ZOOLOGY. 391 



Audubon's hare (Lepus audubonii) inhabits the coast val- 

 leys from Petaluma to San Diego. It is fifteen inches long, 

 with a tail measuring to the end of the hairs on it three 

 inches. The color is mixed yellowish-brown and black above, 

 white beneath, thighs and rump grayish. 



Trowbridge's hare (Lepits trowbridgii) is found along the 

 coast southward from 39. The length is from eleven to fif- 

 teen inches ; the tail, with hair and all, less than an inch. 

 The back is yellowish brown mixed with dark brown, paler on 

 the sides, and ash-colored beneath. 



The sage rabbit (Lepus artemisia) is found in all the open 

 parts of California north of the Straits of Carquinez. It is 

 from eleven to sixteen inches in length; in color, brown above 

 and white beneath, with a yellowish tinge, the under part of 

 the neck a yellowish brown. The fur on all parts of the body 

 is lead-colored at the base. 



311. Sea-Lions. The sea-lions, of the Otaria genus, fre- 

 quent the coast from May to November, making their homes 

 during the winter in some other clime, but where is not 

 known. They delight to collect on clear summer days on rocks 

 near the water's edge, and bask in the sun. They may be 

 seen nearly every day on the rocks near the Golden Gate, and 

 heard, too, for they keep up a kind of barking or growling in 

 chorus, which grows louder as they see any one approaching. 

 They do not wait, however, to let a man come very near, but 

 pitch off into the sea before he is within fifty yards of them. 

 Their color varies from light yellowish-brown to dark brown 

 and dark iron-gray. They have no mane like that of their 

 relatives in higher latitudes. Fish and birds are their diet, 

 and both are caught with great activity and some stratagem. 

 When a sea-lion sees a gull swimming, he will dive and try 

 to come up under the bird, which he at once seizes ; or if the 

 bird is hovering over the water, the sea-lion will dive, and 

 come up near the place, but keep under the water, the sur- 

 face of which he breaks, as if a fish were there, and when 



