1897.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 303 



NOTES ON A COLLECTION OF SMALL MAMMALS FROM NORTHEASTERN 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



BY SAMUEL N. RHOADS AND ROBERT T. YOUNG. 



The series of small mammals forming the basis of the following 

 paper was recently collected by Mr. Young, and, with the exception 

 of about fifteen specimens donated to Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 1 was 

 presented to the senior author prior to Mr. Young's departure to 

 the far west in the interests of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 Since leaving Philadelphia Mr. Young has forwarded to the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences copious notes on his itinerary and the 

 faunal and floral features of the country where the collection was 

 made, besides his personal observations and a list of all the species 

 of mammalia coming under his notice. 



Owing to the hurried preparation of these notes it has been thought 

 best to entirely rewrite and rearrange them for publication in the 

 following form. Where Mr. Young's notes are given verbatim 

 they appear in quotation marks without additional reference. Quo- 

 tations from other sources will be specially referred to under their 

 several author's names. 



" The points visited were Chapanoke, Perquimans County, from 

 March 8th to 24th, (1897), and Currituck, Currituck County, from 

 March 27th to April 14th, two days being also spent at Elizabeth 

 City, Pasquotank County. Chapanoke is about eighteen miles from 

 Albemarle Sound, a small stream which drains the swamp-land in 

 this vicinity flowing thence into the Sound. Currituck is situated 

 directly on Currituck Sound, the waters of which, as well as those 

 of Albemarle Sound, are nearly fresh. The country through all 

 this section of North Carolina is mainly low and swampy, the inte- 

 rior upland soils being a fertile sandy loam, while those of the low- 

 lands along the Sounds are chiefly sand. Most of the land is culti- 

 vated, although considerable timber still remains in the swamps. 

 The swamp-lands during winter and spring are usually under from 

 one to four feet of water, but in summer they are nearly dry. The 



1 Dr. Merriam very kindly furnished a list, with annotations, of the species 

 sent to him by Mr. Young, for use in this connection. — S. N. E. 



