Snowshoe-rabbit C31 



patches of skin, and mutilated the ears of their former perse- 

 cutors, till they were left in undisturbed possession of the 

 premises. 



The period of gestation is probably 30 days, as is the case oesta- 

 with the European Hare, but I have no direct evidence. On ^"^'"^ 

 April 10, 1882, I shot a female White-hare at Carberry (that 

 is where Carberry came afterward), which contained 2 verysmall 

 embryonic young. They were probably of two weeks develop- 

 ment, and due to be born late in April. Litters are produced 

 all through May and even as late as the first week of June. 



The nest of the Hare is usually made in a sheltered place nesti.ng 

 on the ground, under some brushwood or tangle of dead and 

 living herbage, and is admirably concealed. It is not unlike 

 that of a duck, being made externally of straw, grass and 

 leaves, and lined with down, which the mother plucks from 

 her own breast. Enough of the down is provided to make a 

 coverlet as well, and, on leaving them, she pulls this over the 

 little ones, so that they are both warm and concealed from view. 



Percy H. Selwyn, of Ottawa, tells me that in Brandon 

 Hills, Man., he once found a Snowshoe nesting in a hollow 

 poplar stump. This was June, 1887. 



The young are usually 2, sometimes 3, in number. Cases you.ng 

 are on record of 4 and 6. C. W. Nash tells me that he once 

 found 7 embryos in a female of this species. R. MacFarlane 

 contributes an item of exceptional interest. "A litter," he 

 says,^ "usually consists of 3 or 4; but when on the periodic 

 increase, females are known to have as many as 6, 8, and even 

 10 at a time, and then gradually return to 3 or 4." 



According to all testimony, the young are born with eyes 

 open and are covered with very fine close hair. 



The males of those that were bred in captivity by Bach- 

 man^ "did not evince the vicious propensity to destroy their 



* Mam. of Nor. West Terr., 1905, p. 740. 



' Aud. & Bach., Quad. N. A., 1849, Vol. I, p. 99. 



