THE BIRDS OF RHODE ISLAND BY as Hee sae ee Buen REGINALD HEBERHOWE JR. AND I> ah mpi FATS ara PM aes hems Fett ~<« ~~ & CIRCULAR NO. 1. [PUBLISHED JULY 1, 1900.] Newport Natural History Society. >_> + THE NATIVE MAMMALS OF RHODE ISLAND. One of the objects of the Newport Natural History Society is the collection and preservation of specimens and facts relating to the native products of the State of Rhode Island. The undersigned has been requested to prepare a circular of inquiry respecting the mam- mals of this State, for the purpose of eliciting as much information as possible concerning them, with a view to preparing an authorita- tive list of the mammals which have inhabited Rhode Island during the period of its occupation by the Whites, and of any fossil species whose remains have been found within the State. Some of the largest animals have already disappeared from Rhode Island, and others are on the verge of extinction. It is extremely unfortunate that any of our native mammals should have been al- lowed to pass away without so much as a record of their characters and peculiarities having been preserved. To provide against such a calamity in the future, the Newport Natural History Society pro- poses to preserve specimens and records of all that remain. To this end, an historic collection of State Mammals is being formed. The Society is especially desirous of obtaining without delay all of the species of mammals that are in imminent danger of extinction. Living or mounted specimens, skins, bones (especially skulls), teeth, horns, nests, and all materials relating to Rhode Island mammalogy, will be welcome additions to the Society’s museum, and will be grate- fully received, acknowledged, and registered. They should be marked ‘‘specimens for the Newport Natural History Society,” and sent to the address given below. The writer will be pleased to identify and return any specimens sent to him for determination. Of fossil mammals and those which have been extirpated within the historic period, any remains, however imperfect or fragmentary, such as bones, teeth, horns, etc., should be sent to the Society’s museum for preservation, as they are exceedingly precious. A jaw or horn of an Elk or Moose, dug from the soil of Rhode Island, would be much more valuable than a perfectly mounted specimen of the same animal from some other region. The species of recent mammals which have been positively as- certained to belong to the fauna of Rhode Island are below enu- merated, in list 4; those whose presence or occurence is supposed to be probable, on the ground of their having been found in the adja- cent States or waters, are given in list 2. Respecting each of the animals given in lists 4 and 4, informa- tion is requested as follows:— 2 a. Does it live in your locality at present? If so, is it common or rare? 6. If formerly present, but now extinct, give particulars con- cerning its extirpation, and the dates when the last individuals were seen or killed. c. How many young are produced, and at what season? d@. Describe its nest, burrow, or habitation. e. Give the times—exact dates when possible—of appearance and disappearance of such species as are migratory (e. g. the Red Bat), and of such as hibernate (Woodchuck, Jumping-mouse, etc.). 7. In what manner is it injurious or beneficial to man, in your district? (In the cases of noxious species, state the number destroyed. during current and preceding years, and give the amounts paid out in bounties offered for their destruction; also give statistics or estimated numbers of food species annually sent to market, and of pelts of fur- bearing animals taken, together with any other facts relative to their economic uses. ) g. Give as many facts as you can, concerning the habits, actions, voice, traits, and general characteristics of each. If attempts have been made to breed any species in confinement, for economic uses, state with what result. h. Add any information in your possession, supposed to be of interest in connection with Rhode Island mammals. z. Name any species of mammals which have been found in Rhode Island, not given in list A, giving as full particulars as pos- sible respecting each. ~ j. Give the names and addresses of persons who are especially interested in hunting or trapping mammals, and especially of those who deal in skins, or have formed collections of specimens. k. Give full particulars concerning the discovery, at any time, of bones, teeth, horn or other remains of mammals in this State, and if possible describe their present location and condition. A. List OF THE WILD MAMMALS KNOWN. TO HAVE INHABITED THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND DURING THE HISTORIC PERIOD.~* 1. Opossum. Dzidelphis virginiana Kerr. 2. Common BoTLieE-NOsE Porpotsr. TZursiops tursio (Fabricius). 3. Common Do.puHin. Delphinus delphis Linnzus. 4. Harpor PorporiseE; Purrinc Pic; SNUFFER. Phocena phocena (Linneus). 5. BuacxrisH; Pitot WHALE. Globicephalus melas (Traill). 6. Waite WuHate; BeLuca. Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas). 7. BorriLe-NosE WHALE. Ayferoodon rostratus (Chemnitz). 8. Sperm WHALE. Physeter macrocephalus Linneus. 