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LEPUS AMERICANUS, (ERXLEBEN). 
THE NORTHERN HARE, WHITE RABBIT. 
Specific Character.—Larger than the common gray rabbit. Ears about the 
length of the head. Hind foot. much longer. Tail short. Colour, in summer, 
very similar to that of the European hare ; rich reddish or cinnamon brown above : 
tail sooty brown above, dull grayish beneath ; body beneath white ; ears black at 
the tip of the dorsal surface, this extending down the margins; the fringe and 
posterior edge white. In winter, white, though usually showing a good deal of 
yellowish brown beneath the tip of the long hairs ; the under fur ‘plumbeous from 
the roots of the basal half, then brownish red. 
Ears white, except the external band. 
Habitat.—New England and middle States northward throughout Ontario. 
Average Size-—Equal to that of a cat. 
Average Weight.—4 pounds. 
Average Hevght.—8 inches. 
Average Length.—18 inches; nose to tail, 16 inches; tail, 2 inches. 
Value of Fur.—Valueless. 
The rabbit proper is unknown in Canada, but hares are plentiful, the latter 
being ignorantly called rabbits by those who do not know the difference. 
The hare never burrows like the rabbit, and its nest for the most part is om 
the ground or beneath some brush heap or other convenient cover. 
The hare is distinctive in character having a double set of upper teeth. It 
has five toes before, and four behind. 
The ears are very long, the tail very short; the hind feet much longer than 
the fore-feet, and the shoulder blades are always imperfect. 
The fur is brown in summer, but changes to white at the approach of winter 
The hare breeds twice during the season, the female producing her young in ~ 
June and August, the litter averaging from five to eight at a birth. 
The fur is valueless in the Canadian fur market, as skins can be bought 
cheaper in Europe than they can be had here. 
