American Polar Hare 



to the last decade. The first are said to have been brought here 

 from Massachusetts by an old fox hunter some thirty years ago." 



The earlier writers of the natural history of this country pretty 

 generally agree in giving the habitat of the northern hare as the whole 

 of the Eastern states south to Virginia, and scarcely allude to the gray 

 rabbit at all, some authors describing it as a Western species not 

 found east of the Mississippi. But Thoreau's diary written in the 

 woods of Concord, Massachusetts, half a century ago and more, 

 makes no mention of the larger species, all the hares referred to being 

 unmistakably cotton-tails. 



Last winter, 1898-9, I paid frequent visits to the only permanent 

 colony of white rabbits that I know of in this region, situated three 

 or four miles to the northeast, where they occupy perhaps one 

 hundred acres of old growth timber, only occasionally wandering into 

 the neighbouring woods and swamps where the gray rabbits abound. 



But the latter in small numbers penetrate to all parts of the 

 white rabbits' domain, some of them even taking up their quarters in 

 the very heart of it, and I have sore misgivings that sooner or later 

 the original inhabitants will be forced to leave, for just as the white 

 men have driven away the dark-skinned native, so among the hares 

 matters seem to be reversed, and the dark-skinned new-comer 

 is driving off the native whites. 



Varieties of the Varying Hare 



1. Varying Hare. Lepus americanus virginianus (Harlan). Range 



and description as above. 



2. Labrador Varying Hare. Lepus americanus Erxleben. Yellow- 



ish-brown to drab in summer, always pure white in winter. 

 Range. Replaces the former in the wooded regions of 

 Labrador. 



3. Nova Scotian Varying Hare. Lepus americanus struthiopus 



Bangs. Much darker and duller than the varying hare, with 

 no ferruginous tints. 

 Range. Takes the place of the common form in Nova Scotia. 



American Polar Hare 



Lepus arcticus Ross 

 Called also Arctic Hare, White Hare. 



Length. 23 inches. 



Description. Hair somewhat curly, white at all seasons except the 

 tips of the ears which are blackish; a few long blackish hairs 



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