

 couple of houses, situated at the junction of the Trinity River and 

 its North Fork. The narrow canon of the North Fork opens out 

 enough to make a little farming possible; but the wooded hills rise 

 close on every side, with higher mountains in sight just beyond. 

 The principal trees and shrubs noted in the vicinity were: digger 

 pine, Douglas fir, oaks, cei thus and poison oak. This is consid- 

 ered a good trapping country for such fur-bearing mammals as 

 fox, coon, skunk, civet cat, and, to a less extent, fisher. Larger 

 mammals such as black-tailed deer, wild-cat and mountain lion were 

 reported common. The life-zone at Helena is Upper Sonoran, with 

 many Transition elements intruding from the closely surrounding 

 area of pure Transition. 



We spent two weeks collecting at Helena, and then returned 

 by way of Weaverville back along the stage line as far as Tower 

 House, where we stayed for ten days, returning then to Oakland 

 March 9. 



Tower House is a hotel resort at the lower end of Clear Creek 

 Valley, eighteen miles from Redding. A violent storm which raged 

 during most of our stay kept us from seeing much of the surround- 

 ing country, but it appeared to be a place typical of the worked- 

 out mining region so prevalent in Shasta County. The interests 

 of the people center in the cultivation of small farms and in the 

 cutting of wood. The tree stand is of digger pine and oak, and 

 the chaparral consists of deer brush and manzanita. The zone may- 

 be considered Upper Sonoran. 



We made our second start from Oakland on the evening of 

 June 3, with John Howard as assistant. We left the train a1 Edge 

 wood, Siskiyou County, and went by team to Mayten, twelve miles 

 to the northward in Shasta Valley. 



Mayten is perhaps better known by the name of Big Spring, 

 which is more specifically applied to a wet meadow several acres in 

 extent in the center of Shasta Valley. The spring itself forms 

 one of the sources of the Shasta River. A dam at the head of the 

 spring backs the water up, forming a small lake, along the edge 



