COMMON HARE, 275 



The Common Hare of this country and of the 

 Continent of Europe, Lepus timidus of Linnaeus, 

 presents the following characters : The body is 

 large, compressed, and deep ; the neck very short ; 

 the head of moderate size, convex above, broad and 

 obtuse in front, the nose being depressed, the lips 

 tumid, and separated by a deep incision ; the eyes 

 Tery large, prominent, and situated laterally ; the 

 ears of the same length as the head, narrow, deeply 

 concave, with the tip rounded. The hind limbs are 

 much longer, and have only four toes, while there 

 are five on the anterior j the soles of all are covered 

 with hair ; the claws rather long, slightly arched, 

 compressed, rather acute, but those of the hind feet 

 blunted in older individuals. The tail is very short 

 and recurved. The fur is of two kinds, as in all 

 the species of this genus ; the longer hairs are very 

 slender at the base, enlarged towards the end, acu- 

 minate and recurved, and intermixed with still longer 

 straight hairs ; the shorter extremely fine and tor- 

 tuous. On the feet the longer hairs predominate, 

 and are straightish, adpressed, and rather stiff; on 

 the ears they are short ; on the nape wanting. The 

 mystachial bristles are long, faintly undulated on 

 two opposite sides, disposed in several series, the 

 lower forming a tuft \ five or six long bristles arise 

 over the eye ; and there are some shorter beneath 

 it. The hair on the lower parts is longer, on th* 

 tail soft and woolly. The fore part of the mouth 

 within is covered with stiffish woolly hairs. The 

 upper parts are light yellowish-brown, mingled with 



