34o 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



1842 Lyjicus borealis De Kay, Zoology of New York, Mammalia, p. 50. 

 1882 Lynx canadensis Merriam, Linn. soc. New York. Trans. 1:40. 

 1898 Lynx canadensis Mearns, U. S. Nat. mus. Proc. 21 : 359. 

 Type locality. Canada. 



Fannal position. Hudsonian and Canadian zones, formerly perhaps 

 transition zone also. 

 Habitat. Forests. 



Distribution in New York. The Canada lynx is rapidly approaching 

 extinction in New York and in fact throughout the eastern part of its 

 range. It still exists in the Adirondacks and probably in the Catskills also. 



Principal records. De Kay : " It is not uncommon in the northern 

 districts of the state" ('42, p. 51). Merriam: " The lynx is and so far 

 as I can learn has always been a rather rare inhabitant of this region. 

 It is most often met with on the Champlain or eastern side of the wo )ds 

 but is nowhere common. ('82, p. 40). Mearns: " Hunters told me that 

 there are still a good many lynxes ... in the [Catskill] mountains. 

 Very large tracks of a lynx which I suppose to have been this species 



. . were seen almost daily on the summit of Hunter mountain during 

 the latter part of August. . . . During the winter of 1877-78 a Canada 

 lynx was killed near Rhinebeck on the Hudson and brought to Prof. 

 James M. De Garmo, in whose collection I saw it soon after. This is 

 the only record of its occurrence in the immediate vicinity of the Hud- 

 son river, during recent years that has been brought to my attention " 



('9 8 > P- 359)- 



Lynx ruffus (Gueldenstaedt) Wildcat 



1776 Felis ruffa Gueldenstaedt, Novi comment, acad. scient. Imp. 



Petropolitanae. (1775), 20 : 484. 1776. 



1842 Lyncus rufus De Kay, Zoology of New York, Mammalia, p. 51. 



1882 Ly?ix rufus Merriam, Linn. soc. New York. Trans. 1:41. 



1896 Lynx rufus Fisher, The Observer. May 1896. 7: 198. 



1897 Ly?ix ruffus Rhoads, Acad. nat. sci. Philadelphia. Proc. p. 32. 



1898 Lynx ruffus Mearns, Am. mus. nat. hist. Bui. 9 Sep. 1898. 10: 351. 

 1898 Lynx ruffus Mearns, U. S. Nat. mus. Proc. 21 : 359. 



Type locality. New York. 



Faunal position. Canadian, transition and upper austral zones. 

 Habitat. Forests. 



Distribution in New York. The wildcat, which once ranged through- 

 out the state, appears to be now exterminated except in the wilder parts 

 of the Adirondacks, the Catskills and the Hudson highlands. It is, 

 however, an animal that resists the progress of forest clearing much more 



