forest animals, are night prowlers. 

 Doubtless for protective purposes, Na- 

 ture provides this animal, like the deer 

 and some others, with the faculty of 

 changing the color of its coat with the 

 change of seasons. When the snow falls 

 in autumn, this breed of rabbit molts its 

 brown summer fur and takes on a new 

 coat as white as the snow itself. Again, 

 when the snow melts and disappears in 

 spring the varying hare sheds its white 

 fur and acquires a new coat of brown 

 for summer wear. The hind feet of this 

 animal are exceptionally large, especially 

 in winter when the long spreading toes 

 are entirely covered with still longer fur, 

 thus forming broad snow-shoe shaped 

 pads which enable their owner to freely 

 move about on deep soft snow. It is a 

 curious fact that the tracks left in the 

 snow by this animal show the large 

 spreading prints of the two hind feet, 

 placed ahead of the smaller imprints of 

 the fore feet, which at the end of a lope 

 always bring up in the rear. 

 44' 



