358 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1896. 



to summer and from summer to winter dress is very small in the 

 series available, and those which I have seen appear to differ in the 

 manner of moltinfj; from that outlined by Dr. J. A. Allen for the 

 American Varying Hare, Lepus amerieanus.^^ An adult female, 

 taken at Bay St. George, Newfoundland, October 16th, 1895 (No. 

 3,756, Col. of E. A. & 0. Bangs), appears to be undergoing a bleach- 

 ing process which affects, with remarkable uniformity, every part 

 simultaneously. There is no ragged appearance, caused by the pres. 

 ence of patches of old hair, anywhere. The summer fur appears to 

 have uniformly about half fallen, giving place to a growing, but 

 still short, under-fur of white, which will speedily lengthen into the 

 mature winter fur. The feet and hinder bases of ears are unmixed 

 white. The leaden gray of inner flanks and lower head and neck 

 and the ashy-gray head are little changed from midsummer shades, 

 but the whole back, sides and ears are about two shades lighter 

 throughout, owing to the disposition of the old over fur and the 

 outgrowth of the new. There are no specimens in the series illus- 

 trating the style of spring molt. 



In general terms, the spring change of more southern American 

 examples consists in the acquisition of black ears, a tawny gray 

 head and dark ashy-gray upper parts, including the chin, throat, 

 neck and breast ; the feet and belly are also more or less shaded 

 with gray and leaden hues but the greater part of the belly and tail 

 remain white. This diagnosis applies to the eastern subspecies, L. 

 ardicus bangsi, and in great measure to the pallid form which fre- 

 quents the southern Barren Grounds west of Hudson Bay. In 

 species, L. tschuktschorum of Alaska and northeast Siberia, the 

 ears are marbled blackish-brown and white, and the upper parts, 

 head and neck are blackish-brown, resembling much more closely 

 the colors of the Asiatic and European than the American type. 

 In typical northern arcticus and grcenlandicus the summer coat 

 never (?) attains a dark appearance except in the young, but close 

 examination shows a greater or less admixture of clear gray hairs 

 over the upper parts, most numerous on the head and ears, where 

 it is generally accompanied by a tawny suffusion. In some in- 

 stances these gray hairs are so sparse as to make the animal prac- 

 tically indistinguishable, save in texture and density of fur, from 

 winter specimens. 



2>Bull. Amer. Mus. N. Hist, 1894, pp. 107-128. 



