JUNE, igoi. MAMMALS FROM N. C. , S. C., GA. AND FLA. ELLIOT. 43 



this series is not very large (71 specimens, counting those of all 

 the states represented), yet it should give one a fair idea as to 

 what discernible differences exist, and where gradation from 

 species to race begins, while in fact it does nothing of the kind. 

 From these specimens I should be inclined, taking them as one 

 lot, to regard those from Florida as the lighter of the two, instead 

 of the darker, although as I have said those from Micco are very 

 dark, but E. Penn specimens and certain ones from Espanita, 

 Anastasia Island, and also from Citronelle, are lined with clay 

 colored or very pale yellow hairs amid the black. 



Judging therefore from this series, it would seem that a large 

 collection of this rat from both the south Atlantic States and 

 Florida, and from numerous localities, will be required before 

 the proper status of the subspecies can be satisfactorily deter- 

 mined. Besides the specimens already enumerated, there are in 

 the Museum others from E. Penn, Enterprise, Gainesville, 

 Flamingo and Jupiter, all collected by Mr. Chapman, and con- 

 sidered by him to be S. h. littoralis. These vary in coloration, 

 but not so much as the specimens in my series do, probably 

 because they are few, only eight. However, two from E. Penn 

 opposite Micco, present a very dark, almost black appearance, 

 unlike any in my series from the same locality, and also one lined 

 with clay colored hairs like my examples. The specimen from 

 Flamingo is of the lighter style, while again the one from Jupiter 

 is dark. Enterprise possesses both styles, but the Gainesville 

 specimen cannot be separated from those from South Carolina. 

 The animal evidently has a very variable coloration, and, from 

 the evidence before me, it would seem to offer a very unreliable 

 character for separating individuals in certain parts of Florida 

 from those found in the more northern states. 



ORYZOMYS. 

 Oryzomys palustris. 



Oryzomys palustris. (Harlan), Amer. Journ. Scien., 1837, p. 



385-_ 



Eighteen specimens: 2, Calhoun Falls, South Carolina; 5, 

 Riceboro; 3, St. Marys, Georgia; 8, New Berlin, Florida. 



This species was evidently not very common. Mr. Surber 

 says: " I first met with Oryzomys at Calhoun Falls, South 

 Carolina, securing two specimens at the head of a little creek in 

 a canebrake. At New Berlin I saw a few of their nests, built 

 in the marsh grass well above high-water mark, and here a few 

 were taken." 



