CONY 221 



conies made, it was inferred that they had recognized the weasel as an 

 enemy; a general alarm was being sounded. It is improbable that birds 

 of prey, hawks and owls, levy much toll, because of the protected situations 

 in which the cony lives; and there are no large snakes to search out and 

 devour this animal, as would be the case if it lived at lower altitudes. 



Conies seem to be most active during the early morning and evening 

 hours; but they evince more or less activity at all times of the day, and 

 they have been heard bleating on moonlight nights. They seem to enjoy 

 coming out and running about among the rocks or sitting on their obser- 

 vations posts just as the afternoon shadows have begun to creep over the 

 rock slides. Sometimes they will sit for considerable periods of time in 

 perfect quietness, and the observer must do likewise if he expects to catch 

 sight of them. 



The young of the Yosemite Cony are brought forth during the warmer 

 months of the year, and, as is the case with some of the rabbits, the breeding 

 season is an extended one. Thus, a young-of-the-year, already nearly the 

 size of adults, was taken on July 11, 1915, while as late as September 2 a 

 female containing embryos was found. Between July 3 and September 2, 

 1915, 4 pregnant females were obtained ; these held 3, 4, 3, and 4 embryos, 

 respectively. The young are precocious and venture abroad when only a 

 third grown. Thus in a rock slide near the Soda Springs on Tuolumne 

 Meadows, an individual weighing only li/^ ounces (40 grams) was collected 

 on July 12, and another even smaller individual (weighing 35 grams) was 

 taken on July 25, 1915. In form the young resemble the adults closely 

 save that, as with young of many other mammals, the feet and head are 

 disproportionately large. 



Black-tailed Jack Rabbits. Lepus californicus Gray" 



Field characters. — Of rabbit form but racy in build; ears longer than head (fig. 33) ; 

 legs and feet relatively long and slender. Head and body 18 to 19 inches (460-480 mm.), 

 tail 2% to 31/2 inches (60-90 mm.), hind foot 41/2 to 51/2 inches (118-140 mm.), ear 

 from crown 5% to 6% inches (147-165 mm.) ; weight about 5 pounds (2.3-2.4 kilo- 

 grams) . General coloration above pale yellowish brown, ticked with black ; under surface 

 of body varying from pale buff to white; tail black above. Workings : 'Forms' (resting 

 places) on ground beneath bushes; also paths leading in direct course across open 



16 Two races of the Black-tailed Jack Eabbit are found at the opposite ends of the 

 Yosemite cross-section. A form of intermediate characters in the southern San Joaquin 

 Valley connects these two, and so they are treated as subspecies of one species. 



California Jack Rabbit, Lepus californicus californicus Gray, inhabits the coastal 

 region of central California, the Sacramento Valley, and the northern part of the San 

 Joaquin Valley, and is common in the western part of our Yosemite section from the 

 plains below Snelling and Lagrange eastward into the foothill cotintry to near Bower 

 Cave and to the slopes of Bullion Mountain. 



Desert Jack Rabbit, Lepus californicus deserticola Mearns, ranges over the interior 

 deserts of California and the Great Basin and was found present in small numbers near 

 Mono Lake Post Office, east of the Sierra Nevada. It differs from the preceding in its 

 paler, more ashy coloration and in its slightly smaller average size. 



