iven by Ord
as "those parts of Pennsylvania which lie to the westward of the
Allegany ridge," not the "Middle Atlantic States" as Allen thought.

Notwithstanding Rhoads' comments, Bangs (Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
10:156, December 28, 1896), in his "Review of the Squirrels of Eastern
North America," employed _leucotis_ Gapper and rejected Ord's name
because it "is a _nomen nudum_" and of uncertain application. There
seems to have been no attempt subsequently to review the pertinent
names.

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:

~Sciurus carolinensis pennsylvanicus~ Ord

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

1894. _Sciurus carolinensis pennsylvanicus_, Rhoads,