90 MR. G. E. n. BARRETT-HAMILTON ON [Feb. 6, 



into pure white on the lower parts ; the eyes are a pale straw- 

 colour, with a greenish tint" (E. Williams, Zoologist, 1890, p. 71). 

 The ears are without black tips. 



This form is probably not sufficiently " fixed " to warrant its 

 full admission to subspecific rank. It may perhaps be best regarded 

 as a very conspicuous aberration on the verge of becoming 

 subspecific, and it is certainly of such interest that I wish to 

 draw attention to its existence in the most conspicuous manner 

 available, i. e. by bestowing upon it a third name. 



Distribution. Coast from Malahide to Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, 

 Ireland. 



(5) Lepus timidus altaicus. 



" Lepus altaicus. Lepus variabilis altaica Everm." J. E. Gray, 

 List of Mammals, 1843, p. 126. 



Typical locality. Altai Mountains (?). I cannot find the original 

 description of this form as alluded to by Cray. 



A single skin in the British Museum (No. 96.10.14.3) can only 

 be distinguished from Irish specimens by the black colour of the 

 back of the ears, being apparently the downward extension of this 

 colour from the tips. The dimensions of a skull (basilar length 

 66*5 mm.) show an animal of rather small size. The first specimen 

 is labelled as having been procured by Major C. S. Cumberland in 

 the Forest Region near Chiaja Steppe, Altai. 



Distribution. Altai Mountains, Central Asia : exact limits un- 

 known. 



Should it be found that Eversmann's description was (as I 

 suspect) never published, this subspecies will stand as Lepus timidus 

 altaicus Barrett-Hamilton. Gray's name is a nomen nudum. 



(6) Lepus timidus ainu, subsp. nov. 



Type. No. 84.4.15.2 of the British Museum Collection, a male 

 from the Island of Yezo, purchased from Mr. A. Owston of 

 Yokohama, Japan. 



Description. The great size of this skull and the peculiar 

 constricted brain-case mark it out as very distinct from any other 

 known form. The basilar length of 80 mm. reminds one of the 

 great Polar Hares of the North. 



Distribution. The Island of Yezo, Japan. 



(7) Lepus timidus tschuktschorum. 



Lepus tschuJctschorum, Nordquist, Vega Exped. ii. pp. 84-90, 

 figs. 8-10 (1883). 



Type locality. Pitlekaj, lat. 67° N., long. 173° W., N.E. Siberia. 



To complete the list of described Palaearctic Variable Hares, I 

 add this form, which belongs to the group of large polar forms. 

 The skull of the single specimen in the collection has a basilar 

 length of 87*5 mm., a size not attained by any other subspecies : 

 it even exceeds that of Lepus (/r<xnlandicus}{hoa.ds, from Greenland. 

 Although inhabiting the country just north of Kamchatka, the 



