LEPORID^}— LEPDS CAMPESTRIS. 297 



LEPUS CAMPESTRIS Bachman. 

 Prairie Hare. 



Lrpus variabilis Lewis, Barton's Med. and Pbys. Journ., ii, 1806, 159— Godman, Am. Nat. Hist., ii, 1826, 169. 



Lepus virginianus var. ? Harlan, Faun. Amer., 1825, 310. 



Lepus virginianus Richardson, Faun. Bor.-Am., i, 1829, 224.— Prince Maximilian, Reiso in das innere 

 Nord-Amer., i, 1839, 508. 



Lepus campestns Bachman, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila , vii, 1837, 349 ; viii, 1839, 80. — Waterhouse, Nat. 

 Hist. Mam., ii, 1848, 127.— Giebel, Sanger., 1855, 449.— Baird, Mam. N. Am., 1857, 585, pi. 

 hi, fig. 2 (skull).— Newberry, Pacific R. R. Ex. and Surv., vi, iv, 1857, 62. — Cooper, Pacific 

 R. R. Ex. and Surv., xii, iii, 1860, 104.— Suckley,' Pacific R. R. Ex. and Surv., xii, iii, 1860, 

 131. — Maximilian, Wiegm. Arch., 1861, Bd. i, 145.— Hayden, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. Pbila., xii, 

 1862, 148.— Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d series, xx, 1867, 224.— Allen, Bull. Essex Insti- 

 tute, vi, 1874, 52, 58, 61, 66. 



Lepus Townsendi Bachman, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pbila., viii, 1839, 90, pi. ii ; Townsend's Narrative, 

 1839, 325.— Aud. & Bach., Quad. N. Am., i, 1849, 25, pi. iii.— Cooper, Am. Nat, ii, 1868,536. 



In winter, white, more or less tinged with yellowish-brown on the middle 

 of the back ; top of the head and anterior surface of the ears pale yellowish- 

 brown, varying to whitish; ears tipped with black. Under fur white at the 

 base, passing through pale yellowish-brown to deep reddish-brown. The 

 hairs of the back white at the tip, with a subterminal band of brown, varying 

 in different specimens from yellowish-brown to dark reddish-fuscous. 



In summer, entire upper parts, breast, anterior surface of the ears, and 

 the legs pale yellowish-gray, this color gradually passing into white on the 

 sides. Fur of the under parts, excepting the breast, pure white to the roots. 

 Nape and lower two-thirds'of the ears white ; upper third of the ears brown- 

 ish-black. Fringes of the ears creamy-brown, bordered with white. Sides 

 and ends of the muzzle yellowish-brown. Tail white on both surfaces, with 

 occasionally a faint, median, ashy line above. Occasionally, a small oval spot 

 of white on the middle of the forehead. The under fur of the upper surface 

 in summer varies in different specimens from whitish-gray to grayish-plumbe- 

 ous at base, then pale fulvous, passing into black. The hairs are generally 

 black at the extreme tip, with a broad subterminal bar of pale yellowish-gray ; 

 below, the black bar passes gradually into whitish at the base. A few hairs 

 entirely black are generally intermixed. The tail is very long, equaling the 

 length of the head. Ears very long, about one-fourth longer than the head. 

 Hind feet rather longer than the ears. Length of the body, 19 to 23 inches ; 

 of the tarsus, 5.50 to 6 inches; of the ear, 4.75 to nearly 6 inches. 



Of some fifteen specimens before me in winter pelage, not more than one 

 in five has the whole dorsal surface pure white. The reddish-brown subter- 

 minal zone shows through the white tips of the hairs more or less in nearly all 



