LEPORIDA—LEPUS PALUSTRIS. 361 
nails generally exposed. Above yellowish-brown, inclining to rufous, strongly 
shaded with black. Below grayish-white, generally nearly pure white on the 
middle of the belly, shading through gray into yellowish-brown on the sides 
and on the breast and fore neck; chin grayish-white, passing into darker and 
more brownish-gray on the throat. Sides of the rump, posterior and outer 
surface of the limbs, and nape-patch rufous. Ears exteriorly grayish-rufous 
and black. ‘Tail beneath grayish-white, above rufous, varied with black. 
Fur coarse and bristly, especially in winter. 
In size, general coloration, and proportions, this species is nearer the 
southern form of the eastern variety of Lepus sylvaticus than any other; but 
the pelage is more rufous above and less white below; the rufous tint also 
covers the anterior surface of the hind limbs, which in Z. sylvaticus are 
whitish. The absence of any light edging to the ears, the very short tail, 
not conspicuously white or “cottony” below, the rusty instead of gray 
rump, and the sparsely-clothed feet and exposed nails further serve to readily 
distinguish it. The black, bristly hairs of the dorsal surface are also more 
abundant, coarser, and stiffer. The differences in the skulls of the two spe- 
cies are more marked, that of LZ. palustris being relatively larger and heavier, 
with a very much larger lower jaw, broader incisors, and stouter molars, and 
having the postorbital processes solidly anchylosed with the skull. Its small 
size, different coloration, etc., serve to at once separate it from L. aquaticus. 
The variation in coloration in different specimens is very considerable, 
but relates almost wholly to the intensity of the tints. In some, the brownish 
color of the upper parts, sides of the body, and limbs is much more intense 
in some specimens than in others. There is also a similar variation in respect 
to the black of the dorsal surface, which very much more predominates over 
the brownish ground-color in some individuals than in others, even among 
those from the same locality. By far the most highly-colored specimen is 
one from Mirador (near Vera Cruz), Mexico, in which the black is consid- 
erably more prevalent than in average specimens from the Atlantic States. 
The grayish area below is also more restricted and more suffused with 
brownish. 
’ The skull presents the usual amount of variation in size in different 
individuals, the extremes in a series of twelve specimens from Saint Simon’s 
Island, Georgia, being as follows: Length, 3.00 to 3.20; breadth, 1.40 to 1.57. 
