472 PKOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 84 



that the animals had been rather scarce during the past two seasons. 

 It was assumed that they had been depleted in numbers by a periodical 

 epizootic. One was caught on June 13, 1936, in Cranberry Glades 

 in a large Schuyler trap baited with bacon. 



Pocahontas Covin ty: Cranberry Glades, altitude 3,300 feet, 1; no definite 

 locality, 1; Travellers Repose, 1. 



SYLVILAGUS FLORIDANUS MALLURUS (Thomas) 



Eastern Cottontail 



Cottontails occur in the northern, eastern, and some of the southern 

 counties. During the summer of 1936 they were fairly common in 

 the laurel thickets along the north and south forks of the Cranberry 

 River as far east as The Glades. The vertical range of the species 

 extends to at least 3,300 feet in the region around The Glades. 

 Farther north, in Randolph County, cottontails appeared to be rather 

 scarce. 



Greenbrier Covinty: Ronceverte, 2. 



Pendelton Covinty: Franklin, 2. 



Pocahontas County: Cranberry Glades, 2. 



Raleigh County: Beckley, 1; Marshes, 1; Masseysville, 1. 



Wetzel County: Earnshaw, 8; no definite locality, 1. 



SYLVILAGUS FLORIDANUS MEARNSH (Allen) 



Mearns Cottontail 



Cottontail rabbits from the western and central portions of West 

 Virginia were referred to this race by Nelson (1909, p. 160), although 

 no specimens were then available for comparison. During the sum- 

 mer of 1936 cottontails were collected by the Museum party in four 

 of these counties. These specimens are paler and the upperparts are 

 more grayish and less noticeably pinkish buff than is the case with 

 specimens of S. J. mallurus. The tympanic bullae, also, are slightly 

 smaller. The ears, however, do not average shorter nor do the hind 

 feet average longer. Tliis cottontail is most abundant in abandoned 

 farm fields overgrown with weeds and brush. It is a woodland species 

 but is not found in dense forests or open fields. 



In the \dcinity of Mercers Bottom cottontails were found in brier 

 thickets bordering cultivated fields in the bottomland along the Ohio 

 River. Near Huntington they were rather common in brier patches 

 in fields overgrown with broomsedge and weeds, as well as in open 

 deciduous woods in the bottomlands along the Guyandotte River. 

 At Gilboa cottontail rabbits were found in the rhododendron and 

 laurel thickets bordering uncultivated fields along Peters Creek. 

 Near Philippi they seemed to prefer the brier patches in open decidu- 

 ous woods. 



