MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 21$ 



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.^Ar. 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 busquehanna 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 barns 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 Canadian 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. 



