MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. I23 



begins to grade into the larger, paler form of cottontail known technically as 

 iransitionalis east of the great Alleghenian watershed. West of that range in 

 the northern drainage of the Allegheny River and of Lake Erie it grades into 

 the pale-rumped race, mearnsi. 



Habits, etc. — ** Brer Rabbit " is as well known to old and young as some of 

 our best friends. The three divisions of his family now made by hair-splitting 

 naturalists seem to have made no alteration in his manners wherever found. 

 Being ever ready to explore and develop new fields, he has followed closely 

 on the heels of " the man with an axe " and assumed " squatter sovereignty '* 

 with timid nonchalance born of persecution. The meek shall indeed inherit 

 the earth, in proportion as they " be fruitful and multiply and replenish " it. 

 Let us go to the rabbit, consider his ways, and be wise. 



Description of species. — I use the following guide to the three races of cot- 

 tontail found in our limits from Miller's Key : i . General color bright yellow- 

 ish brown with a strong admixture of black ; a distinct black spot between 

 ears = L.f. transitio7talis. 2. General color pale yellowish brown with very 

 faint admixture of black ; no black spot between ears ; rump noticeably paler 

 than back, hind foot often over 100 milHmeters (4 in.) =Z./. mearsni. 3. 

 Same general colors as mearnsi, but rump noticeably paler than back and 

 hind foot generally under 100 mm. (4 in.) = L.f. mallurus. There is a large 

 area of debatable ground in the Alleghanies, especially in the common water- 

 shed of the Allegheny and Susquehanna rivers, and in the southern ridge 

 where it enters Maryland, in which the mixture of the three forms is puzzling, 

 but most typical iransitionalis occurs in the mountains of central and north- 

 eastern Pa., mearnsi in Erie and Crawford Cos. and mallurus in the lower 

 Delaware, Susquehanna and upper Ohio valleys. Series from these three 

 localities, all taken at the same season, are readily separable into the races 

 named. » 



Measurements. — (From Miller) {iransitionalis) total length, 430 mm. 

 (17 in.) ; tail, 55 (2^) ; hind foot, 95 (3^) ; mearnsi— ^'^^ (18^) ; 65 

 (21^) ; 100 (4) ; mallurus— ^2,0 (17) ; 55 {2}i) ; 95 (3^). 



Order PINNIPEDIA ; Seals. 



Family Phocid^ ; Earless Seals. 



Genus Phoca Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, 1758, vol. i, p. 37. 



Harbor Seal ; Sea Dog. Phoca vituHna Linnaeus. 



1758. Phoca viiulina Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, 1758, vol. i, p. 37. 



Type locality. — Europe. 



Faunal disitibution. — Waters, islands and bays of the north Atlantic Ocean ; 



