MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 219 



Elk Co. — " Many in some parts of this Co. They travel to and fro." — 

 Luhr, 1900. 



Forest Co. — Not totally exterminated. — Irwin, 1900. 



Lackawanna Co. — Mr. Friant recently showed me specimens taken in 

 Scranton and vicinity where it seems not to be rare. — Rhoads,. 1902. 



Luzerne Co. — "I saw one Oct., 1899, along the Susquehanna near Pitts- 

 ton." — Campbell, 1900. 



McKean Co. — " We have a number of specimens taken at Kane by A. K. 

 Pierce." — Todd, 1902. "All through the rural districts in McKean Co. the 

 black rat is about as common as the gray rat. Do not think I mean 'gray' 

 when I say ' black,' for the two kinds are as easily distinguished as the black 

 and gray squirrels." — C. W. Dickinson, 1901. 



Monroe and Pike Cos. — I found this rat was predominant in the bams and 

 houses of the backwoods in 1896, during my travels in the Pocono regions. — 

 Rhoads, 1902. 



Somerset Co. — The "blue rat" or black rat is said by farmers to abound 

 in the parts of Somerset Co. remote from railroads. — Moore, 1901. 



Sullivan Co. — " The black or ' blue ' rat is still here, but not plenty." — 

 Bennett, 1902. "I have seen none near Lopez for about 12 years." — Behr, 

 1901. 



Tioga Co. — "Not exterminated, but rarely seen." — Cleveland, 1900. 



Washington Co. — " I am 42 years old, yet never saw one in this Co. They 

 were plenty 55 years ago." — Nease, 1900. 



Wayne Co. — " I caught nearly 100 in my store and barn at Maplewood in 

 1898." — Stevens, 1900. Mr. Stevens gives as his experience that this rat is 

 now (1897) confined to Lackawanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe counties, 

 being numerous around Maplewood, the Norway rat being th^re very rare. 

 They are stated to migrate continually in colonies from place to place and to 

 be very destructive in farm buildings. — Rhoads. Abundant in Wayne Co. — 

 Goodnough, 1900. Scarce in Wayne Co — Teeple, 1900. 



Westmoreland Co. — The only rat I saw at Laughlintown during 2 weeks 

 collecting there in 1898, was a young black rat, now in the Carnegie Museum 

 collection. — Rhoads. 



Wyoming Co. — " None seen or heard of near Forkston in 40 years." — 

 Robinson, 1900. 



From the above accounts, it may be judged that a balance of power locally 

 favoring the black rat as against the predominating gray species of the low- 

 lands, is permanently established in the upper transition and Canadia'n life 

 zones of Pennsylvania. I have no recent authoritative records for New Jer- 

 sey, but as my inquiries in the northern parts of that state are deficient in 

 thoroughness, I venture to predict that the black rat also holds its own in 

 similarly favored localities in the northern section of the state. — Rhoads, 1902. 



