222 CLASS MAMMALIA. 



with the upper part of the head red-brown, without any 

 sprinkling of yellow ; the cheeks are grayish ; a lightish 

 line passes round the eyes ; the lower edge of the' nose, the 

 lips, and the under part of the head, the chest, and belly, 

 and insides of the legs, are white. 



There is a small specimen in the Paris Museum not larger 

 than the Guinea-pig, which has the fur browner than in 

 the adult state ; and the ears are short, compared with the 

 rest of the body ; behind, the neck is red, and there is a 

 white collar ; the tail is so short as not to be perceivable. 



The Tapiti does not burrow in the earth, but lives in 

 woods, and sits on the surface like the Common Hare; 

 when hunted, he endeavours to hide himself under the 

 trunks of trees, or in the high grass. The flesh tastes like 

 that of the Rabbit. The female is said to bring forth but 

 one litter of three or four in the year. 



The sub-genus Lagomys, of our author, differs very 

 slightly in generic character from the Hares ; the teeth 

 and toes are alike, and it is principally in their diminu- 

 tiveness, and in their habits, that they differ from the 

 genus Lepus. They are Hares in miniature ; or, as the 

 word Lagomys imports, Hares like Rats, fitted for their 

 Siberian habitat, and endowed with a strong instinct of 

 accumulating provision for winter use; an instinct essen- 

 tial to their preservation in the severe and inhospitable 

 climate they inhabit. 



The Pika, or Alpine Hare of Pennant, has the body 

 thick ; and the head, compared with it, rather long ; the 

 nose is hairy; the whiskers are very long; the eyes are 

 small ; the ears round ; the feet short ; on each side of the 

 os coccygis is a hardish greasy lump, or substance, which, 

 when the animal sits, forms a thickish tubercle, about the 

 size of a nut ; the body is thick, and short. 



The colour of the species is reddish-yellow, varying in 



