66 Butcher — Mammals of Mi. Katahdin, Maine. 



Judging by the sign observed, they are comparatively abundant on the 

 base of, and near the mountain. They range up to timberline in favor- 

 able localities. Man is practically the moose's sole destructor, and if the 

 killing in defiance of law that takes place to feed the lumber camps 

 were prevented, there would be a still greater increase. It is very dif- 

 ficult to secure evidence against these malefactors. The lumber camps 

 are so isolated that all the persons in them, and in their vicinity, are to 

 a certain extent beneficiaries directly or indirectly, from the fresh 

 meat secured, and are hence particeps criminis. The danger of detec- 

 tion in a camp of sixty men, where one animal can be entirely con- 

 sumed in a short time, is very small, and evidence is not easily obtained. 



OdocoHeus virginianus borealis (Miller). Northern Virginia Deer. 



Deer are really abundant in the Katahdin region. It was not unusual 

 to see as many as five in the course of an afternoon's walk. They some- 

 times prove a nuisance by destroying unfenced gardens. 



One was seen near Chimney Pond, at an altitude of about 3000 feet. 

 They are not common at this altitude however. In spite of the illegal 

 hunting that takes place they appear to be on the increase. 



Sciurus hudsonicus loquax (Bangs). Southeastern Red Squirrel. 



Red squirrels are abundant throughout the region, extending even to 

 the treeless tableland of the mountain, where I saw one at close range, 

 August 28. Another was seen by one of our cooks in the same 

 locality. 

 At Chimney Pond camp, altitude 3000 feet, they were abundant- 

 Only four specimens were secured, though had I foreseen the difficulty 

 of determining their proper designation with respect to the published sub- 

 species of Sciurus hudsonicus, I would have taken a large series. 



The measurements and colors of my specimens correspond with the 

 description of S. h. loquax, described as the upper austral and transition 

 race. But these animals were taken at 3000 feet elevation on the 46th 

 parellel north, and almost within sight of the type locality of 8. h. gym- 

 nicits, the boreal race of the same species, though 2000 feet above it. 



A careful examination of the material in the Biological Survey Col- 

 lection and in the American Museum of Natural History, leaves me 

 totally unable to harmonize the descriptions of the two races with speci- 

 mens from their respective faunal stations, or to appreciate constant 

 differences as described in individuals from transition and boreal 

 regions. 



A comparison of dimensions shows nothing conclusive, and I am led 

 to the belief that the differences on which these two forms are separated 

 are not of sufficient degree or constancy to justify their separation. I 

 propose therefore to call the Red Squirrel from the Katahdin region 



