498 RODENTIA 



Hind foot 124 to 147 mm. ; occipito- 

 nasal length of skull 93 to 102 mm. 

 (Central). 

 Buffy tints rather pale, approaching 

 the cream-buff of Bidgway (Ger- 

 many, Denmark, France, except 



southern portion) L. e. europxus, p. 502. 



Buffy tints rich, approaching the 

 ochraceous - buff of Bidgway 



(England) L. e. occidentalis, 504. 



Hind foot 113 to 125 mm. ; occipito- 

 nasal length of skull 89 to 94 mm. 

 (Southern). 

 Nape patch well differentiated ; base 

 of ear conspicuously buffy be- 

 hind ; underfur not yellowish 



(Pyrenees) L. a. pyreiuiicus, 506. 



Nape patch scarcely indicated ; base 

 of ear not conspicuously buffy 

 behind ; underfur yellowish 

 (Corsica, Sicily, southern Italy) L. e. corsicanus, p. 507. 



LEPUS EUROPjEUS Pallas. 



(Synonymy under subspecies.) 



Geographical distribution. — Central Europe from Great Britain 

 to Russia and from the Baltic south to the Pyrenees, Italy and 

 Greece. 



Diagnosis. — Tail moderately long, its length including terminal 

 hairs about equal to that of hind foot, its upper surface never 

 white or grizzled, always with conspicuous black median area ; 

 ear long, extending decidedly beyond nostril -when laid forward ; 

 general colour of upper parts a coarsely grizzled buffy or ochra- 

 ceous brown ; outer side of thigh not contrasting in colour with 

 back ; buffy and ochraceous tints occasionally replaced by pale 

 smoke-grey in a rarely assumed, special winter pelage ; ear with 

 conspicuous black terminal area on outer surface ; size rather 

 large, the hind foot usually more than 130 mm., though less in 

 some southern races ; root of upper incisor short, not extending 

 to suture between premaxillary and maxillary ; height of posterior 

 upper premolar measured from crown to upper surface of root 

 capsule usually less than alveolar length of tooth-row. 



External characters. — Except for the relatively longer limbs, 

 ears and tail, the external form is essentially as in Oryctolagus. 

 Digits similarly 5-4, their proportional lengths as in the smaller 

 animal, but claws somewhat more flattened. Mammae : p 1-1, 

 a 2 - 2 = 6. 



Colour. — -Upper parts buffy, nearly clear on sides, underlaid 

 with blackish on back, the two colours forming a coarse mixture 

 varying considerably according to condition of pelage, but buffy 

 normally in excess. On sides the black becomes less, disappear- 

 ing entirely on legs, collar and along edge of white ventral area. 

 Ptump usually lighter than either back or sides, sometimes 



