FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



Texas Jack Rabbit. — Lepus calif ornicus texianus (Waterhouse) . 

 Light in color, large in size, long-eared. Pale buffy gray 

 above, with light black wash, a whitish gray rump patch 

 present; underparts white with practically no buffy suffus- 

 ion. Total length, 24 inches; tail vertebras, 3.4 inches; 

 hind foot, 5.4 inches; ear from notch, 5 inches. Found in 

 "arid western Texas (except northern Panhandle), New 

 Mexico (except northeastern part), northeastern Arizona 

 (valley of Little Colorado River), and southwestern part of 

 Colorado. Vertical range from about 1,500 feet above Del 

 Rio, Texas, to 7,500 feet altitude on mountains of New 

 Mexico; zonal range mainly Upper Sonoran, but extending 

 down into Lower Sonoran and up in summer into lower 

 border of Transition Zone." (Nelson) 



Great Plains Jack Rabbit.' — Lepus californicus melanotis 

 (Meams). 

 Above, ochraceous buffy, bright in tone, with dark wash of 

 black; conspicuous, large, whitish rump patch; black band 

 from rump onto tail broad and well developed ; throat richly 

 colored, deep ochraceous buff. Total length, 23 inches; 

 tail vertebrcB, 3.2 inches; hind foot, 5.2 inches; ear from 

 notch, 4.2 inches. Found in "Great Plains from east 

 central and northern Texas, northeastern New Mexico and 

 north through western half of Indian Territory, all of 

 Oklahoma, extreme southwestern part of Missouri, all of 

 Kansas and Nebraska, except perhaps extreme eastern 

 parts, southwestern Dakota, southeastern Wyoming, and 

 all of Colorado east of Rocky Mountains. Vertical range 

 from less than 1,000 feet near Independence, Kansas, to 

 over 6,000 feet on east base of mountains in Colorado; 

 zonal range mainly Upper Sonoran." (Nelson) 



Merriam Jack Rabbit. — Lepus calif ornicus merriami (Meams). 

 Color above like eremicus, but darker; dark brownish buffy; 

 nape black or nearly so; iron-gray rump and hind legs; 

 underparts clear white. Total length, 24 inches; tail verte- 

 brae, 4 inches; hind foot, 5 inches; ear from notch, 4.6 

 inches. Found in "All of southern Texas from coast 

 prairies near Trinity River west to a little above Del Rio on 

 the Rio Grande, north to Mason and Antioch, and south 

 across the Rio Grande. . . . Vertical range from sea level 

 in southern Texas up to about 5,000 feet in mountains . . . ; 

 zonal range mainly Lower Sonoran ..." (Nelson) 



The Black-tailed Jack Rabbits are the most conspicuous of 

 western Lcporidas. They are not as showy as the White-sided 

 Jacks, but they are found over a much larger range in the 

 United States and are better known in consequence. The 

 Black-tails, with their high, leaping gait, are a common sight 

 from any of the transcontinental railroads or automobile 



492 



