THE BRITISH MAMMALS I THEIR GENERA AtfD SPECIES. 43 



narrow flippers not so long. In colour it is greyish black above, 

 white below, with a brown stripe between, and there are other mark- 

 ings, including a black ring round the eye. The teeth number from 

 thirty-five to thirty-seven in each jaw ; and there are from seventy- 

 eight to eighty- two vertebrae. The length over all does not exceed 

 nine feet ; the flippers are thirteen inches long, which is the vertical 

 height of the dorsal fin, and the flukes are twenty-five inches across. 



Lepus. P xiv. RODENTIA. 



46. europaus, COMMON HARE. Ears longer than head; tail as long 



as ears and black above. Colour brownish grey in 

 winter. 



47. timidus, MOUNTAIN HARE. Ears not longer than head ; tail 



shorter than ears and leaden grey above. Colour 

 white in winter. 



48. cuniculus, RABBIT. Ears not longer than head ; tail longer than 



ears and blackish above. Colour greyish brown in 

 winter. 



In this genus there are two incisors, three premolars, and three 

 molars in the upper jaw, and one incisor, two premolars, and three 

 molars in the lower. The second pair of incisors in the upper jaw 

 are small and square, the side teeth are rootless, and divided into 

 plates by the enamel folds. The openings of the skull are all large ; 

 the facial surface of the maxilla is reticulated. In the gap between 

 the incisors and premolars the hair extends into the mouth on to the 

 inside of the cheek. The soles of the feet are thickly haired, and 

 the hind legs are longer than the others. The hind foot has four 

 toes, the fore foot has five. 



The Common Hare is brownish grey above, becoming much 

 greyer in the winter when the darker colour shades off more 



COMMON HARE. 

 (Lepus luroptfus.) 



gradually into the white of the under parts. The narrow, concave 

 ears are rounded at the tips, whicn are black for some distance 



