We are of the opinion that Rhoads' (_loc. cit._) analysis and conclusions are correct and as cogent today as then. We do not agree with Bangs that _pennsylvanicus_ is a _nomen nudum_ for the following reasons. The name was based on melanistic individuals and could conceivably be applied to three species of squirrels, the red squirrel, the fox squirrel, and the gray squirrel. Melanistic red squirrels, _Tamiasciurus hudsonicus_, are everywhere rare and in any case appear as individuals and not populations. Ord (_loc. cit._) reported that his _Sciurus Pennsylvanica_ was _abundant_. Ord, we think, was not referring to the fox squirrel, _Sciurus niger_, because he wrote that _S. Pennsylvania_ "has always been confounded with... [_Sciurus niger_], but it is a different species," and (_loc. cit._) described _S. niger_ as a "Large Black Squirrel" and _Sciurus Pennsylvanica_ as a "Small Black Squirrel." Therefore, _pennsylvanicus_ Ord can refer only to _Sciurus carolinensis_. Further, melanistic gray squirrels then, as now, were common in western Pennsylvania and exceedingly rare in eastern Pennsylvania. Additionally, Ord described his animal, although admittedly inadequately (small, black, not _S. niger_). The name _Sciurus Pennsylvanica_ Ord is clearly not a _nomen nudum_ and must replace _leucotis_ Gapper.

Allen's (_loc. cit._) argument that the specimens were not representative of "_leucotis_" because they were from the Middle Atlantic States is based on an initial misunderstanding of the locality. Further, whether or not "topotypes" are representative of a subspecies has no bearing on the availability of the name appended to them. The name and synonomy of the northern gray squirrel are as follows:

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rodents — Part 10

~Sciurus carolinensis pennsylvanicus~ Ord

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rodents — Part 10

1815. _Sciurus Pennsylvanica_ Ord, Guthrie's Geog., 2nd Amer. Ed., 2:292. Type locality, western Pennsylvania.

Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rodents — Part 10

1894. _Sciurus carolinensis pennsylvanicus_, Rhoads, Appendix of reprint of Ord (_supra_), p. 19.

1792. _Sciurus cinereus_ Schreber, Säuget., 4:766. Type locality, eastern United States, probably New York State. (_Nec Sciurus cinereus_ Linnaeus.)

1830. _Sciurus leucotis_ Gapper, Zool. Jour., 5:206. Type locality, region between York and Lake Simcoe, Canada.