854 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
occupation, yet my journal, written at the time, records it as a 
pleasant day, and mentions the glow of light which at meridian 
marked the south, where the planet Venus was decreasing in 
brilliancy, and stars of the first magnitude had disappeared at 
noon, warming the heart with the genial hope of returning sunlight. 
On the 19th February a Hare was shot by Dr. Moss: it was a 
male, and weighed nine pounds and a half; and another was 
obtained on the 20th. I find the following reference to this 
animal in my note-book of the 18th May, 1876 :—“ Camp West- 
ward Ho! Valley. Saw two Hares to-day, which I managed to 
secure: one was a female and contained eight young ones. These 
Arctic Hares are quaint-looking animals when disturbed. They 
stand erect on their hind legs, fore feet tucked in close to their 
bodies, then look around, and if not frightened recommence 
feeding; if startled they make off in a series of bounds, generally 
with one fore leg lifted up. This gives their tracks in the snow the 
appearance of having been made by a three-legged animal.” By the 
end of July the young were nearly as large as their parents, and 
were pure white, save the tips of the ears, which were mouse-gray, 
with a small streak of the same colour passing down from the apex 
of the head to the snout. The adults have the ears tipped with 
black. The number of young that we found in gravid females varied 
from seven to eight, which is much in excess of that produced by 
Lepus variabilis in Great Britain, and from which naturalists have 
found difficulty in separating the Arctic species. Fabricius records 
the fact of this animal in Greenland having eight young ones. 
Near Lincoln Bay, in lat. 82° 8’ N., a Hare was shot on the 31st _ 
August, 1875, -with a very distorted skull, the nasal bones being 
twisted to the right hand, the incisors of the upper jaw being 
deflected in the same direction. In the lower jaw only the left 
incisor was developed, and that protruded in a nearly horizontal 
direction. This specimen, though in good condition, was small, 
and weighed only five pounds and a half; another, killed the same 
day, nine pounds. They were both pure white, with tips of the ear 
black. We find, therefore, Zepus glacialis inhabiting the most 
northern land yet visited, and attaining its normal weight, eight to 
ten pounds, under apparently very adverse circumstances. Still 
I must say it is sparsely diffused, and we found that after killing a 
pair or two out of each valley that afforded any vegetation, the 
race seemed to be extirpated in that district, and I imagine it will 
