157 



Hist., xiii, 1869, 194; Bull. Mus. Comp. ZooL, ii, 1871, 184; 



Mon. N. A. Rodentia, 1877, 327.— Coues and Yarrow, Expl. and 



Surv., W. 100th Merid., 1875, 128.— Jordan, Manual Vertebrates, 



1878, 34, 2d ed. 

 1838. Lepus bachmani, Waterhouse, Proc. Zool. See. Lond., yi, 1838, 103; 



Nat. Hist. Mam., ii, 1848, 124.'— Bachman, Journ. Acad. Nat. 



Sci., Phila., viii, 1839, 96.— Aud. & Bach., Quad. N. Am., iii, 1863, 



85, pi. oviii (based on Waterhouse's specimens) .^-Baird, Mam. 



N. Am., 1867, 606; U. S. and Hex, Bound. Survey, ii, 1869, ii, 48 



(Brownsville, Texas). 

 1867. Sylvilagus bachmani, Gray, Anti. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 8d series, xx, 



1867, 222. 

 1867. Sylvilagus nanus, Gray, Anti. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., xx, 1867, 



22L— Allen, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 1869, 239. 



Specific Characters.'— Leiagth. from nose to tail 18.60 to 17.00 inches ; 

 hind foot 3.10 to 4.20; ear 2.10 to 3,00; ear two-thirds length of head; 

 head a little shorter than the hind foot. Pale yellowish-brown above, 

 varied with black ; sides and rump grayer ; nape and limbs yellowish- 

 rusty, fading into whitish on the anterior surface of the hind legs ; head 

 above less varied with black than the back; beneath white, except the 

 breast, which is pal© yellowish-brown. The hairs of the upper surface 

 have long shining black tips, succeeded by a broad bar of pale yellowish- 

 brown, then a narrower zone of black, and thence to the base grayish- 

 plumbeous. Under fur dark plumbeous, nearly black, often tipped with 

 pale brown. 



DiatribuHon.' — Lepus sylvaticus, including its several -varieties, occupies 

 the greater part of the southern half of the continent. Its northern limit 

 corresponds nearly with the isotherm of 45°. Variety sylvaticus extends 

 from Southern Maine southward to Florida and the Gulf Coast, and west- 

 ward to the eastern portions of Kansas, Nebraska, and the Indian Terri- 

 tory, throughout eastern Texas, and southward to Yucatan. Westward, 

 in middle Kansas, it passes into var. nuttalli, in Arizona into var. arizonag 

 and on the Pacific slope it is represented by variety auduboni. 



Description and Habits.— The natural habitat of this animal is dry level 

 ground, rather thinly wooded, and interspersed with dense thickets and 

 occasional openings. It is usually less abundant in hilly and heavily tim- 

 bered regious. On the prairies and in settled country, the Babbit takes 

 shelter about fences and stacks. In open lands it is preyed on by rapa- 

 cious birds ; large snakes often get the young. Among mammals the 

 Weasels are their worst enemies ; the White Weasel and Mink follow 

 them under logs, into trees and burrows, and often in cultivated regions 



