THE MAMMALS OF NEW JERSEY. 61 
This cottontail occurs all over the northern part of the State 
and overlaps the range of the other species. 
Lepus floridanus transitionalis Rhoads, Mam. Pa. and N. J., 
1Q03;)p:. BST. 
Lepus europzeus Pallas. 
Belgian Hare. 
Length 21 inches. General color grizzly gray, individual hairs 
gray with black tips, under-fur which shows through more or less, 
yellowish, face reddish fawn, throat buff, belly white, tail black 
above, white below. 
This large hare has been extensively raised on private grounds 
and preserves and has escaped to some extent, so that in several 
parts of the State it is not uncommon to see apparently wild 
individuals. It is a native of Europe, and can be at once distin- 
guished from the common cottontails by its larger size. 
Lepus europeus Rhoads, Mam. Pa. & N. J., 1903, p. 220. 
Lepus americanus virginianus (Harlan). 
Varying Hare. White Rabbit. 
LEX INGO: A 
Length 19 inches. In summer, upper parts russet to dull fer- 
ruginous; lower parts white. In winter, entirely white, though 
some individuals remain partly brown throughout the winter in 
the southern part of its range. 
This is the native hare of the northern evergreen forests, the 
cottontail being distinctly the animal of the deciduous woods to 
the south. Where the axeman shows the way the cottontail fol- 
lows, and as the hemlocks and spruces are cleared away the vary- 
ing hare retreats into a constantly narrowing range as the other 
advances. 
In Pennsylvania it remains here and there where patches of 
the boreal forest still stand. In New Jersey, however, it is well 
nigh exterminated, though a few may still remain in the higher 
swamps of the Kittatiny range in Sussex and Warren counties. 
