MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 147 



the former occupying a large part of Berkshire and most of the western 

 half of Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden Counties, or those portions 

 of the State having an elevation of and above fifteen hundred feet 

 above the sea ; the latter the remaining and by far the larger portion.* 



The recent or historic changes that have occurred in the Mammalian 

 Fauna of the State consist mainly in the decrease in numbers of the 

 larger species, amounting to a complete extirpation of a few of the 

 large Carnivora and Cervidae (Felt's concolor, Mustela Pennantii, 

 Cervus canadensis, Alee malchis, Tara?idus rangifer), and the great 

 reduction, almost to extinction, of several others (Lynx canadensis, 

 Lynx rnfus, Cam's lupus, Ursus arctos, Cervus virginianus). None of 

 these species are now anywhere common, though there is good reason 

 to believe that several of them were once so, while a few are known 

 to have been of very frequent occurrence. The smaller species, in- 

 cluding most of the rodents, the bats, moles, and shrews, seem to be 

 fully as numerous as they ever were, while it is not improbable that 

 a few, especially the Arvicolce and other field mice, and perhaps the 

 woodchuek (Arctomys monax), are even increasing in numbers. The 

 three species of exotic or eastern origin are the now almost cosmo- 

 politan Mas decumanus, JL raltus, and M. miisculus, Avhich long since 

 became annoying pests, and constitute the only additions to our feral 

 Mammalia that have become fully naturalized. 



Several of the species of this list are considered to be identical with 

 species of the Old World, although mo^t late writers have separated as 

 specifically distinct all but one of our New England Mammals — the 

 Gido luscus — from their Old World relatives. Only two or three 

 species of land Mammalia are now generally considered as common to 

 any portions of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres.! Several 



* The Canadian fauna, as represented in Massachusetts, may be characterized by the 

 present or former occurrence among Mammalia of the following species: Mustela Pen- 

 nantii, M. martes, Gulo luscus. Alee malchis, Tamndus rangifer,' Cervus canadensis, Arvi- 

 cola Gapperi, and Eretkizon dorsata. The Alleghanian may be distinguished by the 

 absence of the preceding and the presence of Vulpes virginianus, Scalops aquaticus, S. 

 Breweri, Sciurus cinereus, Arvicola pinetorum, and Lepus sylvaticus, which do not occur 

 in the Canadian fauna. 



t The same is also true of the land birds, while a large proportion of those marine 

 species that are probably really common to both sides of the Atlantic are regarded as dis- 

 tinct. It should be observed, however, that the separations in both classes have been 

 made mainly by the same persons. On the other hand, the highest authorities in ento- 

 mology admit many species to be common throughout the northern hemisphere, par- 



