186 



GRAY RABBIT. 



TRANSLATION. 



Feet, thickly covered with short 

 hairs of a light brown, unmixed 

 with black, changing on the inside 

 to a grayish white. 



Upper part of the tail the colour 

 of the back, (perhaps mixed with 

 black, as Pennant describes it black 

 above,) beneath white. 



Throat, white ; lower part of the 

 neck, bright brown, mixed with 

 white ; chest and belly, inside of 

 fore and hind-legs, a dull white. 



Colour in winter, when it does 

 change, white. 



Molars above and beneath, on 

 each side, five. The length of the 

 body at farthest eighteen inches, 

 the tail not over two inches. 



remarks. 



Such is the colour of the feet of 

 several of our specimens of the Nor- 

 thern hare in summer pelage. 



The upper part of the tail is like 

 the back in most specimens, but it 

 is seen how^ anxious he was not to 

 depart from the views of Pennant, 

 who describes it as black, which is 

 the case in some specimens. 



These distinctive marks all be- 

 long to the Northern hare. 



The weight is from 2| to 3 lbs. ; 

 according to Pennant, from 3 to 4^ 

 lbs. 



The most striking distinctions in 

 this species, according to Forster, 

 Pennant, and Schcepff, are, 1st, its 

 size ; it is not near as large as the 

 common hare or the changeable 



The Gray Rabbit does not become 

 white in winter. 



This size applies to the Northern 

 hare, and not to the Gray Rabbit. 

 None of our dried specimens of the 

 former reach quite eighteen inches, 

 and none of the Gray Rabbit beyond 

 fifteen. Tail of the Northern hare, 

 including fur, two inches ; that of 

 the Gray Rabbit is longer. 



These weights were compiled 

 from authors. Carver, who had re- 

 ference to the Gray Rabbit, gave 

 the lesser weight : and Pennant, 

 who referred to the Northern hare, 

 gave the greater. 



Forster says in regard to the 

 Northern hare — " The proper cha- 

 racteristics of this species seem to 

 be, 1st, its size, which is some- 

 what bigger than a rabbit, but less 



