401 



LEPORID.E. 



LEPORID.E. 



402 



The sub-family Leporina seems to be strictly natural, consisting 

 entirely of those species, and they are not few, which are usually 

 known by the name of Hares and Rabbits. 



4 66 



Incisors, -5-; molars, j^r = 28. 



Teeth of Common Hare (Lepiu timiiiui}. F. Cuvicr. 



L. timidui, the Common Hare, which is generally considered as the 

 type, is too well known to need description, and it will suffice to state 

 that it is the Aayus of the Greeks ; Lepta of the Romans ; Lepre 

 of the Italians ; Liebre of the Spaniards ; Lebre of the Portuguese ; 

 Licvre of the French ; Hase of the Germans ; Haas and Haze of the 

 Danes ; Hara of the Swedes, according to Mr. Bell ; Hara of the 

 Anglo-Saxons ; Ysgyfarnog, Ceinach, of the Welsh ; Maukin of the 

 Scotch. , 



The usual weight of a full-grown Hare is 8 or 9 Ibs. ; but one is 

 mentioned in ' Loudon's Magazine ' of extraordinary size : this weighed 

 13 Ibs. IJoz. 



L. Hibernicui, the Irish Hare. The Earl of Derby appears to have 

 been the first who drew particular attention to this species, and it was 

 described in the ' proceedings of the Zoological Society ' by Mr. Yarrell 

 in 1833. Mr. Jenyns gives it as a variety of the L. timidus ; but 

 Mr. Bell ('British Quadrupeds') states that a careful examination of 

 several specimens has assured him that it is not merely a variety of 

 the Common Hare of England, but that it is specifically distinct. He 

 mentions the following differences of character : The Irish Hare is 

 somewhat larger ; the head is rather shorter ; the ears are even shorter 

 than the head, while those of the English Hare are fully an inch 

 longer; the limbs are proportionally rather shorter ; and the hinder 

 legs do not much exceed the fore legs in length. The fur is also 

 remarkably different : it is composed exclusively of the uniform soft 

 and shorter hair which hi the English species is mixed with the black- 

 tipped long hairs that give the peculiar mottled appearance of that 

 animal ; it is therefore of a uniform reddish-brown colour on the back 

 and sides. The ears are reddish gray, blackish at the tip with a dark 

 line near the outer margin. The tail is nearly of the same relative 

 length as in the common species. 



It further appears that L. Hibei-nicut is the only Hare found in 

 Ireland, which may account for its remaining so long unnoticed ; for 

 opportunities of comparison could not have been very frequent. Its 

 fur is considered valueless. 



Whether the Irish Hare will take the water willingly does not 

 appear ; that the English Hare is, occasionally at least, an accomplished 

 and bold swimmer is manifest from the following account related by 

 Mr. Yarrell in 'Loudon's Magazine" (vol. 5) : "A harbour of great 

 extent on our southern coast has an island near the middle of con- 

 siderable size, the nearest point of which is a mile distant from the 

 mainland at high water, and with which point there is frequent 

 communication by a ferry. Early one morning in spring two hares 

 were observed to come down from the hills of the mainland towards 

 the sea-side; one of which from time to time left its companion, and 

 proceeding to the very edge of the water, stopped there a minute or 

 two, and then returned to its mate. The tide was rising ; and after 

 waiting gome time one of them exactly at high water took to the sea, 



HAT. HIST. DIV. VOL. III. 



and swam rapidly over in a straight line to the opposite projecting 

 point of laud. The observer on this occasion, who was near the spot, 

 but remained unperceived by the hares, had no doubt they were of 

 different sexes, and that it was the male that swam across the water, 

 as he had probably done many times before. It was remarkable that 

 the hares remained on the shore nearly half an hour ; one of them 

 occasionally examining, as it would seem, the state of the current, and 

 ultimately taking to the sea at that precise period of the tide called 

 slack-water, when the passage across could be effected without being 

 earned by the force of the stream either above or below the desired 

 point of landing. The other hare then cantered back to the hills." 



The female goes thirty days with young, and produces from two to 

 five at a birth ; these 1 are born well covered with hair and with their 

 eyes open. The leveret quits the mother and provides for itself in 

 less than a month, and is capable of breeding when it is a year old. 



