LErORIDJi!— LEPUS SYLVATICUS. 327 



his L. americanus is not found in such places, but inhabits thick woods. He 

 says particularly that "on the barren grounds to the eastward of the Copper- 

 mine, and on the extensive plains or prairies through which the Missouri and 

 Saskatchewan flow, it is replaced by other and larger species" — respectively 

 his L. glacialis and L. virginianus. Furthermore, his description of the 

 summer pelage of his L. americanus corresponds perfectly with the specimens 

 in the Smithsonian Institution from the Red River district northward to the 

 Yukon. Several points in his description of L. virginianus, aside from its 

 size, as the color of the under fur of the back, are wholly inapplicable to the 

 L. americanus, but strictly accord with the characters of the Townsend's 

 Hares. * 



The differences, as already noticed, between the northern and southern 

 forms of L. americanus are quite appreciable, and, in giving them varietal 

 designations, it becomes necessary to restrict the name americanus to the 

 northern form, the earlier descriptions of americanus being based solely on 

 specimens from Hudson's Bay, while Harlan's name of virginianus is alone 

 applicable to the southern form, his description being based on Virginian 

 specimens. As already noticed, the Nova Scotia and Red River specimens 

 belong to the northern type, the southern form being mainly if not wholly 

 restricted to the northern parts of the United States east of the Missouri 

 River. 



Lepus washingtoni was first described by Professor Baird in 1855, and 

 Lepus bairdi by Dr. Hayden in 18G9, and neither of them have been con- 

 founded with either of the other varieties of Lepus americanus or with any 

 other species. 



LEPUS SYLVxVTICUS Bachman. 



Var. sylvaticus. 



Wood Hare; "Gray Kabbit"; "Wood Rabbit." 



Lrpus nanus Schreber, Siiuget., iv, 1*92, 881 (in part only).— DeKay, New York Zool., i, 1842, 93, pi. xxvii, 



fig. 1.— Wagner, Suppl. Schreber's Siiuget., iv, 1843, 114. 

 Xyh-ilagus nanus Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., xx, 1867, 221.— Allen, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 



1869, 239. 

 Lepus americanus Desmarest, Mammalogie, ii, 1H22, 351. — Harlan, Faun. Amer., 1825, 193. — Audubon, 



Birds of Amer., pi. 51.— Fischer, Synop. Mam., 1829, 376 (in part only).— Bachman, Journ. 



Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., vii, 1837, 326, pi. xvi, figs. 3, 4 (ear and foot).— Emmons, Quad. Mass., 



1840, 56.— Thompson, Nat. Hist. Vermont, 1842, 48. 



* Since the above was written, Professor Baird has conceded the inapplicability of the name L. 

 campesiris to the smaller short-eared Varying Haro of British North America. 



