342 MONOGRAPHS OF NOIJTII AMKKICAN RODENTIA. 



men of the western variety of sylvaticus, as strongly conjectured to be the 

 case by Professor Baird, and for which belief he has given ample reasons. 

 Up to the present time, no adult Hare of this small size has yet been found 

 anywhere, notwithstanding the testimony of Townsend that it "was doubt- 

 less an adult animal". He says the hunters, who knew it well, assured him 

 it never grew any larger, but it seems probable that these hunters may have 

 had in mind the Little Chief Hare [Lagomys princeps). A Hare so abundant 

 as this is represented to be is not likely to have escaped the observation of 

 the numerous naturalists and collectors who have since passed over the same 

 region. 



The Lcpus bachmani was described by Waterhouse in 1838 from an 

 immature specimen procured somewhere in the "southwestern portions of 

 North America, supposed to be between California and Texas '',* or " perhaps 

 California '',f and redescribed from the same specimen in 1839 by Dr. Bach- 

 man. In the Quadrupeds of North America, it is mentioned as " described 

 from a specimen sent by Douglass from the western shores of America ".J It 

 is here spoken of as abundant in Texas, its habitat being regarded as embrac- 

 ing " a great portion of Texas, New Mexico, and California ", and as " probably 

 extending south through great part of Mexico'' and northeast to "about 

 the headwaters of the Red River or Arkansas ".| Professor Baird believes 

 that the real locality of Waterhouse's and Bachman's first specimen (the 

 one sent by Douglass) was Texas, although he was at first, on the ground 

 of locality, inclined to identify it with what he afterward described as Lepus 

 auduboni. The two specimens referred by Professor Baird to L. " bachmani" 

 are from Brownsville, Texas, and are still in the collection of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



The Lepus artemisia was described by Dr. Bachman in 1839 from a 

 specimen brought from Fort Walla- Walla by Mr. Townsend, who speaks of 

 it as common there. It seems to have been recognized only from this 

 locality till 1853, when Dr. Woodhouse referred specimens to it from the 

 Zuiii and Colorado Rivers. In 1857, Professor Baird referred to it speci- 

 mens from Oregon, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas ; and the name has 

 since been generally used for the designation of the small Gray Hare of the 

 plains and Rocky Mountain region generally. 



• Bachman, Jonrn. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pliila., viii, 97. 



t Waterhouse, Mam., ii, l'J4. 



t And. aud Bacli . Quad. N. Amer., iii. :'.?. 



