LEPUS NETSCHERI. 61 



rabbit. Its legs and tail are short, and the animal is 

 much inferior in size even to our common rabbit. 



3. Lepus hainanus , Swinhoe , from the isle of Hainan. 

 A true hare clothed with a woolly fur. 



4. Lepus sinensis. According to Swinhoe, the Chinese hare 

 ranges from Canton to Peking ; it occurs also in the island 

 of Formosa , and is the only species inhabiting these coun- 

 tries. It is a true hare, but its fur is provided at the 

 expense of wool, with tolerably long and somewhat 

 coarse hair, quite unlike to the woolly fur of the hare of 

 Hainan , although this island is situated several degrees 

 to the south of Canton. 



5. The Japanese hare, Lepus brachyurus, Temminck. 

 This is a true hare with a woolly fur and elongated legs , 

 but it has a shorter tail and its ears are likewise shorter 

 than usually , characteristics which bring the animal iu 

 these points near to the rabbits. 



As stated before , no species of the hare-tribe has been 

 hitherto observed, in the natural wild state, in the Phi- 

 lippines, nor in the Malayan Archipelago. I was, of course, 

 surprised in the highest degree , when I read , in a letter 

 adressed to me by E. Netscher, Esq., a member of the 

 council of Dutch India , that this high functionary during 

 his residence at Padang-Pandjang, situated in the upper 

 countries (bovenlanden) of Padang on the South- West-Coast 

 of the islands of Sumatra, had obtained a specimen of 

 a small rabbit-like but very short-eared animal , which was 

 entirely unknown to the natives. The specimen , preser- 

 ved in spirits was kindly presented by this gentleman to our 

 National Museum of Natural History , where it arrived some 

 weeks ago. To my utter astonishment , it proved to belong 

 to an totally unknown species of the hare-tribe , corres- 

 ponding in size , form and shortness of the ears with Lepus 

 hispidus, but presenting a still shorter tail, a woolly soft 

 fur , and a system of coloration as beautiful as it is uncommon 

 among the hare-tribe , the upper parts being largely striped 

 and crossed with black and the greyish general tint of the 



JVotes from the Leyrlon IVIiiseiim , "N''ol. II. 



