298 MONOGRAPHS OF NORTH AMERICAN RODEDTIA. 
the specimens, while there is generally a well-marked brownish area on the mid- 
dle of the back, which varies in tint from pale yellowish-brown to dark reddish- 
brown and even reddish-fuscous. Generally, the upper surface of the head and 
the anterior surface of the ears are but little lighter-colored than in summer; 
but there is in some a broad band running from the base of the ears to the 
nose, on each side of the head, more or less nearly pure white, and occasion- 
ally the whole upper surface of the head is yellowish-white. From the dates 
on the labels, this species appears to assume its winter dress in November, 
as I have observed it to do in Southwestern Wyoming; but in Northwestern 
Kansas I found that a considerable proportion of the individuals observed 
retained nearly their summer colors in midwinter; they then have a much 
fuller, softer coat than in summer, and the general color of the upper surface, 
the sides of the body, and the limbs is much more strongly suffused with 
fulvous than in summer specimens. The under fur is also very thick and 
silky, and pure white, instead of being more or less plumbeous, as in summer. 
In the specimens from more northern localities, every degree of whiteness is 
presented, from those that are scarcely lighter than in summer to those which 
have a uniformly nearly pure white surface. 
In summer, the color of the dorsal surface varies considerably in respect 
to the intensity of the yellowish suffusion; in some, it is so faint as to be 
scarcely appreciable, while in others it presents a pale golden hue. In several 
specimens from Ogden, Utah, and in one from Fort Crook, California, this 
suffusion partakes of a faint reddish tint, and there is a more decided grayish 
line on the upper surface of the tail than in those from the plains east of the 
Rocky Mountains. 
Several very young specimens from the valley of the Yellowstone do not 
differ essentially in color from the adult. 
This species was first described by Lewis and Clarke, in 1814, in the 
history of their expedition across the continent (vol. ii, p. 178), but they 
omitted to give it a distinctive name. Harlan, in 1825, copied their descrip- 
tion, indicating the species, however, merely as “Lepus virginianus, var.1”; 
thus partially confounding it with his Lepus virginianus (= L. americanus 
auct.), or the White Hare of the Eastern States. Dr. Richardson, while 
recognizing it as distinct from the ZL. americanus, identified it with Harlan’s 
Lepus virginianus, he not only redescribing it from a “mutilated winter skin”, 
but also quoting Lewis and Clarke’s description. In 1837, Dr. Bachman 
