FAUNAL DIVISIONS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 21 



o 



conditions, are in marked contrast to the more northerly type of tree-life on the 

 uplands. 



The fauna of this alluvial forest is exceedingly characteristic. It represents 

 (together with the Pine Barren type) the great Ocmulgian center of dispersal for 

 reptiles during post-glacial times. 1 Certain species of mammals, as the raccoon, 

 the opossum, and the gray fox are much more abundant here than they are fart her 

 to the north, and some forms are eminently characteristic of its more southern 

 portion (Lepus aquaticus and L. palustris, Neotoma, Sigmodon, etc.). Among 

 birds the ivory-billed woodpecker (C ampephilus) , the ground dove (Chamupelia), 

 two genera of kites (Elanus and Ictinia) and the now almost extinct Carolina 

 paroquet (Conuropsis) are confined to its southern portion. Such genera as 

 Guiraea, Helmitheros, Protonotaria, Icteria, Mimus, ThryoUwrus, Polioptila, 

 Bcelophus, and the two American vultures (Cathartes and Catharisia) do not 

 range north of its limits, while a number of species are restricted in the same way. 



(b) The Marshland Type. — The wide maritime marshes and lagoons that 

 fringe the seaward edge of the Coastal Plain and the reed marshes and tract 

 of sedge grass that extend along the rivers and their estuaries form a habitat 

 for a variety of species. Notable among birds are numerous waders an<l other 

 waterfowl besides certain peculiar forms of sparrows (Passerherbulus) and the 

 marsh wrens (Telmatodytes and Cistothorus) . In winter many birds resort to 

 these marshes from the upland districts and even further north, among them 

 being certain Barren Ground species as the shore lark, snow bunting, longspur, 

 and pipit. The short-eared owl (Asio) is also a denizen of these " flats." Among 

 mammals the muskrat (Fiber) is quite characteristic of the river marshes, al- 

 though its range is widely extended, reaching northward into the coniferous forest 

 wherever a suitable habitat is to be found. 



(c) The Pine Barren Type. — The extensive sandy tracts of the Coastal Plain 

 are covered with a characteristic forest of pines, intermingled with several 

 species of "scrub" oak, and known generally as the "Barrens" or "Pine Barrens" 

 and in the south as the "Pine" or "Piney Woods." The area of Pine Barrens 

 occurring in New Jersey have lately been very ably described by Mr. Witmer 

 Stone who has shown "that we have in the New Jersey and North Carolina Pine 

 Barrens the sand and bog elements of a widespread American Austral flora, which 

 has been largely superseded by a more advanced element of similar origin ovet 

 the rest of the Coastal plain, both elements being richer the farther south we go, 

 while along the western edge of the coastal plain, more especially to the north- 

 ward, a boreal element has spread down over the fall line to a greater or less 

 degree." 2 The typical open pine forest is made up principally of the pitch pine 

 (Pinus rigida) in association with the chestnut oak (Quercus prinus) and the 



scrub oaks {Q. ilicifolia, Q. marylandica, and Q. prinoides). The sassafras 



(S. sassafras), and the white birch (Betula alba) are also characteristic, as well 



1 Brown, ibid. 



* The Plants of Southern New Jersey, by Witmer Stone; in the Annual Report of the New Jeney 

 State Museum for 1910; Trenton, 1911, p. 112. 



