Part 2

=Perognathus hispidus spilotus= Merriam. HISPID POCKET MOUSE.--Jones and Webb (1949:312) first reported this subspecies in Nebraska as from 5 mi. SE of Rulo, Richardson County. Additional records of occurrence are: 3 mi. SW of Barnston, Gage County, 1 (NGFPC); Bennet, 1 (NSM), 9 mi. NW of Lincoln, 1 (NSM), 1-1/2 mi. S of Lincoln, 1 (NSM), Lancaster County; Peru, Nemaha County, 1 (NGFPC); 3 mi. S, 2 mi. E of Nebraska City, Otoe County, 3; Barada, Richardson County, 1 (NSM); Pleasant Dale, Seward County, 1 (NSM); 1 mi. S of Williams, Thayer County, 1.

Glass (1947:179) referred a specimen from 9 mi. NW of Lincoln, Lancaster County, to P. h. paradoxus. In discussing the zone of intergradation between spilotus and paradoxus, geographically adjacent to the west, he wrote (op. cit.:178), "It is evident that it proceeds northeastwards, toward the Missouri River since 2 specimens from eastern Nebraska, a juvenile from Webster County and an adult from Lancaster County, are both typical paradoxus." I have examined the specimen from Webster County referred to by Glass and agree that it is paradoxus. I have not seen the specimen from 9 mi. NW of Lincoln; however, another specimen from there, two others from Lancaster County, and one from Seward County (see above), are here referred to P. h. spilotus, rather than P. h. paradoxus, on the basis of notably darker dorsal coloration and smaller external and cranial measurements. The range of P. h. spilotus in Nebraska, as presently known, therefore, is limited to the eastern, more humid part of the State, south of the Platte River.

=Peromyscus maniculatus osgoodi= Mearns. DEER MOUSE.--Swenk (1908:95) reported this subspecies, under the name Peromyscus nebrascensis, from Glen, and Dice (1941:17) reported the subspecies from Agate, both localities being in Sioux County in the northwestern part of the State. Osgood (1909), however, did not mention Nebraskan specimens of this subspecies and excluded it from the State on his (op. cit.) distribution map of the subspecies of P. maniculatus. In addition, Quay (1948:181) reports, as P. m. nebrascensis, deer mice obtained by him in the badlands of northern Sioux County and adjacent Niobrara County, Wyoming. Four deer mice referable to P. m. osgoodi have been obtained from several localities on the Pine Ridge in Dawes County as follows: 3 mi. E of Chadron, 2; Chadron State Park, 1; 3 mi. SW of Crawford, 1. When compared with specimens of P. m. nebrascensis, geographically adjacent to the east, these mice are seen to be notably darker and less buffy than nebrascensis and to average significantly larger in both external and cranial measurements. All deer mice from the Pine Ridge and adjacent badlands of extreme northwestern Nebraska probably are best referred to P. m. osgoodi. External measurements of two adult females are respectively: Total length, 180, 175; length of tail-vertebrae, 78, 74; length of hind foot, 19, 20; length of ear, 17, 16.

=Neotoma floridana campestris= J. A. Allen. FLORIDA WOOD RAT.--Five wood rats from 5 mi. N, 2 mi. W of Parks, Dundy County, in extreme southwestern Nebraska, provide the first record of occurrence of this subspecies in Nebraska. These animals were trapped in outlying sheds at the Rock Creek State Fish Hatchery. Two large wood-rat houses were in a dense thicket of brush and young trees in a small draw on the west side of the most westwardly hatchery lake. Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) inhabited a combination garage-storage barn at the hatchery and no wood rats were taken there.

=Microtus pennsylvanicus pennsylvanicus= (Ord). PENNSYLVANIA MEADOW MOUSE.--This subspecies occurs in eastern and central Nebraska (see Bailey, 1900:18 and Swenk, 1908:104). Additional records of occurrence are as follows: 5 mi. E of Rising City, Butler County, 5; 4 mi. SE of Laurel, Cedar County, 1; Wayne, 2, and 2-1/2 mi. E of Wayne, 1, Wayne County; 2-1/2 mi. N of Ord, Valley County, 4.

