WCP2034

[1]

27. 4. 80

My dear Sir,

I return the proofs¹ — the following are the only suggestions which occur to me.

P. 33. 1. Are you sure of F. catus in N.W. India? It seems not at all improbable, but it is quite new to me.

2. Both Stoat & Weasel certainly extend to N. America. See Coues's² "Fur-bearing Animals."³

P. 48 3. You have omitted the most remarkable of the rodents characteristic to the N. American fauna — Haploodon, which is certainly the type of a distinct family.

[2] 4. The American "Jumping Mouse" cannot stand as Jaculus, for that name was originally given to an old World form. It should be Xapus hudsonicus. Cp. Coues & Allen's Mon. N. Am. Rodentia.⁴

5. The family of Pouched Rats shd certainly be called Geomyidae and [illeg.] Saccomyidae — for the Saccimys is merely a synonym of Heteromys. Altho’ very characteristic of the Neartctic Region the family is not "entirely peculiar" to it — it is well represented in Central America & some forms appear [3] to extend to the West-Indies.

6. You have surely made a slip of the pen in saying there are "no true Otters" in N. America — both L. canadensis & L. felina are typical Lutrae._{? Subgenus} Latax.

I shall be delighted if I can help you further. In running my eye over the pages I see that the birds' names have not been corrected yet — I put a x at one or two, but did not go carefully with them.

Yours very truly | Edward R. Alston⁵ [signature]