Vol. XII, pp. 77-82 March 24, 1898 



PROCEEDINGS 



DNu LI 



THE EASTERN RACES OF THE AMERICAN VARYING 

 HARE, WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SUBSPE- 

 CIES FROM NOVA SCOTIA. 



BY OUTRAM BANGS. 



The American Varying Hare {Lepus americanus), with its 

 various forms, occupies the whole of the northern part of North 

 America north to the limit of trees. It is distinctively an in- 

 habitant of the cool, damp, coniferous forest, differing in this 

 respect from its congeners that prefer more open and grassy 

 country. 



Its food consists principally of the young, tender shoots of 

 conifers— spruce, fir, etc. — hut it also eats the twigs and buds of 

 the alder and other shrubs. In summer, grasses, reeds, and her- 

 baceous plants form part of its diet; but even at this season the 

 young branches and leaves of conifers are generally found in its 

 stomach. Its flesh usually has a strong and, to me, unpleasant 

 sprucy taste. 



In eastern North America the Varying Hare may be divided 

 into three geographical races : 



1. Lepus americanus americanus Erxl., occupying Labrador. 



2. Lepus americanus virginianus ( Harlan), occupying the cool, damp forests 



and swamps of the Hudsonian, Canadian, and Transition zones. In 

 the Alleidianies it extends south to Virginia and West Virginia. 



3. Lepus americanus siruthopus Bangs, occupying the peninsula of Nova 



Scotia. 



In all three races a white pelage, which is more complete in 



17— Bk.l. Soc. Wash., Vol. XII, 1898 (77) 



