236 LEPORID^— LEPUS 



closest pursuer, so that she may turn away from him, for she 

 rarely turns so as to favour the dog that is not leading. 



If Xenophon's supposition were correct, it might be argued 

 that the long ears are correlated with the short tail, now so 

 much reduced as to be useless for steering purposes. Winge 

 has, however, suggested [Jordfundne og nulevende Gnavere, 

 1888, 112) that the correlation is between the tail and the legs. 

 As in the fast ungulates, so in Lepus, the limbs have become 

 so powerful and so completely specialised for purposes of speed 

 that they have taken over the whole business of steering in 

 addition to that of supporting the body. The tail has accord- 

 ingly no work left to do, and it consequently tends to disappear. 

 It is superfluous as a counterpoise, and, as it is not required as 

 a fly-flapper, it becomes reduced to a mere stump, and the body 

 itself acts as its own steering organ, through the strong flexor 

 and extensor muscles of the modified vertebral column acting on 

 the extended or flexed body. 



In any case, the short scut would seem to be almost a 

 necessity for animals which are being constantly chased, since 

 a long tail would place them more readily at the mercy of 

 their pursuers. Short as is the scut, I have seen a greyhound 

 "chop" it off an Irish Hare which itself escaped for the 

 moment. 



Apart from any other considerations, extremely long ears 

 undoubtedly indicate acute powers of hearing, probably in 

 compensation for comparatively indifferent sight, and they point 

 also to their possessors being of nocturnal habits. 



Droppings : — These are similar to those of Oryctolagus, but 

 larger, and their greatest diameter may reach about 20 mm. 

 They are somewhat flattened pellets of very uneven diameter, 

 dry in texture, dark in colour, and having a strong characteristic 

 odour. 



Hybridism : — For many years field naturalists and sportsmen 

 have from time to time reported the occurrence of hybrids 

 between L. europcsus and L. iimidus, but until exact methods 

 of studying animals became adopted of late years, all such 

 statements were looked upon with suspicion by workers in 

 museums, who, in fact, were not at the time aware of any 

 accurate mode of distinguishing the hybrids. Latterly, the 



