468 RODENTS 



again, and I wounded it. Next morning I found it had gone down 

 a burrow, in which it was able to move the old soft earth, but could 

 not dig into the hard earth at the end. 



" The shape of the burrow was an irregular oval, the longer 

 diameter being 10 feet 7 inches and the shorter 7 feet 3 inches ; the 

 end where we found the animal was 5 feet 5 inches below the surface, 

 and almost under the entrance. None of the Abyssinians with me 

 had seen a ' saherar ' before, and it excited much interest on the road 

 to Asmara." 



HARES AND RABBITS 

 (Genus Lepus) 



Since hares and rabbits are mentioned in Game Animals of India, 

 etc., the companion volume to the present work, a few lines must be 

 devoted to the African species, of which the following is a list 

 (exclusive of local races): Lepus atlanticus and L. maroccanus, 

 Morocco ; L. Jiarterti, Sahara ; L. zvhitakeri, Tripoli ; L. cabylicus and 

 L. pallidior, Algeria ; L. lumetce, Tunisia ; L. chadensis, Lake Tchad 

 district ; L. fagani, Lake Tsana district ; L. czgyptius, L. rothschildi, 

 and L. innesi, Egypt ; L. sherif, Mogador ; L. isabellinus, Sennar and 

 Kordofan ; L. habessinicus, interior of Abyssinia ; L. berberanus, 

 Abyssinian and Somali coast-country ; L. sontaliensis, interior of 

 Somaliland ; L. tigrensis, Abyssinian highlands ; L. hauheri, Upper 

 Nile ; L. microtis, Bahr-el-Ghazal and northern Abyssinia ; L. 

 crawsliayi, Brit. E. Africa ; L. ochropus, Zambesia ; L. whytei, Nyasa- 

 land ; L. victories, Victoria Nyanza district ; L. ruddi, Siludeni and 

 Transvaal ; L. crassicaudatus, Cape Colony ; L. capensis, South Africa 

 and Mozambique ; L. melanurus, Natal ; L. saxatilis, highlands of Cape 

 Colony, Natal, etc. ; L. monticularis ; Deelfontein ; L. angolensis, L. 

 ansorgei, and L. sales, Angola. 



To describe these in detail would occupy too much space, and a 

 few notes on some of the chief types must accordingly suffice. 



The Egyptian hare (L. cegyptius}, the species depicted in ancient 

 frescoes and sculptures, is smaller than the English hare, but has much 

 longer ears and paler-coloured fur. L. somaliensis and Z. tigrensis are 

 nearly related. Another well-known species is the Cape rock-hare 

 (L. saxatilis\ which is nearly as large as the English species, but has 

 longer ears and limbs, with the fur rufous above and dirty white below. 



