HARES AND RABBITS 223 



{Lagos) and in Latin {Lepus) may have been derived from 

 Mediterranean languages not Aryan in vocabulary. 



The group of the True Hares is of almost world-wide 

 origin, being represented by one or more species in every part 

 of the habitable globe except Australasia. Hares are found in 

 the equatorial regions of Sumatra and of Central Africa and in 

 Northern Greenland ; in the southern extremity of Africa (Cape 

 of Good Hope), in South America, North America, the Sahara 

 Desert, the Himalayas, Japan, and Ireland. The species under 

 review — Lepus europaus — is absent from Ireland, and until 

 recently was not found in Northern Scotland. It is present 

 (possibly through deliberate human introduction) in the island 

 of Mull and some other large islands off the west coast of 

 Scotland. It is very common in England and Wales, though 

 its remains in this country are perhaps of slightly later date 

 than the earliest traces of the mountain hare. It would seem, 

 indeed, as though the common hare entered England with 

 the rest of the Central European fauna, and until recently 

 confined its range to South Britain. It is not found in Northern 

 Russia. It is common over the whole of the rest of Europe 

 (except Scandinavia), extending its range eastwards as far as 

 the Caucasus and Ural Mountains. 



