On the Northern Hare. 369 



the fore legs, on tlie chest, and along the sides of the tail. The 

 spines, or quills, which vary in length from one to four inches, 

 are white from the roots to near their points, which are generally 

 dark-brown or black, frequently brown and occasionally white. 

 On some specimens the spines are so abundant, and protrude so 

 far beyond the hair, that portions of the body, especially the hips, 

 present a speckled appearance, owing to the preponderance of the 

 long white quills tipped with black. The nails and the whole 

 under surface are dark-brown." 



There is a considerable difference both in the size and colour 

 of different specimens. The length of the head and body is about 

 30 inches, of the tail (vertebrge) 7, to the end of the hair; 8^, 

 breadth of nose, 1^; from heel to longest nail, 3-|-. Audubon 

 mentions a specimen in his possession, from Missouri, which was 

 13 inches broad on the back. Some of them are quite black, 

 others greyish ; when the quills are very long, they appear to be 

 speckled with white when seen at a short distance. 



ARTICLE LIII. — Oil the Northern Hare, [Lepus Americaniis.) 



GENUS LEPUS.— Linn. 



Dental Formula. 



Incisive, | ; Canine, g — g : Molar, J — J = 28. 



Upper incisors, in pairs, two in the front, large and grooved, 

 and two immediately behind, small ; lower incisors, square ; 

 molars, with flat crowns and transverse laminae of enamel ; inte- 

 rior of the mouth, and soles of the feet, furnished with hair ; ears 

 and eyes, large ; fore feet, with five toes ; hind feet, with only 

 four ; hind legs, very long ; tail, short ; mammae, from six to ten. 

 The word lepus is derived from the Latin lepus, and Greek JEolic 

 leporis a hare. 



There are about thirty known species of this genus, of which 

 rather the largest number (perhaps sixteen or seventeen species) 

 exist in North and South America, while the remainder belong 

 to the Eastern Continent. 



Two species occur in British North America, of which that 

 common in Canada, and somewhat famous from the amount of 

 discussion it has received from Naturalists, is Lejms horealis. It 

 occurs plentifully in all parts of the country, and especially in the 



D 



