RODENTIA LEPORIDAE LEPUS AQUATICUS. 



613 



less black. The rump, upper surface of the tail, outer and anterior surfaces of the feet, are 

 dark chestnut brown. The under half of the tail, the belly, and the under surface of the head, 

 with the lower part of the chin, are pure cottony white ; the band across the lower part of the 

 throat is light yellowish brown. There is a black spot in the middle of the forehead between the 

 anterior base of the ears. The ears are hoary gray in their concavity, the margin of which, 

 however, is yellowish brown. The anterior band is grizzled like the back ; the rest of the 

 back of the ear is dull ashy. There is much black on the sides of the head, sometimes 

 aggregated into a broad patch on the cheeks. 



The under fur on the back, anteriorly, is lead gray, tinged with sooty at the tip. Towards 

 the rump, however, there is an infusion of yellowish brown in the tips. The bristly hairs are 

 black, with a median bar of yellowish brown. There is the usual chestnut brown patch on 

 the nape. 



This species is readily distinguished from L. sylvaticus by its disproportionably larger head 

 and incisors and its absolutely larger size. The ears and hind feet are shorter, the latter much 

 thinner and more pointed. The tail is longer and narrower. The colors are somewhat similar, 

 but there is much more black on the back and head. The rump and legs are much redder, and 

 the fur on the anterior portion of the back lacks the yellowish brown tip. 



This species is very similar in many characteristics to L. palustris, as in the short ears, and 

 short and slender hind feet, disproportionate size of skull and incisors, &c. The size is, however, 

 much larger ; the tail much longer ; the under parts of tail and belly pure cottony white, &c. 



Measurement of sTculL 



This measurement was made with a less accurate rule than that used for the table in the 

 introductory article. 



It is a question whether Dr. Bachman and Waterhouse are correct in their identification of 

 the Lepus aquations of Bachman with the L. douglassi, var. 1 of Gray. Waterhouse gives a 

 much more elaborate description of Gray's specimen than the author does ; in the course of 

 which he mentions that the ears are rather shorter than the head ; the abdomen rufous yellow, 



