I 



LEPOBID^— LEPU8 AMERICANUS VAB. VIRGINIANUS. 



307 



Maine, belonging to var. virginianus (see Tabic XIX), is practically nothing, 

 being less than five one-liundredths of an inch ! 



A more detailed comparison ot var. nmericanus with var. virginianus, and 

 also with vars. Imirdi and washing/oni, will be given later, with also gen- 

 eral remarks on the synonymy of the several forms. . « 



Var. VIRGINIANUS. 

 Southern Varying Hare 



Similar in size and proportions to var. americanus. Winter pelage with 

 the white color of the surface extending less deeply, and the ears, head, and 

 feet more or less varied with brown. In summer, more rufous, the color 

 being rich reddish-brown or cinnamon-brown, instead of dark umber or 

 sepia-brown. Winter pelage worn for a shorter time, and the seasonal change 

 of color less complete. 



Winter specimens vary greatly in respect to the depth of the whiteness 

 of the upper surface. Some are pure white throughout, except the black 

 edging of the tips of the ears, the whiteness extending so deeply as to wholly 

 conceal the subjacent zone of brown. In others, the brown is visible through 

 the surface, or is exposed by the slightest disarrangement of the pelage, and 

 the ears remain more or less brownish, sometimes having but little more 

 white than in summer. The upper surface of the head and the feet are also 

 often reddish-brown. Occasionally, midwinter specimens are sometimes met 

 with in which the colors of the summer pelage still predominate throughout. 

 The assumption of the white pelage is not only less complete in var. virgini- 

 anus than in var. americanus, but, as previously stated, the change begins 

 later, and the winter livery is retained for a much shorter time. In Massa- 

 chusetts, New York, and Northern Pennsylvania, the change rarely begins 

 before the middle or last of November, and, occupying several weeks, is i.ot 

 completed till after the middle of December. In Nova Scotia, according to 

 Dr. Gilpin,* specimens in the earliest stages of change are generally not met 

 with before the end of November ; while, in New Brunswick, according to 

 Dr. Welch,t the first stages of the change may be detected early in October, 

 and by the first week of December the ciuingc is there fully completed. In 

 the northern districts of the Fur Countries, according to Dr. Richardson,J the 

 white winter pelage is assumed in October. At the southward, the winter 



* Proo. aud Trans. Nova Sootia Inst. Nat. Sol., vol. iii, i, p. 63. 

 t Proc. Zoiil. Soc. Lond., 1859. 

 t Faun. Bor.-Am., i, SIS. p. 2S8. 



