Book Description

Excerpt from A Pocket List of the Mammals of Eastern Massachusetts: With Special Reference to Essex County The study of Mammals in the field is one of the most interesting pursuits to a student of Natural History and it is only by very careful and persistent work that one can become at all proficient in it. Many of the Mammals do not come out at all in the day time, and those that do, move about so noiselessly that they are seldom seen except by the trained eye. Their signs, however, are always present and by closely studying them one may learn much of their habits and consequently be enabled to see them much more frequently. A walk in winter after a light fall of snow is doubly interesting, for then from the tiny shrew to the Antlered Buck all are on the move and their tracks may be plainly recognized and easily followed. At such a time one is surprised at the great number of tracks to be found. I have walked through the woods late in the fall without seeing a mammal of any kind and the next day after a snow have taken the same walk and found the snow literally covered with tracks. In this list I have made no attempt at full description. Most of the species I have either described in part or compared with others to render identification easy. I have included in it several species which, although they have not been actually taken within the county limits, doubtless live here. It is hoped that this list may create an interest in the Essex County collection, and that it may be the means of adding many new specimens to the museum. A list of desiderata is added at the end of this list, and any specimens therein named will be very gratefully received and acknowledged. In the making of this list I am greatly indebted to Dr. Glover M. Allen for his kindness in looking it over and for many helpful suggestions and to Professor E. S. Morse for revising manuscript. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.