320 LEPORID^— LEPUS 



dog ; but this is probably a question of food and condition, 

 since in leg-dimensions it is proportionately superior. 



The white winter pelage has been generally belauded as 

 a remarkable instance of protective coloration, and, whatever 

 may have been its origin, it may reasonably serve such a 

 purpose in times or regions of heavy snowfalls. But elsewhere 

 the effect is the reverse of protective, and Mr Coward 

 has rightly pointed out ^ that this hare belongs to a class of 

 animals which may for one reason or another find them- 

 selves in an environment to which their colour is quite 

 unsuited. 



Referring to the pigmented coat of the Brown Hare, 

 Charles Darwin wrote ^ that " the hare on her form is a familiar 

 instance of concealment through colour." Its value, however, 

 may have been overestimated. The summer coats of the 

 Leporidae are not by any means alike, being grey in the 

 Rabbit, ochraceous or rufus in the Brown Hare, "blue" or 

 smoky brown in the Scottish, and tawny or foxy in the Irish 

 Hare. In each, however, the chest, under side, and con- 

 spicuous ventral surface of the upturned tail are white. In 

 each the new coats are darkest, becoming brighter and clearer 

 as the dusky hair-tips wear away ; the winter coats are 

 greyer or whiter, and the pigmented areas are more or less 

 reduced. 



In no case are the animals protectively coloured for life 

 amidst the green surroundings of the average modern British 

 summer scenery ; but their comparatively small size is in itself 

 a factor of immense value for purposes of concealment, and the 

 abundance of summer vegetation* probably renders a coat of 

 assimilative tints unnecessary. 



In bare places, stubbles, or ploughed fields, amongst dead 

 leaves, decaying herbage, lichens, or peat, concealment is more 

 effectively secured ; on the other hand, the Rabbit's pelage 

 harmonises best with a background of sand. 



1 Zoologist, 1901, 75; see also G. A. K. Marshall on "Conscious Protective 

 Resemblance," /(5i«r«. cit, 1900, 536-549 ; E. B. VovXK.an, Journ. et ann. cit, 550-554. 



^ The Descent of Man, ed. ii., 1889, 542. 



' A very important point, as anyone will appreciate who tries to course hares in 

 grass of even moderate growth, in which even the keen-eyed greyhounds easily lose 

 sight of their quarry. 



