■ ■^" ■ 



lilf |H 



332 



MONOGUAPnS OF NORTH AMERICAN RODENTIA. 



come ill more naturnlly with the variety sylvatkus series. Tliey agree in 

 their small size with other Texas specimens, but, though rather paler than 

 average sylvaticus, do not j)resent the degree of pallor tiiat characterizes the 

 specimens from the plains further westward. 



Var. ARIZONA. 

 Desert Hare. 



Rather smaller than variety mUtalli, and paler, presenting the extreme 

 phase of diflferentiation in respect to pallor of coloration. The specimen on 

 which this variety is primarily based was collected by Dr. Elliott Coues at 

 "lieal's Springs, fifty miles west of Fort Whipple, Arizona, September 8, 

 1865". On the back of the label is written, in Dr. Coues's handwriting, 

 "The common 'cotton-tail' of the Territory — new species?? — arlemixia ? " ; 

 indicating that he recognized it as something different from the common 

 so-called Artemisia Rabbit of the plains. The color above is a very pale, 

 faded, yellowisii-gray, very slightly mixed with black. The nape-patch is 

 pale yellowish-fulvous, and the usual reddish parts of the legs and feet are 

 pale yellowish-brown. The most important character, however, is the great 

 size of the ears, which give it at first sight almost the appearance of a young 

 "Jack" Rabbit. The ears are fully a third longer, and proportionally broader, 

 than in specimens of the typical Sage Hare (var. nuttalli) from the arid 

 plains of Utaii, Colorado, Wyoming, and neighboring regions northward. 

 Other specimens, from Camp Grant (sixty miles east of Tucson), Arizona, 

 collected in February, 1867, by Dr. E. Palmer, agree with Dr. Coues's speci- 

 men in the great length of the ears, but in color do not differ materially from 

 the ordinary form of var. nuttalli. 



Its habitat seems to be the deserts of Arizona, and its chief characteristic 

 the great length and size of the ears. 



Var. AUDUBONi. . 

 AuduhoiCs Hare. , . ■ , 



About the size of variety sylvaticus, or a little less, with rather longer 

 *ars, and nearly the coloration of L. troxobridgei. The coloration of the. 

 original si)ecimens from near San Francisco and San Diego, Cal., presents 

 much the same peculiar phase in respect to the dorsal suiiacc as that of 



