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THE ALPINE HARE. 



THE ALPINE or WHITE HARE (lepus vartabilis) is, 

 in point of size, generally intermediate between the 

 common hare and the rabbit, though we have seen a 

 specimen as large as the former. It is a timid, gentle 

 creature, inhabiting the wild and lonely mountains, and 

 seldom found at a lower elevation than 1500 feet above 

 the level of the sea. They bring forth their young 

 in situations more lofty than this ; generally so much 

 so, as to be out of the reach of the wild cat and pine 

 marten. They live in holes, and under stones ; and as 

 their safety from the eagle is in concealment, and not 

 in flight, they are not easily raised. The following 

 account of their seasonal appearance, from the Edin- 

 burgh Philosophical Journal, vol. ii., is accurate; 

 though we have observed, that their whiteness is more 

 complete in long and severe winters : 



" The varying hare becomes white in winter. This 

 remarkable change takes place in the following manner : 

 About the middle of September the grey feet begin to 

 be white ; and, before the month ends, all the four feet 

 are white ; and the ears and muzzle are of a brighter 

 colour. The white colour gradually ascends the legs 

 and thighs, and we may observe, under the grey hairs, 

 whitish spots, which continue to increase till about the 

 middle of October ; but still the back continues of a 

 grey colour, while the eye-brows and ears are nearly 

 white. From this period the change proceeds very 

 rapidly, and by the middle of November the whole fur, 

 with the exception of the tips of the ears, which remain 

 black, is of a shining white. The back becomes white 



