PRELIMINARY LIST OF THE MAMMALS OF NEW YORK 355 
1882 Procyon lotor Merriam, Linn. soc. New York. Trans. 1:91. 
1896 Procyon lotor Fisher, The Observer. May 1896. 7: 200. 
1898 Procyon lotor Mearns, U.S. Nat. mus. Proc. 21: 357. 
Type locality. Northeastern United States. 
Faunal position. Austral zones, transition zone and southern border 
of Canadian zone. 
Flabitat, Forests. 
Distribution in New York. The raccoon occurs throughout the state. 
It is probably one of the mammals whose range has been very little 
changed by the clearing of the country. 
Principal records. De Kay: ‘“The raccoon is found all over North 
America” (42, p. 27). Merriam: ‘Raccoons are common every- 
where about the borders of the Adirondacks, but they do not lke 
dense evergreen forests and are therefore rather rare in the interior, 
still they are occasionally met in all parts of the wilderness ” (’82, p. gr). 
Fisher: “Common [near Sing Sing]. Found everywhere but more com- 
monly in the swamps and along streams” (’96, p. 200). Mearns: . 
“‘Tracks of the raccoon were seen in several places on.or near Schoharie 
cneeky? (GOSsap! S5i7)- 
I have found the raccoon common at Peterboro, Madison co. 
Mr Savage writes: “The raccoon is common in Erie co.” 
Of this animal Mr Helme writes: “The raccoon is still quite common 
in most of the less thickly settled districts of Long Island.” 
Phoca vitulina Linnaeus Harbor seal 
1758 [Phoca] vitulina Linnaeus, Syst.nat. Ed.10o. 1: 38. 
1842 Phoca concolor De Kay, Zoology of New York, Mammalia. p. 53. 
1882 Phoca vitulina Merriam, Linn soc. New York. Trans. 1: 104. 
1896 Phoca vitulina Fisher, The Observer. May 1896. 7: 200 
1898 Phoca vitulina Mearns, Am. mus. nat. his. Bul. g Sep. 1898. 
10 : 346, 
Type locality. Coast of Europe. 
Distribution in New York. ‘The harbor seal occurs regularly in Long 
Island sound and in the lower Hudson river. It also reaches the north- 
ern border of the state by way of the St Lawrence river, and on one 
occasion an individual penetrated as far into the interior as Onondaga 
lake. 
Principal records. De Kay: ‘* They are now comparatively rare in our 
waters, but were formerly very abundant ... At some seasons even at 
the present day they are very numerous, particularly about the Execution 