The Common Hare sometimes varies accidentally ; there is such a 

 variety in the museum of the Zoological Society of London. All 

 attempts to promote a breed between the hare and rabbit appear to 

 have been hitherto fruitless. 



L. variabilis, the Varying Hare, or Alpine Hare, of Pallas, which 

 changes the colour of its coat with the seasons, requires a short notice. 

 The fur, which is full and soft, is in summer gray intermixed with 

 silky hair of a yellowish brown ; the ears are tipped with black, and 

 the under parts are light gray. The tail is white beneath and gray 

 above. As the winter approaches the fur gradually becomes white, 

 except that on the lips and the tips of the ears, which remains black. 

 In the ' Edinburgh Philosophical Journal/ vol. ii., is an interesting 

 account of the process as it occurs in Scotland, from which it would 

 seem that the winter change of colour takes place without any removal 

 of the hair, as in the Ermine, and somewhat in the same way that 

 the change is effected on the head of the Black-Headed Gull, Xema 

 ridiliimdut, and in the feathers of other birds. " About the middle 

 of September," says the writer in the 'Journal,' "the gray feet begia 

 to be white, and before the month ends all the four feet are white, and 

 the ears and muzzle are of a brighter colour. The white colour 

 gradually ascends the legs and thighs, and we observe under the gray 

 hairs whitish spots, which continue to increase till the end of October ; 

 but still the back continues of a gray colour, while the eyebrows and 

 ears are nearly white. From this period the change of colour advances 

 very rapidly, and by the middle of November the whole fur, with the 

 exception of the tips of the ears, which remain black, is of a fine 

 shining white. The back becomes white within eight days. During 

 the whole of this remarkable change in the fur no hair falls from the 

 animal ; hence it appears that the hair actually changes its colour, and 

 that there is no renewal of it. The fur retains its white colour until 

 the month of March, or even later, depending on the temperature of 

 the atmosphere ; and by the middle of May it has again a gray colour. 

 But the spring change is different from the winter, as the hair is 

 completely shed." 



L. Cuniculus, Linn., the Rabbet, Rabbit, or Coney ; Coniglio of the 

 Italians; Conejo of the Spanish; Coelho of the Portuguese; Kaninchen 

 of the Germans ; Konyn or Konin of the Dutch and Belgians ; Kanin 

 of the Swedes ; Kanine of the Danes ; and Cwningen of the Welsh, is 

 known to every one. 



The fertility of the animal may be imagined when it is remembered 

 that it will begin to breed at the age of six months, and produce 

 several broods in a year, generally from five to seven or eight at a 

 time. Pennant says : " Rabbits will breed seven times a year, and 

 bring eight young ones each time. On a supposition that this happens 

 regularly during four years, their numbers will amount to 1,274,840." 

 The young are blind at their birth, and nearly naked. 



The fur of the Rabbit is in' considerable demand, particularly for 

 the hat trade ; and at one time the silver-haired varieties, or silver- 

 sprigs, fetched three shillings a piece, for ornamental linings to cloaks, 

 &c. ; in Pennant's time however the price had fallen to sixpence. 



The following additional species of Lepm are found in the ' British 

 Museum Catalogue :' 



L. A Itaicut, from the Altai Mountains. 



L. arcticue, the Rekalek, or Polar Hare. Labrador. 



L. Tolai, the Tolai. Siberia. 



L. macrotus, the Indian Hare. Nepaul. 



L. dioslolus, the Woolly Hare of Thibet. Nepaul. 



L. Douglasii, the Marsh Hare. California. 



L. kurgosa, the Lasa, or Khargosh. 



L. Vermicula, the Irish Rabbit. Ireland. 



L. Capensia, the Vlakte Haas. Cape of Good Hope. 



L. arenariui, the Barrow Hare. Cape of Good Hope. 



L. sasatilis, the Rock Hare. Cape of Good Hope. 



L. Sennettii. California. 



L. Americanus, the Wawproos, or American Hare. North America. 



L. sEyypticus, Egyptian Hare. Egypt. 



The subfamily Lagomina consists of a single genus, Lagomys, which 

 has the muzzle acute, the ears short and somewhat rounded, the soles 

 of the feet hairy, the claws falcular, and no tail. 



Incisors, _ ; molars, = 26. 



2 5 5 



2 D 



