328 LEPORID^— LEPUS 



that it might eventually be regarded as a subspecies, but I had arrived 

 at no more definite conclusion in 1 895 (Irish Naturalist, 90), nor had 

 Thomas in 1898. 



In 1900 I definitely assigned it to subspecific rank. The subspecific 

 rather than the full specific rank was considered appropriate because 

 it was thought possible, although there was no evidence of it, that 

 there might be overlapping of characters with the Scottish Hare. 

 Moreover, my work dealt with the varying hares of the old world as a 

 whole, so that it was convenient to regard them all as subspecies; 

 lastly, the trend of opinion of naturalists at that date was such that the 

 announcement of a full species from Ireland would have been accepted 

 with incredulity. In proof of this, the works of some recent writers, 

 such as Johnston and Aflalo, are written as if such a species as the 

 Irish Hare had never been mentioned, while Millais, although accepting 

 it, does so only in an apologetic manner and with a hint that the 

 " Irish Hare has slender claims to subspecific rank " (iii., 39). This 

 too, although he prints shortly afterwards Harvie-Brown's statement 

 (Fauna of Argyll and Inner Hebrides, 1892, 44), that in the island of 

 Mull the Irish and Scottish Hares " appear to co-exist, and are 

 recognised, by inhabitants at least, as very distinct varieties, if not species!' 

 Even writers on Irish Natural History, such as Scharff, treated the 

 animal with a want of sympathy which, in politics, would have been 

 styled unpatriotic. 



Status : — In the present work the Irish Hare is given full specific 

 rank because it is a completely isolated form of considerable anti- 

 quity, which owes its survival to preservation from competition in 

 an insular area ; it is absolutely distinguishable at a glance from its 

 nearer relatives, with which it cannot naturally intermingle and never 

 intergrades or overlaps in characters. When transported to localities 

 inhabited by other hares, as the island of Mull, and Vaynol Park, North 

 Wales, it retains its distinctness. It appears to have directly descended 

 from the late pleistocene L. anglicus ; the relationship implies a 

 geologically recent connection between England and Ireland. 



Distribution: — This hare is restricted to Ireland, where it is found 

 naturally all over the country, both in the mountains and in the plains. 

 Its numbers depend on the amount of persecution to which it is 

 subjected ; it has been exterminated in many districts, but, owing to 

 the popularity of coursing, is increasing in others. 



It is not known to be indigenous to the smaller coastal islands, 

 though included by Drummond in a list of Rathlin Island mammals 

 compiled in 1835. It has been recently introduced on Clare Island. 



It has been introduced into various localities in England, Wales, 

 and Scotland, and large numbers are said to be exported annually for 

 coursing from one estate in Co. Down (Warrand, Zoologist, 1895, 



