604 U. 8. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



in winter, I find but little difference in size ; the feet very nearly the same length those of 

 992 a little shorter, and the pads deeper and fuller. The ears of 992 are absolutely a little 

 larger and broader. The general color is grayish instead of yellowish red, or reddish brown, 

 the subterrainal black bar less distinct. The ears are more fully furred, and more hoary on 

 their dorsal surface. 



The specimens from the plains of the Columbia are all remarkable for the softness of fur, the 

 amount of hair on the ear, and the density and depth of the fur of the pads of the feet. Those 

 from the plains east of the Rocky Mountains, in Texas and New Mexico, are of shorter fur on 

 the body and pads, and the ears thinner, rather narrower, longer, and more pointed. 



They are of rather smaller size, though this would not appear from the measurements given 

 in the following table, but the longest mentioned are very much over stuffed. A rather darker 

 hue is discernable in some than in those further north. 



With every willingness on my part I have been unable to find any satisfactory distinctions of 

 species in this series, owing, possibly, to the fact of the imperfect condition of most of the Texas 

 skins. 



Should the small Texas hare of Audubon and Bachman be really the L. bachmani of Water- 

 house, as asserted by him, and identical with the Columbia river and Missouri species, then this 

 name will have priority over artemisia; if different, it will still remain to be determined 

 whether L. nuttaUi be not really an immature specimen of the little sage rabbit. An examina 

 tion of the specimen of Lepus, now in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, upon which this species was based by Bachman, satisfies me that it is a very young 

 animal, far from being mature, and that, consequently, it has no real existence in nature as the 

 smallest known of all hares. Every feature about it is that of a half-grown animal, as shown by 

 the comparative shortness of the ears, the oblique inclination of the upper incisors to each other, 

 the soft shapeless woolly texture of the fur, &c. 



Although no absolute certainty can be arrived at in regard to its exact character, the proba 

 bilities are that it is the young of Lepus artemisia, which is the only small hare that inhabits 

 the region where it was found. It has the rather long full tail of this species, its long well- 

 furred legs, and other features which distinguish the L. artemisia from L. iroiubridgii. The 

 name of nuttalli has precedence of one year over bachmanii, and two over artemisia. 



A very young rabbit, (1161,) (as shown by the teeth, in which the anterior molar is not yet 

 up in place,) collected by Dr. New berry, at Rhett Lake, agrees very strikingly with the descrip 

 tion and dimensions of L. nuttalli, as does also No. 258, from Fort Pierre. 



