88 



NORTH AMERICAN) FAUNA 66 



themselves stocked at an earlier period with animals from elsewhere. 

 No specimens of the native population or the present population of 

 beavers have been available to me for examination. 



Family GRICETIDAE (deer mice, harvest mice, voles, etc.) 



MARSH RICE RAT 

 Oryzomys palustris palustris (Harlan) 



Mus palustris Harlan, Silliman's Amer. Jour. Sci., 31 : 385, 1837. 



Type locality. — "Fast Land" near Salem, Salem County, N.J. 



General distril)ution. — In the Coastal Plain from southeastern Pennsylvania 

 and southern New Jersey, south to northern Florida, west to the Mississippi 

 River and north in the Mississippi Valley to southeastern Missouri, southern 

 Illinois, and central Kentucky. 



Distribution in Maryland. — Recorded only from the Eastern Shore 

 and Western Shore sections. 



Distinguishing characteristics. — Teeth 1/1. 0/0, 0/0, 3/3, = 16; ratlike 

 in general appearance, but considerably smaller than adult Norw^ay 

 rat; tail long, nearly half the total length; fur long and coarse; color of 

 upper parts grizzled grayish brown, mixed with blackish, sides paler 

 with less blackish; underparts white to pale buff; tail sparsely haired 

 and scaly, brow^nish above and whitish below. Young animals are 

 more grayish than adults. 



FiGUKE 32. — Distribution of Oryzomys palustris palustris. 



