GILPIN — ON THE MAMMALIA OF NOVA SCOTIA. 47 



concealed ; in swift motion a rapid galop of immense leaps, with hind legs 

 thrown far behind ; and in slow motion, the hind legs with the whole foot 

 to the heel resting upon the ground. The colour of one before me snared 

 1st November, 1870, is, head, neck, back, and upper parts, sepia brown, 

 with a yellow wash. At base these hairs are lead colour and covered by 

 lead coloured fur. Belly white inside of fore legs, and fronts of 

 thighs and legs to hind toes mixed white and brown. Inside hind legs 

 white. Tail white, with mixed sooty hoary on the top, throat and 

 fronts of forelegs yellowish brown, underneath the throat or chin 

 greyish white. A dusky line leads from the tip of chin, emargines the 

 nose and runs up to the forehead ; there is also insideof this a white 

 margin to the nose. Whiskers black, about four inches long. Ears 

 outside fold or front browmish, the backs hoary, a narrow black edging on 

 two thirds of the ears terminated in the broad black tip, the inside of the 

 ear was furred about an inch downwards, giving a small white lining to 

 the black border, the rest naked. The feet, both fore and hind, covered 

 by thick, yellowish rusty fur. There were many coarse darkish hairs all 

 over the back, and the base of all the hair either brown or white was 

 lead colour. The eye was large and yeilovv^, the nostrils frontal oblique, 

 concealed by nose. Upper lip deeply divided to above insertion of 

 frontal tooth with a naked membrane extending into nostril. The fore 

 feet had four toes with a rudimentary thumb, the hind feet four. The 

 toes both hind and fore are connected by a membrane to first joint and 

 are densely furred. This, snared in November may be taken as a 

 specimen of summer pelage, before the winter change. I notice that 

 Baird describing the same hare from more southern specimens speaks of 

 brilliant reddish or cinnamon tints. Ours exhibit none of those tints. 

 Should I colour a drawing of one I should use sepia and coyer with a 

 yellowish wash. During the month of November, they change the brown 

 tints for a soiled and rusty white. The following description from one 

 before me, taken the middle of January, will serve as a description of the 

 ordinary winter pelage. 



Colour of all the upper parts, white soiled by rusty; the lower parts 

 and hind parts, hair white as regards the belly, and soiled white behind. 

 The hair or fur is much longer and coarser on these parts. All the fur 

 both upper and lower is lead colour at base, that on the back is rust 

 in middle and white at the tips. The nose and cliin are always rusty ; a 

 rusty circlet usually surrounds the eyes, and the front folds of the ear is 

 of the same colour. There is a streak of rusty down the front of fore 

 legs, and sometimes on the front of hind legs. All four pads and feet are 

 yellowish rusty. The tail is concealed by white longish hairs and the 

 sooty spot on its extremity nearly concealed by them. The backs of the 

 ears are nearly white, a black rim bordered by white and a black tip 

 remains as in summer. 



Thus in studying the changes, we find the white belly, the 

 rusty pads and feet, and the borders and tips of the ears, remaining 

 unchanged ; all other parts turning more or less soiled white and 



