GREAT PLAINS JACK RABBIT 133 



six or seven years. M. P. Somes informs the writer that he has 

 taken specimens at Fort Dodg-e, West Bend, and Rnthven. J. A. 

 Spurrell of Wall Lake writes as follows: "Jack rabbits or prairie 

 hares, are becoming more plentiful yearly bat the first record I 

 can find is of one seen in the southern part of the county (Sac) 

 in 1868 or 1869. One was killed near Lake View in 1870 and it 

 was five years before the hunter saw another. They did not become 

 nvunerous until 1890 to 1900."''^ The writer has seen or ha.s in 

 his collection specimens from the following' additional localities: 

 Marengo, Wall Lake, Estherville, and Jasper county. 



The jack rabbit is scarcely abundant enough in the state to 

 be considered of particular economic importance, but such con- 

 trol measures as may be n^ecessary are equally applicable to 

 Mearns' cottontail and will be found under the discussion of that 

 species further on in this paper. 



GREAT PLAINS JACK RABBIT. 



Lepus californicus melanoiis Mearns. 



Lcpus melanotis ^Mearns, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., II, No. 4, 

 297-303, February, 1890. 



Description. — Winter: General color above deep ochraceous buff 

 varying to light ochraceous buff overlaid with blackish ; sides of 

 body paler; rump patch gray, large and conspicuous and divided 

 by a broad blackish l)and extending over upper side of tail; front 

 of fore legs and tops of fore feet buffy, a little darker than the 

 body ; front of hind legs and top of hind feet pure white ; inside 

 of ears deep buff with a narrow white border on posterior edge, 

 a black border on tip, and a lirownish border posteriorly; color 

 below white or grayish white. 



3Ieasurements. — Total length, 22.00 inches ; tail vertebra, 3.10 

 inches; hind foot, 5.10 inches. 



The coloration of this form is variable as to individuals, season, 

 and geographic location but the characters above will serve to 

 differentiate it from any of our other forms. Only a single speci- 

 men, of the great plains jack rabbit has thus far been taken in the 

 state, and Iowa is so far from its supposed normal range that its 

 appearance here can scarcely be considered more than accidental. 

 The specimen was taken in tlie southern part of Johnson county 



3*Hif5tory of Sac Covinty. Iowa, by Wm. H. Hart, publisshed by B. F. Bowen 

 and Co., Indianapolis, Indiana. 



