75 



The ears are strongly particolored. The back of the ear is snow- 

 white to within about an inch of the tip, where it is abruptly black. 

 The vei-y edge of the posterior border of the ear is snow white at 

 base, but generally tinged with tawny in the rest of its extent. The 

 broadly folded over anterior border of the ear, and the furriest part 

 of the inside of the ear opposite are like the crown of the head, but 

 the pattern is still finer. The anterior edge of the ear gives a deli- 

 cate fawn- colored stripe all the way along, supplemented by a pure 

 white fringe of longer hairs. The tip of the ear in front is black like 

 the back, but this black tipping is of less extent than it is behind. 

 The shortest pilous hairs of the concavity of the ear are white, tend- 

 ing to pale fawn color towards the end of the ear. Sometimes that 

 portion of the concavity of the ear which is not covered by the fold 

 of the anterior border shows a quite blackish area, only less conspicu- 

 ous than the black tip. 



The sexes of this species are not distinguished by any constant 

 color-marks, nor have I been able to satisfy myself that there are 

 any other than the purely sexual external characters, though the 

 male may average rather the larger, longer-limbed and greater-eared. 

 Nor are the young, from the time they are a few weeks old, materi- 

 ally different from the adults. The very young rabbits, however, 

 have distinguishing color-marks. The dark portions of the hairs are 

 extensive and intense ; while the fur is so remarkably long, loose and 

 straggling that this dark color is more apparent than it is in the 

 adults. There are also some curious special head markings. The 

 most conspicuous of these is a small pure white spot, exactly on the 

 middle of the crown ; which is usually accompanied by a white eye 

 stripe, a white patch in front of the eyes, and white on the side of the 

 nose. These markings are diffuse and irregular, but still quite notice- 

 able ; and the coronal spot persists usually until the animal is well 

 grown. The foot-pads are white or whitish until they become grad- 

 ually discolored by contact with the ground. The incisors are white. 

 On comparing very young animals with individuals of the same size 

 of the cotton tail of the region (the latter must be a week or so older 

 to attain corresponding dimensions) the differences are very obvious. 

 The larger species already displays the longer limbed and seemingly 

 "looser-jointed" characteristics of its kind, in comparison with the 

 close-set, chubby form of the smaller rabbit : the fur is very notably 

 longer, looser and fluffier, without the. smoothness and gloss of that 

 of the other species ; while the coloration is entirely mixed blackish 

 and yellowish gray, without any of the rich ruddy tints of the limbs, 

 breast and nape, which appear from the first in the smaller species. 

 The black tips of the ears and their fawn colored margins are also 

 characteristic. 



