IHI: EASB. 



" the grey feet begin to be white, and before the month eade 

 all the four feet are white, and the ears and muzzle are of a 

 brighter colour. The white colour gradually ascends tho legs 

 and thighs, and we observe under the grey hairs whitish spot% 

 which continue to increase till the end of October ; but stiU the 

 back continues of a grey colour, while the eyebrows and ears 

 are nearly white. From this period the change of colour ad- 

 vances very rapidly, and by the middle of November the whole 

 far, with the exception of the tips of the ears, which remain 

 black, is of a fine shining white. The back becomes white within 

 eight days. During the whole of this remarkable change in 

 the fur no hair falls from the animal ; hence it appears that 

 the hair actually changes its colour, and that there is no renewal 

 of it. The fur retains its white colour until the month of 

 March, or even later, depending on the temperature of the 

 atmosphere ; and by the middle of May it has again a grey 

 colour. But the spring change is different from the winter, as 

 the hair is completely shed." , 



The American hare is not much larger than the common 

 rabbit, by which name, indeed, it is only known throughout the 

 northern parts of America. The Summer hare is dark brown 

 on the upper part of the head, lighter on the sides, and of an 

 ash-colour below. The ears are wide, edged with white, tipped 

 with brown, and dark-coloured behind; tail dark above, white 

 underneath, having the under surface turned up ; the fore legs 

 are shorter and the hinder longer in proportion to the Euro- 

 pean. In the middle and southern States the change in the 

 colour of the hair is by no means as remarkable as it is further 

 north, where it becomes nearly white. It is not hunted in 

 America, according to the English acceptation of the term, but 

 started by a dog and shot, or it is caught in various sorts of 

 traps. It has the same kind of leaping gait as the European 

 hare; and, like that animal, it breeds several times in the 

 course of a year. It is not of a migratory nature, but always 

 continues to haunt the same places, taking occasional refuge 

 under the roots of trees, or in the hollows near the roots. 



Mr. Gosse, in the " Canadian Naturalist," gives the follow- 

 ing information respecting the American hare, together with 

 how the noble Canadian performs the sport of " twisting " a 

 hare : " The American hare is found pretty generally over North 

 America, from this province even to the Gulf of Mexico, where 

 it is more common than it is with us. Here its winter coat 

 is nearly white, but in the summer it is of a yellowish brown. 



