372 MAMMALS 



to occur wild on the Islands. The present paper is based chiefly on this ma- 

 terial, but I have made use of all other specimens and records which I have 

 found available. 8 As already intimated., this list must be regarded as a mere 

 fragment, too imperfect to form the basis of any generalizing as to the origin 

 and exact affinities of the mammal fauna as a whole. It has been prepared 

 chiefly with the hope that it may stimulate and aid further work. 



ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES. 



A discussion of the mammals- which have thus far been discovered in 

 the Bahama Islands will now be given. 



RATS. 



Mus ALEXANDRINUS Geoffrey. 

 Mus alexandrinus Geoffrey, 1818, Description de 1'Egypt, Mammiferes, p. 733. 



An Old World rat now abundantly introduced and established in the 

 warmer parts of America. 



The roof rat probably occurs on all of the inhabited islands. The only 

 specimen that I have seen was taken on New Providence by C. J. Maynard 

 (Miller collection), who writes: "This is the common house rat of Nassau, 

 and I have always found them common in the city houses. I was once bitten 

 on the finger by one when I was asleep." 



A rat that may have been this species or the next, is mentioned by Mr. 

 Riley : " Mr. Derickson shot a young specimen of a long-tailed rat, which I 

 supposed to be the roof rat, in the pines near Lake Killarney, New Providence. 

 It was in the. woods, a mile or more away from any dwellings." 



Mus RATTUS Linne. 

 Mus rattus Linn6, 1758, Syst. Nat., i, 10th ed., p. 61. 



The black rat is also an introduced species, now common in the warmer 

 parts of America. 



Of its occurrence in the Bahamas, I have no information other than that 

 contained in the following note by Mr. Maynard : " Common in the scrub on 

 New Providence. I obtained two that were living in holes of rocks about a 

 mile back of the city of Nassau. I often saw them running about. In 1897, 

 when on a trip among the keys, I noticed signs of rats on Flemings Key, and 

 my boatmen told me that rats, presumably of this species, were very abundant 



* I am particularly indebted to Mr. C. J. Maynard for elaborate notes on the 

 species that have come under his observation. 



