264 LEPORID^— LEPUS 



heavier than either in Scotland or England ; amongst Scottish specimens 

 those from the Earn and Tay valleys attain great weights. 



Woodruffe-Peacocke {op. cit.) believes that British Brown Hares 

 can be divided into two intergrading sub-species ; those of Scotland 

 having a heavier, greyer coat in winter than those of the south of 

 England. 



Geographical variation : — L. europceus is a plastic hare, of which 

 several sub-species have been recognised. In the typical form, which 

 ranges from the Atlantic, except Britain, to Germany, and from 

 Denmark to central France, the hind feet (including claws) run to 

 about 150 mm., the colour is light and yellowish, and a pale winter coat 

 is frequently assumed ( = Nilsson's Lepus viedius, 1 820). The British form 

 {L. e. occidentalis) is, on the average, not so heavy ; its coloration is richer 

 and darker, and it more rarely assumes a pale winter coat ; both the above 

 have whitish bases to the underfur. L. e. pyrenaicus of Hilzheimer, of the 

 Pyrenees and south-eastern France, resembles the typical form, but is 

 smaller, having hind feet measuring up to 135 mm. L. e. corsicanus of 

 de Winton is about the same size as the last, but is yellower and has con- 

 spicuously buff bases to the underfur ; it is found in Italy (Rome), whence 

 it was introduced in classical times to Corsica and Sicily. L. e. hybridus 

 of Desmarest { = L. aqiiilonius of Blasius = (?) L. caspicus of Ehrenberg), 

 of eastern Germany to Russia and eastwards to Astrakhan, is a large 

 light hare; the hind feet measure at least 165 mm., the cheeks are 

 whitish, the rump buffy grey, and a grey winter pelage is habitually 

 assumed. L. e. transsylvanicus of Matschie ( = L. e. transsylvaticus of 

 Hilzheimer), of inexactly known distribution from Roumania south 

 through the Balkan peninsula to the Peloponnese, has the hind feet 

 reaching 1 54 mm., and a bluish-grey rump strongly in contrast with the 

 back ; this form has been introduced into Denmark. L. e. meridei 

 (Hilzheimer), a doubtfully distinct form found from south central and 

 south-eastern France to northern Italy and in Corfu, is very like L, e. 

 europceus, but its coloration includes more brown and less buff; it 

 has a bluish-grey rump, not, however, contrasted with the back, as 

 in transsylvanicus. Hilzheimer's carpathorum of the Carpathians is 

 probably also distinct. Other sub-species may occur in Asia Minor, 

 but they have not yet been studied. L. europceus certainly occurs at 

 Trebizond. 



Dimensions in millimetres : — 



Skull (range of two males Nos. 95-1-19-1 and 98-2-1 11 in the 

 British Museum of Natural History) : — Occipito-nasal length, 94-2 and 

 97-4; condylo-basal length, 82-8 and 85-4; zygomatic breadth, 44-6 

 (both) ; breadth at inter-orbital constriction, 20-4 and 22 ; breadth at 

 post-orbital constriction, 13-4 and n-2 ; breadth of brain-case, 31-4 and 

 30-8 ; nasals (diagonal), 41 and 42-2 ; greatest breadth of both nasals 



