THE PUMA, OR AMERICAN LION. 597 



killed ou Mr. Durrett's father's farm, in Allen Comity, 1>\ a negro, in 1815. The 

 Puma was last, seen in Kentucky in 1863, when a full-grown individual, having a total 

 length of7feet, and weighing 111 pounds, was killed by Mr. John Custis and others, 

 within 6 miles of Lexington. 



There is also mention of two or three killed near Reeder in American Field, xxm, 

 1385, p. 174. 



Louisiana. — A skull from Prairie Mer Rouge, obtained by .lames Fairie, in 1853, is 

 in the National Museum. Baird includes the Puma in his list of the mammals of the 

 Red River of Louisiana. (Marcy's Exploration of the Red River of Louisiana, 1853, 

 Appendix P.) See also American Field, xxviii, 1887, 390 (Red River). Mr. Hallock 

 states in 1877 that Pumas were to be found in Grant Parish, about Flagon, Clear, 

 Big, and Trout Creeks. (Sportsman's Gazetteer, 1877, p. 62.) 



Maine. — Included without comment in Holmes's list of the mammals of the State, 

 in the sixth annual report of the Maine board of agriculture, 1861, p. 123. lam 

 credibly informed that no Pumas have been killed iu the State in recent years. 



Maryland. — The species formerly occurred here, according to Audubon and Bach- 

 niau. (See Quadrupeds of North America, II, 1851, p. 312.) It is included by Scott 

 among the indigenous animals of the State, under the name of Panther. (Joseph 

 Scott, A Geog. Descript. of the States of Maryland and Delaware, 1807, p. 28.) 



Massachusetts. — Emmons states that the Puma was not to be found here in 1840, 

 though it existed in the State at an earlier day. (Emmons, Report on the Quadru- 

 peds of Massachusetts, 1840, p. 36.) Dr. J. A. Allen, in 1869, writes: "The Panther 

 has probably been for some time extinct in Massachusetts, though undoubtedly once 

 occurring here." (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 1863-1869. p. 153.) There was a rumor 

 that one was seen near East Douglass as late as 1883. See Forest and stream, xx, 

 1883, p. 48. 



Michigan. — No record was found of its occurrence iu this State. It is not mentioned 

 in a list of the vertebrates of the State, published by M. Miles, M. D., about 1861. 

 (Presumably in the report of the geological survey of the State for that year. I 

 have seen only au undated excerpt.) 



Minnesota. — Not included in Head's list of mammals found in the vicinity of Fort 

 Ripley in 1854. (Smithsonian Report, 1854, p. 291.) Mr. Frank J. Locke makes the 

 following statement: "I recently had a bloodless encounter with a huge panther 

 the only one seen iu this locality for years." (Forest and Stream, xx, 1883, p. 226.) 



Mississippi. — Audubon states, in 1851, that the Puma was to be found in the swamps 

 of this State, and relates several adventures with it in the region of the Yazoo River. 

 (Quadrupeds of North America, II, 1851, p. 308.) Wailes, in 1854, writes: "The 

 Panther is now rarely met with except iu dense and extensive swamps and cane- 

 brakes." (Report on the Geology of Mississippi, 1854, p. 315.) Mr. Hallock states 

 in 1877 that there was an excellent region for Pumas in Tunica County, at Hudson, 

 near the Mississippi River; also in Washington County. (Sportsman's Gazetteer, 

 1877, p. 92.) See also an improbable story in Forest and Stream, xx, 1883, p. 125. In 

 this connection, the remarks of Du Prat/, a writer of the last century, are of interest. 

 Dn Pratz appears to have established himself near Natchez. Writing in 1758, he says 

 of the Puma or Tigre : "One sees them but little ; and if this auimal was as common 

 as a certain author (? Buff on) would have us believe, the ancient inhabitants of the 

 country would have seen a certain number, but I have never heard mention of but 

 one. I have seen two at different times about my habitation." (M. Le Page Du 

 Pratz, Histoire de la Louisiaue, u, 1758, pp. 91-92.) 



Missouri. — I found uo records of the occurrence of the Puma in this State since the 

 beginning of the century, wheu Dr. J. Watkins, in a letter to Dr. Bartou, included 

 it amoDg the mammals found in the country west of St. Louis. (Trans. Amer. 

 Philos. Soc, vi, 1809, pp. 69-72.) 



Montana. — The Puma occurs in congenial localities throughout the Territory. It 

 was seen by Mr. G. B. Grinnell at the mouth of Alum Creek in 1875. (Reconnaissance 



