324 THE TUNDRAS AND STEPPES OF PREHISTORIC EUROPE. 



of dwarf trees and scrub, chiefly birch, willow, juniper, and conifers, 

 not infrequently appear along the southern margin of the tundras. 



3. The most characteristic animal forms are lemmings, arctic fox, 

 arctic hare, musk ox, and reindeer. Of common occurrence also are 

 various voles, ermine, and weasel. Their range, however, is hardly so 

 far north, and they go much farther south. So again the wolf, the 

 ubiquitous common fox, and the brown bear, are frequent visitants 

 rather than common denizens of the tnndras. 



4. In summer many of the animals just named push farther north, 

 while swarms of birds (especially water birds) visit every part of the 

 treeless zone. 



5. Lastly, in winter, storms of snow and dust are common. 



We may now take a similar brief glance at the steppe lands of Europe 

 and Asia. The regions included under this head show considerable 

 variety. Some steppes are mere desert wastes while others are fertile 

 tracts capable of high cultivation. Many are low plains, others are 

 elevated plateaus, the former having a subarctic, the latter a subtrop- 

 ical climate; and between low and high steppes many gradations are 

 met with. All are more or less characterized by an extreme range 

 of temperature. The steppes with which we are at present concerned, 

 however, are the generally low grassy plains which Professor Kehring 

 designates the subarctic steppes. These occupy wide areas in south- 

 east Russia and southwest Siberia, extending between the middle course 

 of the Volga and that of the Irtysch. It is quite a mistake to suppose 

 that these steppes are throughout all their extent treeless plains. In 

 many places chains and irregular groups of hills diversify the surface, 

 while here and there trees of various kinds, such as pines, larches, 

 birches, oaks, limes, alders, willows, wild apples, and others, are more 

 or less plentiful. Many of the woods are mere oases, extending along 

 the banks of rivers and streams, or clustering around the margins of 

 fresh-water lakes. In southeast Russia the boundary between the 

 steppes and the forest lands is very irregular — the two regions con- 

 stantly interosculate. 



The climate of these subarctic steppes is quite continental, the sum- 

 mer being relatively warm and the winter relatively cold. The average 

 temperature in January hardly exceeds 3° F. while that of July is at 

 least 70°. Again, the rainfall is very uncertain. In some years it is 

 excessive, in others meager > while occasionally it altogether fails. With 

 the approach of spring vegetation rapidly develops, becoming rank 

 and luxuriant, but with the heat of summer it quickly fades and withers 

 away. Severe frost, and frequently heavy snowstorms, characterize 

 the winter. In such areas as are more or less wooded the climate is 

 somewhat less continental, the summers being relatively less dry and 

 the winters not so cold. But even in those wooded regions the seasons 

 are strongly contrasted. In general, we may say the steppe lands in 

 summer are practically rainless. The ground is thus parched and burnt 