=Synaptomys cooperi gossii= (Coues). COOPER LEMMING MOUSE.--Fichter and Hanson (1947:1-8) reported the first known occurrence of this microtine in Nebraska, recording specimens from several localities in Lancaster County and one from near Valentine, Cherry County. Recent records of this mouse which help to clarify its distribution in Nebraska are as follows: 4 mi. N, 1/2 mi. E of Octavia, Butler County, 1; 5 mi. N, 2 mi. W of Parks, Dundy County, 1; 1 mi. N of Pleasant Dale, Seward County, 1.

An adult female from Dundy County provides the westernmost record of distribution of the species in North America. The animal was trapped on November 1, 1952, in association with Microtus pennsylvanicus modestus in a marshy area at the Rock Creek State Fish Hatchery on spring-fed Rock Creek. The pelage on the back is notably darker than in S. c. gossii, and resembles S. c. paludis from the Cimarron River drainage in Meade County, Kansas, but in the sum total of its characters it most closely resembles S. c. gossii among named subspecies.

=Mustela rixosa campestris= Jackson. LEAST WEASEL.--The least weasel occurs in eastern and central Nebraska (see Swenk, 1926:313-330 and Hall, 1951:192) but is known by only a single specimen from each locality of record save for the area around Inland, Clay County (Swenk, op. cit.). Additional records of the distribution of this mustelid in Nebraska are: Hastings, Adams County, 1 (HM); Schuyler, Colfax County, 1 (NGFPC); Goehner, Seward County, 1 (NSM); 10 mi. S of Ord, Valley County, 1 (NGFPC). The last mentioned specimen, a skull only, was obtained from a pellet of an unidentified raptorial bird.

LITERATURE CITED

BAILEY, V. 1900. Revision of American voles of the genus Microtus. N. Amer. Fauna, 17:1-88, June 6.

BAIRD, S. F. 1858. Explorations and surveys for a railroad route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. War Department. 8 (Mammals, Part 1): xxxii + 757, July 14.

BEED, W. E. 1936. A preliminary study of the animal ecology of the Niobrara Game Preserve. Bull. Conserv. Dept., Conserv. Surv. Div., Univ. Nebraska, 10:1-33, October.

COCKRUM, E. L. 1951. A new pocket mouse (genus Perognathus) from Kansas. Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 5:203-206, December 15.

DICE, L. R. 1941. Variation of the deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) on the sand hills of Nebraska and adjacent areas. Contrib. Univ. Michigan Lab. Vert. Genetics, 15:1-19, July.

FICHTER, E. H., and M. F. HANSON. 1947. The Goss lemming mouse, Synaptomys cooperi gossii (Coues), in Nebraska. Bull. Univ. Nebraska State Mus., 3:1-8, September.

GLASS, B. P. 1947. Geographic variation in Perognathus hispidus. Jour. Mamm., 28:174-179, June 1.

HALL, E. R. 1951. American weasels. Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 4:1-466, December 27.

HOWELL, A. H. 1938. Revision of North American ground squirrels with a classification of the North American Sciuridae. N. Amer. Fauna, 56:1-256, May 18.

JACKSON, H. H. T. 1928. A taxonomic review of the American long-tailed shrews. N. Amer. Fauna, 51:vi + 228, July 24.

JONES, J. K. JR., and O. L. WEBB. 1949. Notes on mammals from Richardson County, Nebraska. Jour. Mamm., 30:312-313, August 17.

OSGOOD, W. H. 1904. Two new pocket mice of the genus Perognathus. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 17:127-128, June 9.

1909. Revision of the mice of the American genus Peromyscus. N. Amer. Fauna, 28:1-285, April 17.

QUAY, W. B. 1948. Notes on some bats from Nebraska and Wyoming. Jour. Mamm., 29:181-182, May 14.

RIDGWAY, R. 1912. Color standards and color nomenclature. Washington, D. C. Privately printed, iv + 44, 53 pls.

SWENK, M. H. 1908. A preliminary review of the mammals of Nebraska. Proc. Nebraska Acad. Sci., 8:61-144.

1926. Notes on Mustek campestris Jackson, and on the American forms of least weasels. Jour. Mamm., 7:313-330, November 23.

WEBB, O. L., and J. K. JONES, JR. 1952. An annotated checklist of Nebraskan bats. Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 5:269-279, May 31.

Transmitted January 11, 1954.