RODENTIA LEPORIDAE LEPUS. 617 



LEPUS TEXIANUS, Aud. & Bach. Texas. 



? Lepus texianus, (Auo. & BACH.) WATERHOUSB, N. H. Mamm. II, 1848, 136. 



Am>. & BACH. N. Am. Quad. HI, 1853, 156 ; pi. cxxxiii. 



SP. CH. Larger than the Californian hare ; ears very large ; a dark brown stripe on the top of the neck, and a black 

 stripe from the rump, extending to the root of the tail and along its upper surface to the tip. Upper surface of body 

 mottled deep buff and black ; throat and belly, white ; under side of neck, dull rufous. A black patch on the inner surface 

 of the ear at its base ; anterior margin of ears, buff; posterior portion of the ear, for an inch and half from tip, whitish ; 

 extreme tip of the ear with a brown margin. Length to root of tail, 21 inches ; to ear, 4^ ; ear, externally, 6& ; tarsus, 

 5 inches ; tail 4^. 



The distinctions of this species from L. callotis are not well defined. The color seems to 

 approximate to that of L. californicus ; nor is there any mention made of the gray rump of callotis. 

 There are strong grounds for considering this as distinct from either of the above mentioned 

 species. The Lepus texianus of Waterhouse, however, appears entirely different from the 

 animal of Audubon and Bachman. It is described as having the fur long and soft; the color 

 pale, inclining to ashy gray, but strongly mottled with black and brownish white on the upper 

 parts of the body ; the throat and abdomen, white ; haunches and outer surface, gray ; tarsus, 

 nearly white ; back of neck, pale ashy gray ; tail black above, grayish beneath ; a large black 

 patch on the rump ; ears with a large black, patch at the apex externally. Length, 20 inches ; 

 ear, 6.50 ; tarsus, 5.00 ; tail, 4. 



The hairs on the upper parts of the body are white (very slightly tinted with gray) at the 

 root, brownish towards the middle, black above the middle ; with a broad, sub-terminal, almost 

 white ring, shaded into reddish near the black tip. 



This animal of Waterhouse resembles very closely the pale-naped varieties described of L. 

 callotis, very much more than L. texianus of Aud. & Bach. Should it be distinct from either 

 this or callotis, it must take priority over the former, (1848 to 1853,) which would then 

 require a new name. 

 LEPUS NUTTALLI, Bachmao. Columbia river. 



Under the head of L. artemisia, I have already given the synonymy of this species, which 

 I strongly suspect to be an immature specimen of the same. Should the identity be positively 

 ascertained, the name of L. nuttalli must take precedence as prior in point of date. 

 LEPUS CUNICULARIUS, Lichtenstein. Mexico. 



Lepus cunicularius, (LICHTENSTEIN,) WATERHOUSE, N. H. Mamm. II, 1848, 132. 



" Probably allied to the short-eared hares of the United States. Fur said to be short and coarse ; the general hue of the 

 upper parts of the body brownish black ; the hairs on these points being pale ashy gray at the root, light brown in the 

 middle, annulated with yellowish white towards the point, and with a long black point. Ears internally clothed with short 

 cream colored hairs ; externally pale gray brown, but assuming a blackish hue towards the tip ; back of the neck, yellow ; 

 orbit of the eye, throat, and abdomen, white. Length to root of tail, 15.50 inches; of tail, 2.75; of ear, 3.42; of 

 tarsus, 4.00." 



This species from Mexico, which must be considerably larger than L. sylvaticus, appears to 

 have been merely named by Lichtenstein in the Berlin museum, and notes in manuscript made 

 by Dr. Bachman , and communicated to Waterhouse. May not this be the Lepus douglassii, 

 var. 1, of Gray, mentioned under the head of L. aquaticusf 

 LEPUS DOUGLASSII, var. 1. Gray. Mexico? 



A reference to this species will be found under the head of L. aquaticus, page 613. 

 78 L 



