TRANSACTIONS OF WAGNER 

 40 



THE LIFE FEATURES OF THE COASTAL PLAIN AND THE PIEDMONT 



are covered for the most part by a characteristic growth of pines, comprising 

 a number of different species. In the low-lying, wet districts, along bays and 

 water courses, the white cedar forms characteristic swampy jungles, and from 

 the Chesapeake southward the bald cypress is a conspicuous tree of the flood 

 lands. 



What particularly interests us in this distribution of forest trees is the fact 

 that this more southern type of woodland prevails in the district immediately 

 south of Philadelphia, i. e.,m the Coastal Plain area, while on the uplands north 

 of the city it is far less conspicuous. This is notably the case with the Sweet- 

 Gum (Liguidambar) , a tree which in this region is on its northern Hmit and is 

 more or less restricted to the Coastal Plain. The same may be said to be true of 

 the Willow Oak {Quercus phellos), of the Pepper-bush {Clethra), and of the 

 Swamp Magnolia or Bay {Magnolia virginiana) . It is with this particular type of 

 woodland that the Carolinian fauna is associated. In the Choptank Swamp, 

 which extends to the southern border of Delaware, certain birds of decidedly 

 austral distribution occur regularly during the breeding season, and this lo- 

 cality is the northeastern limit of their range. Among these truly Gulf coastal 

 species are the Yellow-throated, Prothonotary, and Caerulean Warblers, the 

 Gnatcatcher, the Brown-headed Nuthatch, Louisiana Water-thrush, Summer 

 Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, and Red-belhed Woodpecker. These are all birds 

 of the southern and the interior forests. The southern portion of New Jersey is 

 interesting as being the northern extension of the Tertiary sands of the Coastal 

 Plain and is covered by a characteristic pine woodland quite similar in aspect 

 to that which prevails throughout the south. These "pine barrens" are inter- 

 spersed with the ''cedar swamps" already mentioned, and the whole region 

 harbors certain characteristic species of birds, one of which is curiously related 

 to a scrub oak and pine woodland. This is the Httle Prairie Warbler {Den- 

 droica discolor) that is everywhere distributed, more or less southerly, in rela- 

 tion to such areas. It is almost entirely absent during the breeding season 

 on the western side of the Delaware, where the alluvial type of woodland pre- 

 vails. Conversely, the Worm-eating Warbler is never found in the pine barren 

 district on the New Jersey side. This is an excellent illustration of distribution 

 in relation to habitat. 



It is this question of "habitat" on which much of the problems of the 

 distribution of animals in general depends. Faunas may thus be consid- 

 ered from two standpoints — geographic and ecologic. In any given area of 

 varied physiography and topography the animal life will be distributed in rela- 



