I/O 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[August, 1904. 



R^a^re Living AnimoLls 

 London. 



m 



By P. L. ScLATER, Dr.Sc, F.R.S. 



11.— The Cev-pe Jumping HaLre, 



1 1 'cdctcs Cajfcr. 1 

 This is, indcjci, a rare animal in London, and I be- 

 li_>ve that the specimen from which Mr. Goodchild has 

 prepared the accompanying sketch is the only repre- 



The general colour of the Jumping Hare is tawny 

 brown, becoming paler on the sides and almost pure 

 white beneath. There is also a well-marked white 

 stripe on the body in front of the thighs. The eye is 

 large and the ears are rather long and somewhat 

 pointed; they are thickly clothed with hairs at the base, 

 though nearly naked at their upper ends. The fore- 

 limbs are short, with five pointed toes which are usually 

 carried close to the body and are not very perceptible 

 in the ordinary attitude of the !i\ ing animal. The hind 

 legs are strongly developed and much lengthened, the 

 tarsus being as long as the foot from the knee to the 

 ankle. There are onlv four toes to the hind-limb, of 



II. — The Cape Jumping Hare i/VA/cs Cajjcv). 



sentative of the species that has as yet been l^rought 

 ali\e to this country. 



'I'he '■ Jumping Hare " of the Cape Colon v, the 

 " -Spring-haas " of the Boer farmers, is a well-known 

 inhabitant of the high interior plains of South .-\frica, 

 and has attracted the attention of travellers and settlers 

 there from the earliest times. As long ago as 177S it 

 was described by the learned Russian naturalist, Pallas, 

 as Mils cajjcr, and shortly afterwards Buffon, in the supple- 

 ment to his "Histoire Xaturelle," gave a fairly accurate 

 account of it as the Grande Gerboisc du Cap, from notes 

 and sketches furnished to him by Forster. Other well- 

 known authorities on South Africa who have written of 

 it are Sparrman, Thunberg, l.c \ aillant, and Rurchell, 

 the last-mentioned naturalist having carefullv described 

 it in his "Travels in the Interior of South Africa," 

 from observations made in Griqualand West, where, at 

 his time, it was by no means uncommon. 



which the third is the longest, and all are armed with 

 solid hoof-like nails. The tail is nearly as long as the 

 body (about 20 inches), .ind is covered with long hairs; 

 it is brown above and paler beneath, with a large 

 terminal black patch. 



The Spring-haas is nocturnal, or, at any rate, 

 crepuscular, in its habits. It lives in small communi- 

 ties on the open veldt, both in the plains and in the 

 mountain-ranges, and makes large and deep burrows in 

 the ground, whence it emerges towards sunset, being 

 rarely seen in the bright daylight. When chased in 

 the open it proceeds in great bounds like a Jerboa or 

 kangaroo, for which its highly-developed hind legs are 

 admirably adapted, and it is even said to move fastei 

 up hill than down. Its food is entirely of a vegetable 

 nature, and consists of roots and green stuff of all 

 sorts. Its tlesh, according to Le \'aillant, is very good 

 to eat, and in his days was much appreciated b-- the 

 Hottentots and Caffers. 