9. RicHt WHALE. Salena cisarctica Cope. 10. Fin-BacK WHALE. Sibéaldius tectirostris Cope. 11. VIRGINIAN DEER. Odocoileus virginianus (Boddaert). 12. Moose. Alce americanus Jardine. *All are native except the House Rat and House Mouse. Several naturalized races of Man (Homo sapiens Linnzus) are omitted, among them the subspecies ewropeus, astaticus, and afer, all of Linnzus; but the native Red Man is included. 3 13. SOUTHEASTERN RED SQUIRREL. Sciurus hudsonicus logquax Bangs. 14. NorTHERN GRay SQuirRREL. Sciurus carolinensis leucotis (Gappet). 15. NORTHEASTERN CHIPMUNK. TZamias striatus lyster’ (Richardson). 16. WoopcHuck; GRounDHOG. Arctomys monax (Linnzus). 17. SOUTHERN FLyInG SQurRREL. Sciuropterus volans (Linnzus). 18. AMERICAN BEAVER. Castor canadensis Kuhl. 19. House Mouse. Mus musculus Linnzeus. 20. HousEt Rat; Wuarr Rat. Aus decumanus Pallas. 21. NorTHEASTERN DEER Mouse; Buck Mouse. Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensts (Fischer). 22. Common Rep-sack Mouse. Evotomys gapperi (Vigors). 23. Common Mrapow-mouse. Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord). 24. NortTHEeRN Pine Mouse. Microtus pinetorum scalopsoides (Audubon and Bachman). 25. Muskrat. Fiber sibethicus (Linneus). 26. Mrapow JuUMPING-MOUSE. Zapus hudsontus (Zimmermann). 27. NORTHEASTERN CorrTontalL. Lepus floridanus transitionalis (Bangs). 28. SOUTHERN VARYING Hare. Lepus americanus virginianus (Harlan). 29. NORTHEASTERN PANTHER. Felis oregonensis hippolestes (Merriam). 30. Witpcat. Lynx ruffus (Gueldenstaedt). 31. Rep Fox. Vulpes fulvus Desmarest. 32. TimBer Wotr. Canis occidentalis (Richardson). 33. Buiack BEear. Ursus americanus Pallas. 34. Raccoon. Procyon lotor (Linnezeus). 35. NORTHEASTERN OTTER. Lutra canadensis (Schreber). 36. SkuNK. ALephitis mephitica (Shaw). 37. SOUTHEASTERN Minx. Puforius (Lutreola) vison lutreocephalus (Har- lan). ; 38. Bonaparte WeaseL. Puwtortus cicognanit (Bonaparte). 39. New York WEASEL. Putorius noveboracensts Emmons. 40. FisHer. Mustela pennanti Erxleben. 41. GREENLAND SEAL; Harp SEAL. Phoca grenlandica Fabricius. 42. Harpor Seat. Phoca vitulina Linneus. 43. Maskep SHREW. Sorex personatus I. Geoffroy St. Hilaire. 44. SHORT-TAIL SHREW Blarine brevicauda (Say). 45. STAR-NOSE Mote. Condylura cristata (Linneus). 46. Sttvery Bat. Lastonycteris noctivagans (Le Conte). 47. Larcer Brown Bat. Vespertilio fuscus Beauvois. 48. Hoary Bar. Lasiurus cinereus (Beauvois). 49. Rep Bat. Lasiurus borealis (Miiller).* 50. Rep Man; American InpIAnN. Homo sapiens americanus Lin- neeus. NOTE.—The mammals inhabiting the islands off the coast of Rhode Island, including those of Narragansett Bay, are of special interest, and lists of the species belonging to each island are much desired. A distinct species of Meadow-mouse (Microtus nesophilus Bailey) is restricted to two small islands in Long Island Sound, New York; and Mr. Outram Bangs, who has collected the mammals of Block Island, R. I., and compared them with the mainland forins which they represent, is of the opinion that some will require separation. Critical comparisons of all our insular mammals with those of the mainland will perhaps result in other additions to the present list than those which are expected to result from Mr. Bangs’s studies of the Block Island species. *A ‘Light Brown or Wood Bat,’ familiar to Mr. Frank Blake Webster, at Lonsdale and Dag- get’s, Rhode Island, from 1867 to 1884, was probably a species of Myotzs or Pipistrellus. A B. LIsT OF THOSE SPECIES OF RECENT MAMMALS WHOSE OCCURRENCE RHODE ISLAND MAY BE LOOKED FOR WITH SOME DEGREE OF PROBA- * BILITY. STRIPED Do.pHIn. Lagenorhynchus acutus Gray. KILLER. Orca orca (Linnezus). Gray Grampus; Cow Fisu. Grampus griseus (Cuvier). NoRTHEASTERN Fox SQuiRREL. Sczurus ludovicianus vicinus Bangs. SOUTHEASTERN CHIPMUNK. TZamias striatus striatus (Linneus). CANADIAN FLYING SQUIRREL. Sciuropterus sabrinus macrotis Mearns. Buiack Rat. Mus rattus Linneus. Canapian DEER Mouse. Peromyscus canadensis (Miller). g. Cave Rat. Meotoma pennsylvanica Stone. 10. New Jersey Rep-pack Mouse. Evotomys gappert rhoadsi Stone. 11. Rock Vote. Microtus chrotorrhinus (Miller). 12. Boc Lemminc. Synaptomys cooper? Baird. 13. WooDLAND JuMPING-MoUSE. Mapwozapus insignis Miller. S14. Canapian Porcupine. Erethizon dorsatus (Linnzus). 15. SOUTHEASTERN CortTonTaliL. Lepus floridanus mallurus (Thomas). 16. Canapian Lynx. Lynx canadensis (Kerr). Gray Fox. Urocyon cinereoargenteus (Schreber). 18. Wotverine. Guo luscus (Linnzus). 19. NORTHEASTERN Mink; LirTLe Brook Minx. Putorius (Lutrcola) vison vison (Schreber). 20. Marten. Austela americana Turton. 21. Hoopep Sea. Cystophora cristata (Erxleben). 22. WatTeR SHREW. Sorex (Meosorex) albtbarbis (Cope). % 23. Smoky SHREW. Sorex fumeus Miller. 24. BIG-TAIL SHREW. Sorex macrurus Batchelder. 25. Hoy Surew. Sorex hoyi Baird. 26. SMALLER SHORT-TAIL SHREW. Blarina parva (Say). 27. Nakep-TaIL Moe. Scalops aquaticus (Linneus). 28. Harry-Tait MoLe; BREWER MOLE. Parascalops brewert (Bachman). 29. LirtLe Brown Bat. Myotis luctfugus (Le Conte). 30. Say Bat. Myotis subulatus (Say). % 31. Gerorcian Bar. Pipistrellus subflavus subfiavus (F. Cuvier). 32. Dusky Bar. P2upistrellus subflavus obscurus Miller. On An fW NN