172 African Zoology. 



peduncle. Eyes black ; ears thinly covered on both surfaces 

 with short, black, coarse hair. Length from nose to base of tail 

 about three feet ; lenijth of spines of tail about nine inches : 

 some of the spines on back measure about sixteen inches. 



Inhabits Africa and Asia, — common in South Africa. 



Le Pore-epic, Buff. Eiater Vark of the Cape Colonists. 



Genus Lepus. Linnceus. 

 Incisors I, canines I g, cheek teeth 1 1,-28. Upper incisors in 

 pairs, two in froiit and two immediately behind them', the 

 former large and cuniform, each with a longitudinal furrow on 

 its anterior surface, the latter small; the lower incisors square; 

 cheek teeth vnth small flat crowns with transverse lamince of 

 enamel; ears and eyes large ; fore-legs short witli five toes; the 

 hind-legs longer with four toes covered with hair; tail short; 

 teats from six to ten; ccecum very large. 



Lepus Capensis, Linnaeus. (Cape Hare.) Hair moderately 

 long and slightly rigid ; the surface colour of the forehead, 

 crown of head, back, and upper portions of sides, pale tawny 

 or tawny white freely brindled or speckled with black ; sides of 

 body and outer surfaces of extremities towards body dull grey- 

 ish white or pale rufous-white finely pencilled with dusky ; 

 Jower-parts of legs pale rufous more or less pencilled with 

 dusky ; muzzle tawny sprinkled with black ; sides of head 

 variegated tawny, dull white, and black ; eyes brown, and sur- 

 rounded by a circle of white hairs with a more or less distinct 

 whitish stripe extending backwards from the outer angle of each 

 in the direction of the ears ; nape pale tawny or rufous ; upper- 

 lip, angles of mouth, and lower-parts of neck, tawny or greyish 

 tawny, the latter sometimes pencilled with dusky Avhite ; chin, 

 breast, belly, and inner-surfaces of extremities, a pale fawn- 

 colour or a lig:ht rufous-Avhite ; ears with a thin sprinkling of 

 tawny-white down on the innei'-surfaccs ; outer-surfaces to- 

 wards inner-margins and tips thickly covered with short hair 

 entirely black on the latter and variegated brown and dull 

 white elsewhere ; inner margins till near the points fringed with 

 long tawny hair, outer mai-gius with short pure white hair, tips 

 margined with short black hair ; soles of feet clothed with 

 coarse rufous-brown hair ; tail black above, pure white beneath 

 and on the sides. Length from nose to base of tail about seven- 

 teen inches ; length of tail about four inches. 



Inhabits South Africa. 



Vlakte Haas of the Cape Colonists. 



Obs. A variety of this species is very common in South Africa, in 

 which the lower paris are pure white, and the outer surfaces of legs pen- 

 cilled dusky and dull white. The colours of the other parts are also 

 subject to sligiit variations. 



