98 Ballc.ij — MammaJa of the District of Columbia. 



50 yards from the river. He writes me that they were found in brush 

 heaps and beds of weeds and were caught in his hands in the -daytime. 

 Dr. Merriam caught one in 1886 at a point a short distance up the river 

 from tlie west end of Aqueduct Bi-idge. Mr. Miller saw one near Forest 

 Glen,Md., on May 10, 1890. 



Lepus sylvaticus. The Cotton-tail Rabbit is the principal game mam- 

 mal of the District and vicinity, and, in spite of the abundance of huntere 

 and dogs, they are still fairly common. I have frequently seen them on 

 both sides of Rock Creek near the Connecticut Avenue bridge and in the 

 Rock Creek Park near Broad Branch. Every fresh snow shows a lot of 

 rabl)it tracks among the spruces in the Department of Agriculture 

 grounds, and the ral)bits are frequently seen running from bush to bush. 

 They are common in the tall grass and among the brush on the river 

 hills along the west side of the Potomac, where the rough country and 

 rocks offer the best of protection. Part of the immense number of these 

 ral)bits exhibited for sale in the markets during fall and winter months 

 are shipped in from beyond the 20-mile circle, but many are taken within 

 a few miles of Washington. A negro hunter is frequently met coming in 

 from the country with an old shotgun and a back-load of rabbits ; but 

 when questioned he usually avoids telling where his game was procured. 

 Last February I watched a negro trapper from Westmoreland county, 

 Virginia, selling his stock of furs to a dealer in Center Market, and 

 among other skins 130 rabbits were sold at 1 cent each. 



Felis domesticus. I am sorry to have to include the House Cat as an 

 introduced species, but it seems thoroughly naturalized and of too great 

 importance to be omitted. Its tracks are common in dusty wood paths 

 and on every fresh snow in the wildest parts of the surrounding country. 



Lynx rufus. Wildcats still inhabit the Blue Ridge Mountains, and it 

 would be strange if they did not sometimes follow down the river clifls 

 on the west side of the Potomac to near the city. There is much wild 

 country within a few miles of Washington where they could find plenty 

 of small game and be fairly safe from enemies. Dr. Fisher caught one in 

 October, 1895, at Lake Drumniond, Virginia, where he reports them as 

 very common. 



Vulpes pennsylvanicus. The Red Fox is now fiiirly common in the 

 country around Washington, though a century ago it was not known here- 

 Dr. Fisher gives me the following interesting note : " Through the kind- 

 ness of H. H. Miller we learn that the red fox first appeared in Mont- 

 gomery County, Maryland, between the years 1798 and 1802. He obtained 

 the facts from Mr; George E. Brooke, a gentleman of 80 years of age, 

 who, like his father and grandfather, was an enthusiastic fox-hunter." 



D. B. Warden, in writing of the District of Columbia in 1816, says : 

 "The gray and red fox frequent this region, and sometimes carry off 

 pigs, lambs, and poultry." * 



Urocyon cinereoargenteus. Gray Fox. This species is still found 

 in the vicinity of Washington, though not in abundance. 



* Chorographical and Statistical Description of the District of Columbia, 

 p. 159, Paris, 1816. 



