151 



LEPUS P A L U S T R I S .— Bachman. 



Maksh-Habe. 



PLATE XVIII Male and Female. Natural size. 



L. corpore supra flavo-fuscente, siibtus griseo, L. sylvatico minore 

 auribus capite in multum brevioribus, oculis aliquantulum parvis, cauda 

 brevissima, cruribus curtis varipilis. 



CHARACTERS. 



Smaller than the gray rabbit ; ears, much shorter than the head ; eyes, ra- 

 ther small ; tail, very short ; legs, short ; feet, thinly clothed with hair ; 

 upper parts of body, yellowish-brown ; beneath, gray. 



ETNONyMES. 



Lepus Palustris, Bach., Jour. Acad, of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, vol. vii., pp. 194, 

 366, read May 10, 1836. 



Lepus Douglassii, Gray, read. Zoological Society, London, Nov. 1837. 



Lepus Palustris, Audubon — Birds of America, first edition — pounced upon by the com- 

 mon buzzard, {Buteo vulgaris.) Ornithological Biography, vol. iv., p. 510. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Upper incisors, longer and broader than tbose of the gray rabbit, mark- 

 ed like all the rest of the genus, with a deep longitudinal furrow ; the 

 small accessory incisors are smaller and less flattened than those of the 

 gray rabbit, the molars are narrower, and a little shorter. The trans- 

 verse measurement of the cranium is much smaller, the vertical, about 

 equal. Orbits of the eyes one-third smaller. 



This last, is a striking peculiarity, giving this a smaller and less 

 prominent eye than that of any other American hare, of equal size, with 

 which we are acquainted. 



The zygomatic processes of the temporal bone, run do^^^lwards nearly 

 in a vertical line, whilst those of the gray rabbit, are almost horizontal. 

 Head, rather large ; forehead, slightly arched ; whiskers, numerous, rigid ; 

 nose, blunt ; eyes, rather small ; ears, short, rounded, broad, clothed on 

 both surfaces with short hairs. Neck, moderately long; body, short, 



