21 
PRAIRIE PROVINCES 
The Great Plains area along the International Boundary in southern 
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba promised another fruitful field for 
intensive collecting. Although the climatic conditions in this area are 
fairly uniform, except for local variations in aridity, and occasional eleva- 
tions, as Cypress hills, Wood mountain, and Turtle mountains, there are 
some local differences due to the wide extent of territory, with eastern 
influences causing intergradation in the Manitoba sector and Rocky 
Mountain influences in the Alberta sector. Also, as in British Columbia, 
there are certain southern species that reach the northern limit of their ranges 
in the vicinity of the International Boundary. As much of this region is 
thinly settled and devoted largely to grazing, there are many points of 
interest that are rather remote from railway service, and moving by rail 
involves many roundabout and time-consuming detours, so that it was 
decided to conduct this survey by motor car. Mr. J. D. Soper, who had 
the previous year completed a two-year expedition to Baffin island, for 
the museum, was re-engaged. He was allowed the use of a half-ton truck 
and used it with great success during the season, demonstrating the efficiency 
and economy of using modern methods of transportation in museum field 
work. All of our field men in the past have laboured under the incon- 
venience of passing by many likely-looking spots for biological field work, 
seen from train windows, where they were unable to stop without a return 
trip and hampered by the difficulty of arranging for local transportation 
into the country and return. By using a motor car, all attractive places 
on the route may be explored, and if conditions do not prove fruitful, 
the trip may be continued without further delay. This method brings 
back some of the advantages of the old ox-team and covered-wagon route 
surveys, in the way of examining the ground thoroughly, with the ad- 
vantage of greater speed. The method of surveys by rail has some ad- 
vantages, but the jumps are too long, and the territory along the right-of- 
way is generally more thickly settled. The advantages of motor car 
transportation wherever there are passable roads, are very evident in this 
work. 
Mr. Soper started work at Munson about June 1, and was somewhat 
delayed by unseasonable and unusually heavy rains and compelled to 
make some detours. He took some specimens at Coleman, Alberta, from 
June 14 to June 17, and at Burrnis June 18 to 21. Moving south and east 
he camped on Milk river, Alberta, longitude 112° 25' west, from June 24 
to July 2; north of Sweet Grass hills from July 6 to July 12; Deer creek 
from July 13 to July 19; Pend d’Oreille July 20; Eagle butte from July 22 
to July 30; Lodge creek from August 1 to August 8. The early part of 
this work was in the dry, open plains country just north of the Montana 
border, and the latter part of July was spent on the partly wooded escarp- 
ment of the western edge of Cypress hills. Proceeding east, he began 
work in Saskatchewan on August 9 at Battle creek, where he remained 
until August 12, working also at Fort Walsh. He remained at East End, 
Saskatchewan, east of Cypress hills, from August 20 to August 30; at Val 
Marie, near Frenchman river, from August 28 to September 3; making a 
special effort to investigate reported occurrences of the black-tailed prairie- 
dog ( Cynomys ludovicianus ) in the region around East End and Val Marie, 
and was successful in obtaining five specimens of this species, with material 
