328 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [anNO 1772. 



It answers to Mr. Pennant's description, except that the white stripe on the 

 head is not connected with that on the back, and that the brown area, which is 

 left between the two white stripes on the back, is broader than he describes it. 



7. Canada Porcupine. Penn. Syn. Quad. p. 266, n. 196. Hystrix dorsata. 

 Linn. Severn river. 



It agrees perfectly with the descriptions. These animals live among the pine 

 trees, of which the bark is their food in winter, as willow tops and the like are in 

 summer. They copulate in September, and bring forth only one young the first 

 week in April. During winter they seldom travel above 500 yards, so that one 

 is always sure of finding a porcupine, as soon as one meets with a tree that has 

 been fresh stripped of its bark. The longest quills of an old porcupine are about 

 5 inches long. The Europeans are very fond of the flesh of these animals, as it 

 tastes, when roasted, exactly like that of a sucking pig. Their bones in winter 

 have a greenish yellow colour, perhaps owing to their continually feeding on the 

 bark of pine trees. It is known that the bones of animals will become red by 

 their feeding on madder. 



8. Beaver. Penn. Syn. Quad. p. 255, n. IQO. Castor Fiber. Linn. 

 Churchill river, N° 1. 



A most beautiful specimen, in high preservation, and in full season; the fur 

 is of a fine jetty black: the skull of another has likewise been sent. There is a 

 great similarity in the conformation of the cutting teeth of this and the preceding 

 quadruped (the porcupine) ; only the latter has them longer. 



g. Musk-Beaver. Penn. Synn. Quad. p. 259, n. 121. Castor Zibethicus. 

 Linn. Musquash. Severn river. 



It frequents the plains, builds a house like the beaver, brings forth from 5 to 

 7 young at a time, and feeds on poplars, willows, and grass. 



10. Alpine Hare. Penn. Syn. Quad. p. 249, n. 185. Lepus timidus. Linn. 

 Kalm's Trav. into N. America, iii. p. 59. York fort. 



A fine specimen, in its complete winter fur, being quite white, except the 

 ears, which have black tips. It is much larger than the following animal. The 

 common hare, Penn. Syn. Quad, does not seem to be a native of America. 



1 1 . American Hare, called Rabbit at Hudson's Bay. Kalm's Trav. into N. 

 Amer. i. 105, 11. 45. Severn and Churchill rivers. 



This species, which has been improperly called rabbit, perhaps because it is 

 less than the hare, is certainly new, and was never described before, except by 

 Kalm in his Travels through North America, vol. i. 105, ii, 4b. The account 

 he there gives, corresponds with that of Mr. Graham, and with the specimen 

 now in the Royal Society's collection. These animals are numerous at Hudson's 

 Bay; they do not burrow under ground, but live sumnier and winter under 

 windfalls and roots of trees. They do not migrate, but always keep about the 



