MAMMALS OF MARYLAND 



63 



ner, 2. Montgomery Cov/nty: Kensington, 1 ; Plununers Island, 2; Ta- 

 koma Park, 1; no exact locality, 1. Prince Georges Comity: Clinton, 

 1 ; East Eiverdale, 1 ; Lanham, 1 ; Westwood, 1 ; no exact locality, 3. 

 District of Columbia: M (many of these are labeled "purchased in 

 Washington Market" and were probably taken outside the District of 

 Columbia area) . 



Other records (md reports. — Allegany Comty: Oldtown, 9 miles E 

 (personal o'bservation). Baltimore City: (personal observation). 

 Baltimore County : Bare Hills-Lake Roland area (Bures, 1948, p. 68) ; 

 Loch E-aven (Kolb, 1938) ; Gwynnbrook State Game Farm (Sheffer, 

 1957, p. 90); Patapsco State Park (Hampe, 1939, p. 7). Howard 

 County: Atholton (personal observation). Kent Cov/nty: Chestertown 

 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service files). Prince Georges Cownty: Pa- 

 tuxent Research Center (Herman and Warbach, 1956, p. 85) . Worces- 

 ter County: Assateague Island, near the Virginia border (personal 

 observation) ; Ocean City, 1 mile N (personal observation). 



Remarks, — ^Nelson (1909, p. 168) considers the specimen from 

 Grantsville in the extreme western Allegheny Mountain section to be 

 a distinct intergrade with B. f. meamsi^ nearly pale enough to be clas- 

 sified with mearmsi. 



(NEW ENGLAND COTTONTAIL) 

 Sylvilagus transitionalis (Bangs) 



Lepus sylvaticus transitionalis Bangs, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 XXVI, pp. 405^07, 31 January 1895. 

 Tyi^e locality. — Liberty Hill, New London County, Conn. 



General distribution — Distributed from southeastern Maine, southern New 

 Hampshire, and Vermont, ^uth through eastern New York, New Jersey, and 

 eastern Pennsylvania and along the Allegheny Mountains through West Virginia 

 to northern Georgia and northeastern Alabama. 



Distribution in Maryland. — ^There are no valid records of the New 

 England cottontail from Maryland, but it almost certainly occurs in 

 the Allegheny Mountain section at higher elevations. 



Distinguishing charojcteristics. — Similar in coloration to the eastern 

 cottontail, except that the underfur is a much darker gray. The back 

 is ochraceous buff, overlaid with a wash of black-tipped guard hairs 

 which give it a dark appearance. The ears are short and round and 

 have a black margin on the outside edge, making a distinct black 

 line which does not blend gradually into the browner color of the ear 

 as in the eastern cottontail. A definite black patch is between and just 

 in front of the ears. 



Cranially this species differs from the eastern cottontail in that the 

 skull is lighter and slenderer, the interorbital breadth narrower, and 



