THE CONDOR 
I Vol. IV 
114 
I refer to the dark primeval redwood forests, especially those a short distance 
back from the coast, which occupy rather broad flattish valleys. Besides the 
redwoods which ‘stand’ remarkably heavy are large Sitka spruces {Picea sitchensis) 
western hemlocks ( Tsuga heterophylla)^ Pacific cedar ( Thxtja plicata), and north of 
the Klamath the Lawson cypr&ss{Chaj7icscyparis lawsoniana), all tending to produce 
a forest of Canadian-like qualities. It is only in favored places that the sun is able 
to penetrate the heavy foliage of these conifers, and among the cool depths of the 
forest we encounter real Canadian conditions. The redwood tree itself is net diag- 
nostic, but the Sitka spruce, western hemlock and Pacific cedar while entering 
Transition — as we would expect from the nature of this zone — are all essentially 
Canadian trees, being common and characteristic in the Sitkan District. When 
fjilly developed they may be taken as marking the limits of the Canadian on the 
coast of northern California. Stunted groves occur sometimes in the coastal areas 
I have indicated as Transition, and occasionally in these groves we encounter 
tiny isolated Canadian islands. Not infrequently such groves were once in the 
interior of the redwood forest, which has long since been removed. The presence 
of a small percent Douglas spruces in the heavy forests indicates Transition qual- 
ities. In this area I found no boreal plants which are not almost equally charact- 
eristic of the cooler Humid Transition. 
Ace7' cvrcinahnn 
AcJilys triphvlla 
Perberis aquipolia 
Berbei'is iiervosa 
Galiiim bareale {local Crescent City') 
Gaultheria shallon 
Hippuriis indgaris 
Lo7iicera hivolucrata 
Ledum glandulosmn {Cresce^it City) 
Menziesia glabella 
Oxalis or eg ana 
Rnbus parvijlorus 
Rubiis spectabilis 
Vaccifiium parvifolimn 
Veratrum californiciim 
Whipplea 7nodesta 
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi\s here purely maritime, as is Pinus contortay and. appar- 
ently, Abies gra^idis. It is not well to insist too strongly on their adequacy for 
tracing Canadian, tho they are all boreal types of great value. 
Several birds emphasize the presence of the Boreal rather decidedly. These 
are Bojiasa unibellus sabbiei (also Transition), Perisoreus obscurus, Merula m. prop- 
i7iqua and Ixoreus 7icevius. Such birds as Colu7nba fasciata, Dryobates v. harrisi, 
Chcetura vazixi, Co7itopus borealis^ Cya/iocitta s. carboiiacea, Zonotrichia 1. 7iuttalliy 
Olbiorchilus h. paciftcus, and Certhia f. occide7itatis, tho ranging freely in to the Humid 
Transition are essentially Canadian in their nature — that is not Austral. Several 
distinctively boreal species of small mammals occur in the heavily forested belt. 
Perhaps none is more striking than the lemming-mouse {Phe7iaco77iys albipes Mer- 
riam). 
To summarize. At present it seems that the Northwest Coast Boreal District, 
in Califoriiia occupies only a very narrow and restricted belt in the form of dilute 
Canadian, south to the vicinity of Cape Mendocino. This belt comprises only the 
densest forests of redwood, Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Pacific cedar and Law- 
son cypress. All the other country including an open belt along the coast, the 
more open river valleys, mutilated districts, as well as the mountains immediately 
to the east of the redwoods belong to the Humid Transition. The Humid 
Transition still farther east merges into the Arid Transition or belt of the yellow 
and sugar pines. 
( To be co7iti7iued.) 
