96 NOBTH AMERICAN FAUNA [No. 55 



Of food and breeding habits very little is known of this particular 

 subspecies, but there is no reason to suppose that they differ materially 

 from those of Ixdrdii and other members of the group in similar 

 situations. 



LEPUS AMERICANUS WASHINGTON!! BAIBD 

 WASHINGTON SNOWSHOB HAKE; BROWN HABE; RED RABBIT 



Lepus wazMngtontt Baird, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. Proc. 7 : 333, 1855. 



Type. Collected at Steilacoom, Wash., by George Suckley, April 1, 1854, 

 General characters. Approximate size and general form of the varying 

 hares, but more rusty or reddish brown at al], seasons, not changing to white 

 in winter. Summer and winter fur, dark grizzled rusty or reddish brown over 

 upper parts and throat; top of very small tail and back of ear tips blackish; 

 belly, chin, inside of legs, edges of ears, and sometimes toes and speck on 

 crown white; underside of tail buffy or gray. Young similar to adults, with 

 less white. 



Measurements. Average of five adults : Total length, 429 mm ; tail, 41 ; hind 

 foot, 125; ear (dry), from notch to tip, 62. Weight 2 pounds to 2 pounds 7 

 ounces. Dice records a female carrying embryos at 1,720 g=3 pounds 12 ounces. 



Distribution and habitat. These brown rabbits occupy the lower 

 country west of the high Cascades of Washington and Oregon, 

 ranging to the tops of some of the coast ranges and probably all, but 

 only onto the western foothills of the Cascades (fig. 13) . Their dark, 

 rich colors are a product of , the humid west-coast climate of abun- 

 dant rain and little snow, of dense shadowy forests and dark fern 

 and chaparral undergrowth. Just how far south they go is not 

 known, a specimen from near the headwaters of Kogue River being 

 the southernmost of any examined. It is not improbable that they 

 may range to the southern border of the State in humid Transition 

 Zone of the coast region. 



Specimens from the western foothills of the Cascades clearly show 

 intergradation with klamathensis, which occurs higher up the slope, 

 and there now seems ample evidence of the intergradation of all 

 the western forms of this group. 



General habits. The Washington hares are mainly forest dwellers, 

 but in many extensive areas of dense shrubby growth they find even 

 safer cover and better protection than in the forests. They are 

 rarely seen except as occasionally one hops put into a road or trail 

 or dodges back into impenetrable cover. Their dark colors are highly 

 protective, but most of their enemies are such stealthy hunters as 

 owls and cats, which pounce upon them unawares. On the upper 

 slope of Chintimini Mountain the writer came on one lying freshly 

 killed in the trail where a bobcat had evidently just dropped it. It 

 was still warm and made a good specimen. 



In Oregon these rabbits are so scarce and so well hidden as to be 

 of little value as game, but they add to the forest the interest and 

 lure of a rare animal. 



Breeding habits. Dice reports females containing 3, 4, and 5 em- 

 bryos and the mammae varying in number from 4 to 5 pairs, usually 

 1 pair of pectoral and 3 pairs of abdominal, but in one case 2 pairs 

 of pectoral and 3 of abdominal. 



On April 15, 1916, Alex Walker found a small young at Tillamook, 

 measuring only 153 mm in total length, and probably only a few days 

 or a week old. Dice found females containing small embryos on 



