MAR. 1901. MAMMALS FROM N. BRUNS. AND QUE. ELLIOT. 25 



road leading from the Restigouche River into Two Brooks Lake 

 and in the country about Grog Brook. Porcupines are evidently 

 becoming scarce about the more thickly settled sections of coun- 

 try visited." (T. S.) 



FAM. LEPORIM:. 



18. Lepus americanus. 



Lepus americanus. Erxl. Syst. Regn. Anim., 1777, p. 330. 



"The northern hare was fairly common all through the region 

 visited, but was abundant only in the region about Lake Edward. 

 It is found only in the heavily timbered region, where its run- 

 ways are plainly marked in the deep moss, but I saw one at 

 Dalhousie in an old field some distance from the timber. I was 

 told at Murray Bay that they were not at all common near there. 

 I caught several at Lake Edward, all but two were half grown 

 young, and the two skins preserved were lost in transit some- 

 where between Quebec and Buffalo, N. Y. Owing to the dense 

 cover they inhabit, hares are seldom seen, consequently few are 

 shot ; what specimens I took were captured in steel traps set in 

 their runways." (T. S.) 



ORDER CARNIVORA. 

 FAM. MUSTELID^:. 



19. Mephitis mephitica. 



Mephitis mephitica. Shaw, Mus. Lever., 1792, p. 171. 



Two specimens from Murray Bay, Quebec. 



Skunks were exceedingly numerous at Murray Bay and in the 

 surrounding district. Like those collected by Mr. Bangs at 

 Lake Edward, the skulls of these examples lack the median 

 palatal spine, although skulls of Mephitis from the neighboring 

 Province of Ontario possess this spine. It is a large animal and 

 apparently consistent in its markings in Canada. 



" A very large 9 skunk was taken at the village of Pointe a Pic, 

 where it had taken up its residence under one of the cottages. 

 Another one stumbled into a trap I had set under an old barn up 

 the side of the mountain at Murray Bay. This was a rather nice 

 $ , and both specimens being extremely fat. Skunks are found 

 near Lake Edward, but are very rare, and they are also found in 

 the Restigouche and Metapedia valleys near Metapedia, as well as 

 near Salmon Lake." (T. S.) 



