APPENDIX. 



LIST OF THE MAMMALS, BIRDS, REPTILES, BATRACHIANS, 

 AND FISHES OF MERCER COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



MAMMALS. 



Wild-Cat. Lynx rufus. 



Occasional. At the time of the settlement of this neighborhood 

 by European colonists, wild-cats were very abundant, as the refer- 

 ences thereto by early writers indicate. A century later they were 

 not abundant except at long distances from the settlements. Kalm 

 (1749) refers to them as common to the mountainous regions up the 

 valley of the Delaware. Referring to the abundance of deer in 

 that region, he remarks : " Among their enemies is the Lynx of this 

 country (New Jersey). . . . They climb up the trees, and, when 

 the stags pass by, they dart down upon him, get fast hold, bite, and 

 suck the blood, and never give over till they have killed it." In 

 what is now Sussex County, New Jersey, and Pike County, Penn- 

 sylvania, on the opposite side of the river, wild-cats are still to be 

 found, but are by no means abundant. 



The domestic cat returns to a feral state much more commonly 

 than is supposed, and the offspring of such cats are noticeably 

 larger, fiercer, and more active than any tame cats that I have ever 

 seen. I am even strongly inclined to believe, but will not be posi- 

 tive, that the offspring in the third generation are always of a uni- 

 form blue- gray color. 



These domestic cats " run wild," and their offspring are quite as 

 arboreal as the true Lynx rvfus. 



Weasel. Putorius vulgar is. 



Common. This species is also known as the " little weasel " by 

 those who can distinguish it from the following. 



