338 



RODENTIA. 



LEPORID^. 



LEPORIDM. 



— ^ 



MOUNTAIN HARE. 



Lepus variabilis (Pallas). 



Specific Character. — Liglit fulvous-grey, becoming pure white in winter 

 in severe climates; ears shorter than the head, pennanently tipped with lilack; 

 tail little more than half the length of the head. First upper grinder notched 

 at its interior angle. 



Pallas, Nov. Spec. Glir. p. 1. 

 NiLSSON, Skand. Fauna, vol. III. t. 19. 

 ., ,, ,, III. t. 11, 



Lepus variabilis, 

 ,, horealis, 

 ,, canescens. 



,, liibernicus, Yarrell, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. 88. 



The Mountain Hare is extensively distributed through- 

 out the countries which lie round the Arctic Circle, and 

 on such higher mountain ranges as present a suitable cli- 

 mate in more southern latitudes, where it appears to have 

 been left with the other alpine animals at the close of the 

 glacial epoch. It is spread all over the north of Europe 

 and Asia, and is represented in North America by a closely 

 allied species, the L. glacialis of Leach, which some natu- 

 ralists regard as identical. On the plains it finds its 

 southern boundary in Scotland and Ireland, in Russia 



