JIAMMALS. 



273 



Biographical notes. — The ground frequented by this species is the complement of that occupied 

 by the Polar hiire. The latter avoids wooded places and the former delights in dense thickets in 

 the midst of such forests as the far north affords. The area over which the spruce forest extends 

 in Alaska covers at the same time nearly the entire range of this rabbit. The few found beyond 

 the limits of the spruces in alder and willow thickets are merely stragglers. 



At several points on the coast of iN^orton Sound, between the Yukon mouth and Golovina 

 Bay, where the spruces approach the shore, these rabbits are numerous, and their range extends, 

 on the Kaviak Peninsula, nearly to the shore of Bering Straits, and also reaches the shore of 

 Kotzebue Sound in one or two places, ^orth of this they occur only in the interior, reaching to 

 about latitude 693. From this point south to the Alaskan Mountains, and from the peninsula of 

 Aliaska east to the British line, they are common or abundant everywhere that spruce or other 

 forests and thickets are found. The dense growth of alders, willows, and cottonwoods on the 

 islands and banks of the Yukon along its entire course forms a favorite shelter, wbere they are 

 found in great numbers. Some years ago they became excessively abundant along the Upper 

 Yukon, but an epidemic broke out among them one winter and nearly exterminated them through- 

 out several hundred miles of country, and many died elsewhere. Since that time, although becom- 

 ing more and more numerous each year, they have not reached anything like their former numbers. 



Great numbers of them are snared by the Eskimo and Indians by means of sinew nooses set 

 in their runways, and in spring many are taken by organized drives. To make one of these drives 

 all of the inhabitants of a village unite. They proceed to one of the wooded islands in the river, 

 in March or April, before the snow is gone, and after the women have set a multitude of snares at 

 one end of the island all hands proceed to beat the island from the opposite end. The men and 

 boys use guns and shoot as many as possible, but all that are caught in tlie simres belong to the 

 women, who usually secure the lion's share of the spoils. 



These rabbits furnish the main food supply for the Canada Lynx. Not infrequently the fur 

 trader or Indian hears the sharp cry of a rabbit as it is caught by a lynx in the thicket, but a 

 few drops of blood and the tell-tale tracks leading from the spot are the only apparent evidences 

 of the tragedy. 



The fur of this species is almost valueless, and is used for clothing only by the poorer natives. 

 Unlike the large hare this species is not a swimmer, and when the spring freshets flood the low 

 bottoms along the Yukon it takes refuge upon any support otfered, and will remain prisoner 

 within a few yards of the shore rather than trust itself to the water. 



Lagomys peinceps Kiehardson. Xorth American Pika. 



The Alaskan specimens are remarkable principally for the paleness of the fur. The head and 

 back are but slightly tinged with fulvous, and the under parts are nearly pure white. The size is 

 large, the flat skins measuring al)out 8 inches. 



LiH of specimens. 



BiogrcqMcal notes.— Three skins of this hardy species were brought me from the Upper Yukon 

 by Mr. McQuesten. These specimens were taken on the tops of the mountains lying to the south 

 of Fort Yukon and near the Arctic Circle. The Indians of that region report them to be common 

 everywhere in the highest ranges, where they are usually found above timber line. From native 

 accounts their habits appear to be identical with those of their relatives found in tlie mountains of 

 Colorado and elsewhere in the West. I showed these skins to a fur trader, who has lived many 

 years on the Kuskoquim River, and he recognized them at once, and reported that they are also 

 numerous on the Alaskan Mountains south of that river, and extend their range to the vicinity of 

 the peninsula of Aliaska. 

 S. Mis. 156 35 



