RODENTIA LEPORIDAE LEPUS PALUSTRIS. 615 



LEPUS PALUSTRIS, Bachman. 



Marsh Rabbit. 



Lepus palmtria, BACIIMAN, J. A. N. Sc. Phila. VII, n, 1837, 194, 336 ; pi. xv, xvi. IB. VIII, i, 1839, 79. 



AUD. Birds Amer. IV, 510 ; plate. 



WATERHOUSE, N. H. Mamm. II, 1848, 119. 



AUD. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 151 ; pi. xviii. 

 Lepus douglassi, var. 2, GRAY, Charles. Mag. N. H. Nov. 1837, 586. 



SP. CH. About the size of the common gray rabbit. Head and incisors disproportionately large. Ears scarcely two- 

 thirds the length of the head ; without any gray or black. Hind foot shorter than the head, acute at the toes, the nails 

 all visible. Tail very short, and not cotton-white beneath. Fur coarse and bristly. Above, pale grayish yellow brown, 

 much covered and lined with black on the back and head. Eump, upper surface of tail and outer surface of leg dusky 

 rusty. Beneath, grayish or ashy white. 



This is one of the most peculiar of all the American hares, on account of its short and thinly 

 furred hind feet, very large head, short tail, &c. It is really larger than L. sylvaticus, but the 

 head is disproportionately greater than in this species. 



As just stated, the head is very large, the skull longer, the incisors much broader and more 

 massive than in L, sylvaticus, or nearly one-third larger. The nose is large; the fissure of the 

 upper lip narrow. The ears are very short; scarcely two-thirds the length of the head; they 

 are broad and much rounded at tip; more so than in L. sylvaticus; the ear itself considerably 

 shorter. The hair on the ear is rather coarse and scant. 



The feet are very small and weak for the size of the animal, the hinder ones especially, the 

 length of which is considerably less ihan that of the head, and but little longer than the ear. 

 Owing to the shortness of the hair forming the pads on the sole, the hind feet appear very thin 

 and slender, and are acutely pointed at the toes ; the nails almost entirely uncovered. In the 

 slender and pointed character of the feet, the resemblance to an Agouti is quite striking. The 

 tail is very short, scarcely half the length of the ear, and forming only a slight prominence at 

 the rump. 



The fur is very coarse and bristly, the bristle hairs stiffer and more abundant than in L, 

 sylvaticus, especially in the winter. 



The colors of this species exhibit very little of the contrasts of the wood rabbit, the white 

 being much less pure. The upper parts are of a dull obscure yellowish brown, lighter on the 

 sides of the body, rather more reddish on the middle of the back, where the light color is much 

 overlaid with black tips to the hairs. There is a strong tinge of dull rusty brown on the rump 

 and exterior of the limbs. The band on the throat is like the sides ; the belly, and under the 

 head, are of a dull grayish ash, or whitish ash. The sides of the head are rendered very dark 

 by a uniform mixture of black tips to the hairs. There is a slightly lighter shade around the 

 eye. There are no light patchings or edgings to the ear, which is of a dirty yellowish brown, 

 lined with blackish, with a slight tinge of rusty on the outer band, nor is there any dusky line 

 or patch. The pads of the feet are dull brownish ; the tint above is dark rusty, beneath it is 

 pale whitish brown. The nape is of a uniform brownish chestnut, not very conspicuously 

 diiferent from the surrounding fur. 



Winter skins differ in a greater length and coarseness of the bristly hairs, which have so 



