344 VERTEBRATA. 



or pass into a state of torpidity, even in the severest winters; and for a great part of the year at 

 Least —its haunts have comparatively few visitors in the winter — it evinces nearly the same fertil- 

 ity and disposition to breed as those of its congeners which inhabit the most fertile places. 



It is altogether a very interesting animal, on account of the peculiarity of its haunts and the 

 determination, <>r rather the adaptation, with which it braves the utmost severity and duration of 

 the winter storms. In the winter months, even when the storms arc most severe and the snow 

 long -t upon the ground, these hares do not descend to the low grounds, but reside in bur- 

 rows under the snow. These burrows are usually made near the root of some tuft or upland 

 bush, by means of which a sort of chimney is kept open for the breathing of the animal, and it 

 feeds upon the substance of the tuft. As it preserves its high temperature during the rigor of the 

 weather, it also of course keeps up its rapid circulation, and requires a corresponding quantity <>f 

 breathing and of food. Under the snow, and with their thick and white fur, these animals have 

 do uncomfortable place of residence. Snow, till it melts, is a bad conductor of heat, and there- 

 fore the shelter of unmelted snow- is really warmer than that of a hole in the earth. The white 

 fur of the animal prevent- the escape of heat from its body to the snow around it, and the warm 

 air which it gives out in breathing speedily mounts up in the colder atmosphere, producing com- 

 paratively little effect on the breathing-chimney. In a sunny day, when the air is still and clear 

 over the -now, the retreats of these animals can be discovered by the little column of steam which 

 ascends from the breathing-chimney, and which forms a sort of miniature picture of the smoke 

 from the snow-house of an Esquimaux. 



This species is found principally in the north of Asia, and in Russia and the mountainous parts 

 of central Europe, hut is sometimes met with in the Alps and Pyrenees, and also in Scotland. 



Th. h -ii Hake, L. ffibernicus, is somewhat larger than the common hare; the head is rather 

 shorter; the cars are even shorter than the head, while those of the English hare are fully an 

 inch longer; the limbs are proportionally shorter; and the hinderdegs do not much exceed the 

 fore-legs in length. The fur is also different: it is composed exclusively of the uniform soft and 

 shorter hair which, in the common species, is mixed with the black-tipped long hairs that cause 

 the peculiar mottled appearance of that animal; it is therefore of a uniform reddish-brown color 

 on the back and sides. The ears are reddish-gray, blackish at the tip, with a dark line near 

 the outer margin. The tail is nearly of the same relative length as in the common species. Not- 

 withstanding these differences, however, some authors have suspected that this is a variety of the 

 Varying Hare. 



Among the other species of this animal are the Caspian Hare, L. Caspkus, which frequents 

 the holders of that sea; the L. Altaicus, found in the north of Europe and Asia; L. borcalis. 

 found in Sweden, and subject to an annual change of color similar to that of the Alpine hare, 

 and the L. canescens, also of Sweden. M. Schimper maintains that there is a difference between 

 tic variable hares of the Alps and of Russia, and proposes to give the former the designation of 

 L. Alpinus. This separation of species, however, is not established. 



Tic- A. toldi resembles both the common and the nimble hare, but the head is larger and nar- 

 rower than either; it- color is not changeable. The L. Thlbctanus of Thibet, greatly resembles 

 the common hare. Beside these, two species found in Nepaul, the L. pallipes and L. cemodiut, 

 are mentioned, though not fully described, by naturalists. The L.nigricollis is of Java ; the 

 A. ruficaudatus of Bengal, Nepaul, and the Himmaleh Mountains; the L. macrotus of India; the 

 /.. tint runs of < Tina. The L. Syriacus is found on Mount Lebanon; the L. Arabicus in the des< rte 

 of Arabia. 



To this list of European and Asiatic hares we must add the following African species: Thi 

 L. Mediterraneus oi Algiers and Sicily; the Abyssinian Babe, L. Sabessinicus ; the Egvptiam 

 Ears, L. /Egyptiv* ; L. isabellinus or cethiopicus, found in Nubia; the Rock Habe, L. saxa- 

 Mis, found in the mountain-, and th.' Vlaktb Haas, L. Capensis, found in the plains, of tl" ' 

 Cape of G 1 Hope. Of thi- region also is the Babbow Eabe, L.arenarius. 



America i- even mole fertile in its variety of hares than the other quarters of the globe, at I' 

 a dozen species being identified. The best known is that which goes under the name of Gbat, 

 Rabbit, L. sylvaHcus; thi- resembles the common European rabbit, L. cuniculus, in its wild' 



