MAMMALS OF ONTARIO. 



Class MAMMALIA. (The Mammals.) 



A Mammal is a warm-blooded, air-breathing vertebrate, having the 

 skin more or less hairy (rarely naked) ; viviparous ; the young nourished 

 for a time after birth by milk, secreted in the mammary glands of the 

 mother; respiration never by means of gills, but after birth by lungs, sus- 

 pended freely in the thoracic cavity, which is completely separated from 

 the abdominal cavity by the diaphragm ; heart with four cavities, a com- 

 plete double circulation ; blood warm. Brain case comparatively large, 

 corresponding with the increased development of the brain. 



Order GLIRES. (The Rodents, or Gnawers.) 



Mammals with the incisor teeth chisel-shaped, adapted for gnawing ; 

 no canine teeth ; a toothless space in the place of canines ; molar teeth 

 adapted for grinding ; ears and eyes usually well developed. Food chiefly 

 vegetable. 



This is the largest order of Mammals both in number of species and in 

 individuals. Most of the species are of small size, the Beaver being one 

 of the largest now existing. 



"Though a feeble folk, comparatively insignificant in size and 

 strength, they hold their own in legion against a host of natural enemies, 

 rapacious beasts and birds, by the.ir fecundity, their wariness and cunning, 

 their timidity and agility, their secretiveness, each after the means by 

 which it is provided for exercising its instinct of self-preservation, among 

 which insignificance itself is no small factor." (Coues.) 



FAMILY LEPORID/E. (THE HARES.) 



A well-marked and widely distributed family represented in this Pro- 

 vince by two well-known species. In all forms the ears are long, -eyes 

 large, and the tail short, bushy and recurved. 



GENUS LEPUS. 



(i) Lepus nuttalli mallurus. 



(Cotton-tail, Wood Hare, Gray Rabbit.) 



This animal has gradually extended its range from the States south 

 of us, into and over the entire Province, wherever the land is under culti- 

 vation, except the extreme northern and eastern portions. I do not know 

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