RODENTIA LEPORIDAE LEPUS GLACIALIS. 577 



B. SKULL WITHOUT ANY POST-ORBITAL PROCESS. 



Post-orbital processes so fused in the frontals as not to exhibit a suture. Feet 

 very short ; fur very scanty, exposing the toes. 



12. Tail long, pure white beneath L. aquaticus. 



13. Size much less. Tail very short ; dull brownish white beneath L. palustris. 



LEPUS GLACIALIS, Leach. 



Polar Hare. 



Lepus glacialis, LEACH, " Ross' Voyage, 8vo, II, 1819, App. iv, 170." 



ED. SABINE, App. Narr. Franklin's Journey, 1823, 664. IB. App. Parry's First Voyage, 1824, 187. 



RICH. App. Parry's Second Voyage, 1825, 321. IB. F. Bor. Am. I, 1829, 221. 



HARLAN, F. Am. 1825, 194. 



GRIFF. Cuv. V., 1827, 265. 



FISCHER, Synopsis, 1829, 373. 



J. C. Ross, in App. J. Ross' Narr. 1835. 



BACHMAN, J. A. N. S. Phila. VII, 11, 1837, 285 ; pi. xxi. -Is. VIII, i, 1839, 76. 



WAGNER, in Schreb. Saugt. IV ; pi. ccxxxv. D. (original figure. No text.) IB. Supplement Schre- 

 ber, IV. 1844, 101. 



WATERHOUSE, Nat. Hist. Mamm. II, 1848, 102. 



AUD. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 242 ; pi. xxxii. 

 Lepus timidus, FABR. Fauna Groenl. 1780, 25. 

 "L. arcticus, LEACH, Ross' Voyage, II, 1819, App. 151." * 

 Varying hare, PENNANT, Hist. Quad. 1781, No. 242. IB. Arctic Zoology, I, 1784, 94, (in part) 



SP. CH. Size very large ; exceeding a large cat. Ears about four-fifths the length of the head. Hind foot considerably 

 longer than the head. Color in winter, pure white to the roots of the hairg ; the ears, however, black at the extreme tip 

 on both surfaces. In summer, yellow-brownish gray above, varied with black ; rump and upper surface of tail sooty 

 plumbeous ; under parts whitish, everywhere with a strong sooty tinge. Ear almost uniform glossy black, with the 

 posterior margin whitish ; the membrane dark brown 



This species is among the largest, if not the largest, of the varying hares, not only of this 

 country, but of Europe. The ears and legs, however, are far from assuming the dimensions of 

 the more southern Texas and California species. 



Taking an adult in winter as the type, the head is much arched and broad. The ears are 

 about four-fifths the length of the head ; they are broad, ovate ; the membrane somewhat 

 rounded, but appearing more pointed on account of the hair. They are closely covered with 

 hair on both sides, except towards the bottom of the concavity, which is nearly naked. The tail 

 is rather short, and so densely covered with hair as to be appreciable only on close examination. 

 The under surfaces of the feet are densely furred, so much so as very nearly to conceal the nails, 

 which are nearly black. The fur is very full, soft, and fine all over the body. 



The color of this species in winter is a pure white to the very base of the hairs ; the brushy fur 

 on the under surfaces of the feet only being of a dirty yellowish white. The edges of the orbit, 

 the eyelashes, the nails, and the membrane of the ear are black ; there is a triangular patch 



1 I have not this work at hand to ascertain why the name of arcticus should not be retained, as taking precedence in the 

 paging of the same work. 



73 L 



