MOUNTAIN HARE. 341 



genial climate, though seldom so low as to be out of the 

 reach of severe frost. In the north of Europe it is more 

 a frequenter of woods than in Scotland. At the begin- 

 ning of winter the fur undergoes a change of colour 

 similar to that which we have described in the case of the 

 Ermine ; it becomes gradually more and more flecked and 

 grizzled until at length it is wholly white, with the 

 exception of the tips of the ears, which remain perma- 

 nently black. We believe that this change takes place, 

 as in all other mammals which become white in winter, by 

 an alteration of colour in the existing fur itself, though 

 some naturalists have stated the contrary to be the case. 

 The white coat is retained during the whole winter ; in 

 spring it is cast, and is replaced by a grey summer coat. 

 In Scotland the autumnal change has been said to begin 

 about the middle of September and to be completed by 

 the middle of November {Edin. Phil. Mag. v. II.), but it 

 depends so entirely on the climate that no trustworthy 

 dates can be assigned to it ; in Switzerland Von Tschudi 

 observes that it keeps pace with the same alteration of 

 colour in the Ermine and the Ptarmigan. 



The young of the Mountain Hare, like those of the 

 last species, are born with a complete coat of fur and with 

 open eyes, and they are very soon able to follow their 

 mother. The period of gestation and the number of 

 young in a Ijtter is the same in both species, but the 

 Mountain Hare is said to have only two broods in the 

 year. F. Von Tschudi, in his excellent work " Thierle- 

 ben der Alpenwelt," asserts that mules between L. timidus 

 and L. variabilis are often met with in Switzerland, a 

 statement which seems to require further confirmation. 



The Mountain Hare is less in size than the common 

 species ; the head is smaller and more rounded, and the ears 

 are considerably shorter in proportion, not equalling the 



