On the Northern Hare. 371 



enlongated, tliicldy clothed with long loose hair, with a soft 

 downy fur beneath ; legs, long; hind-legs, nearly twice the length 

 of the forelegs ; feet, thickly clothed with*hair, completely con- 

 cealing the nails, which are long, thin, very sharp, and slightly 

 arched. So thickly are the soles covered with hair that an im- 

 pression by the nails is not generally visible in their tracks made 

 while passing over the snow, unless when running very fast. 

 Tail, very short, covered with fur, but not very bushy ; the 

 form of this species is, on the whole, not very elegant ; its long 

 hind legs, although remarkably well adapted for rapid locomotion, 

 and its diminutive tail, would lead the spectator at first sight to 

 pronounce it an awkward animal, which is, nevertheless, far from 

 being the fact. Its fur never lies smooth and compact, either in 

 winter or summer, as does that of many other species, but seems 

 to hang loosely on its back and sides, giving it a somewhat shao-- 

 gy appearance. The hair on the body is in summer about an 

 inch and a-half long, and in winter, a little longer. 



COLOUR. 



In summer, the whole of the upper surface is reddish-brown, 

 formed by hairs that are at their roots and for two-thirds of their 

 length, of a blueish ash colour, then reddish-yellow, succeeded 

 by a narrow line of darkbrown, the part next the tips or points, 

 reddish brown, but nearly all the hairs tij)ped with black — this 

 colour predominating toward the rump. Whiskers, mostly black, 

 a few white, the longest reaching beyond the head ; ears, brown, 

 with a narrow black border on the outer margin, and a slight 

 fringe of white hairs on the inner. In some specimens there is a 

 fawn and in others a light coloured edge around the eyes, and 

 a few white hairs on the forehead. The pupil of the eye is dark, 

 the iris, light silvery-yellow ; point of nose, chin, and under the 

 throat, white ; neck, yellowish-brown. Inner surface of legs, and 

 under surface of body, white ; between the hind-legs, to the in- 

 sertion of the tail, white ; upper surface of the tail, brown, under 

 surface, white. The summer dress of this species is assumed in 

 April, and remains without much change till about the beginning 

 of November in the latitude of Quebec, and till the middle of the 

 same month, in the State of New York and the western parts of 

 Pennsylvania ; after which season the animal gains its winter 

 pelage. During winter, in high northern latitudes, it becomes 

 nearly pure white, with the exception of the black edge on the 



