LEPORID/—LEPUS CALIFORNICUS. Oe 
LEPUS CALIFORNICUS Gray. 
Californian Hare. 
Lepus californicus GRAY, Charlesworth’s Mag. Nat. Hist., i, 1887, 586; Proc. Zod]. Soc. Lond., iv, 1836, 88 
(name only, without a description).—BacuMan, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., viii, 18389, 86 
(description of Gray’s original specimen).—WaGNER, Suppl. Schreber’s Siiuget., iv, 1844, 110 
(from Bachman ).—WaTERHOUSE, Nat. Hist. Mam., ii, 1848, 131 (redescription of Gray’s and 
Bachman’s specimens).—Avp. & Bacu., Quad. N. Am., iii, 1853, 53, pl. cxii —G1nBEL, Siiuget., 
1855, 450.—Bairp, Mam. N. Am., 1857, 594, pl. lvii, fig. 2 (skull); U.S. and Mex. Bound. Survey, 
ii, ii, 1859, 47 (Lower Colorado River, Col.).— NEWBERRY, Pacific R. R. Ex. & Surv., vi, iv, 1857, 
SuckLEY & G1sBs, ibid., 132.—Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., xx, 1867, 224.—ALLEN, 
Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., xvii, 1875, 435. 
Lepus richardsoni BACHMAN, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., viii, 1839, 88.—(See also Aup. & Bacu., Quad. N. 
Am., ili, 1853, 56.)—WAGNER, Suppl. Schreber’s Siiuget., iv, 1844, 111. 
Lepus bennetti Gray, Zool. Sulphur, 1844, 35, pl. xiv. 
Of about the size of, or rather smaller than, Lepus callotis. Fars of 
about the same length as in that species, with the hind feet rather shorter. 
Above yellowish-brown, approaching reddish-brown, mixed with black. 
Below light cinnamon; lighter, approaching white, along the median line; 
more rufous on the chest, limbs, and sides, where the rufous becomes mixed 
with black. Nape fulvous. Anterior half of the ear pale blackish-brown, 
varied with fulvous; posterior half whitish, becoming white at the base; 
fringe of the borders light fulvous; tip of the ear black. Tail black above, 
the black extending forward in a broad line on to the rump; sides and below 
_ pale cimnamon-brown. Limbs exteriorly finely varied with black. 
This species differs in color from L. cadlotis mainly in its stronger tints, 
the rufous throughout the pelage being much stronger, and the intermixed 
black hairs of the upper surface more abundant. 
The color varies considerably in intensity in different individuals; speci- 
mens occasionally occurring nearly as pale as average specimens of L. cadlotis. 
‘At other times, the rufous tint becomes nearly as strong as in Lepus europeus 
(=timidus auct.) of the Old World. The amount and intensity of the black 
on the ears is also subject to considerable variation. The small white spot 
in the middle of the forehead, common to nearly all Hares when young, is 
generally distinctly traceable, as it is also in L. cadlotis and J. campestris. 
The ear varies in length from 5.00 to 6.50, ranging generally between 
5.50 and 6.00. The hind foot varies from 4.70 to 5.60, ranging generally 
between 5.00 and 5.40. The hind foot thus is generally considerably (about 
one-tenth) shorter than the ear. The length of the head is generally not more 
