1900.] otn' the variable hare. 87 



Distinguishing characteristics. Upper find under sides far more 

 richly coloured with orange tints than in M. aveUanarius typicus ; 

 line of demarcation indistinct, but white breast conspicuous ; tail 

 short and thick. 



Dimensions of specimens (in millim.). 



Skull. 



Head „. , Greatest Greatest 



and Tail. ,. Ear. length, breadth 



body. at base of 



zygoma. 

 No. 242, coll. Barrett-Hamilton, $ , ] 



Wendon Lofts, Saffron Walden, 85 61 15 ... 23 5 13-5 



Esses (A. Wright), May 31, 1894. J 

 99.11.27.6. Bedford Purlieus,Thorn- ) 



haugh, N.E. Northants (Rev. H. afl >V7 i« oj.x ■, i 



H. Slater), Jan. 5, 1895. (Dug | 86 57 16 "" 24 ° 14 



up.) Type of subspecies J 



J , purchased in London, 15th Dec, 



1898 (W. Dodson) 71 21 1 16 13 23 12-7 



2, do. (do.) 73 62 16 12 



$, do. (do.) 70 55 17 12 227 115 



' Damaged. 



(3) M. avellanarius speciosus, A. Debne, Allgem. deut. 

 Naturh. Zeitung, 1855, p. 180. Type locality: Tursi 

 in Basilicata, South Italy. 

 ? M. pulcher, Barrett-Hamilton, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 7, 



vol. ii. Nov. 1898, p. 423. Type from Siena, Italy. 

 Distinguishing characteristics. Upperside brilliantly coloured ; 

 underside with the orange colour (except the breast) almost 

 absent and reduced to rich cream-colour : breast white, but the 

 combination of colours makes this inconspicuous, and the line of 

 demarcation on the contrary sharp and well-defined ; tail long and 

 well-haired: the type has a cream-coloured spot just in front 

 of each ear. 



Further particulars and dimensions of this subspecies may be 

 found under the original description. I fear that my name pulcher 

 must, at least provisionally, stand as a synonym of M. speciosus. 



Mr. Barrett-Hamilton also exhibited some skins of the Variable 

 Hare (Lepus timidus Linn.) and made the following remarks : — 



The receipt of two Scandinavian Variable Hares kindly sent 

 over at my request by Professor Bobert Collett, of Cliristiania, has 

 caused me to look through the Variable Hares in the collection of 

 the British Museum, with the result that I find that there are two 

 very distinctly coloured groups in the Old World. One of these is 

 reddish brown and includes the Irish Hares ; the other dark brown, 

 and includes the Scotch and such Scandinavian Hares as 1 have 

 seen. The Scotch and Irish Hares are thus very clearly separated, 

 at least in their extreme forms, and, in addition to the colour- 

 differences, I find that the dimensions show a slight superiority of 



