FEs., 1912. MamMats oF ILLINoris AND WIsScONSIN—CorRY. 273 
Type locality — Supposed to be western Alabama. 
Distribution — Eastern Texas and Oklahoma, nearly the whole of 
Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana (except on the coast), extreme 
western Georgia and the greater portion of Arkansas, and north- 
ward in western Tennessee and Kentucky to southern Illinois. 
Description — General color of upper parts ochraceous brown, the 
hairs tipped with black; nape, rump, upper sides of legs and upper 
surface of tail plain ochraceous brown (not gray or grayish as in 
mearnsi) often tinged with rusty; under side of neck buffy brown; 
rest of under parts, including under surface of tail, white. 
Measurements — Total length, about 20.50 in. (521 mm.); tail vertebre, 
2.75 in. (69.8 mm.); hind foot, 4.12 in. (104.8 mm.). 
Habitat — Low swampy woods and bottom lands about rivers and 
lakes. 
The Swamp Rabbit is a southern species found within our limits 
only in the extreme southern part of Illinois. According to Howell 
the northern limit of its range in the state is within a few miles of 
Grand Tower, Jackson County, and a point about five miles below 
Golconda in Pope County. 
This species prefers low swampy woodlands and bottom lands in 
the vicinity of water, but I have taken it in the South in comparatively 
high dry woods along river banks but never far from water. 
Audubon and Bachman say, “‘When chased by dogs, the Swamp- 
Hare runs with great swiftness and is able to escape from them without 
difficulty; but it almost invariably directs its flight towards the nearest 
pond, as if led by instinct to seek an element in which all traces of its 
scent are soon lost to its eager pursuers. . . . We have been in- 
formed that it is a very common habit of this species when pursued, to 
swim to the edge of some stream or pond, retreat beneath the overhang- 
ing roots of the trees that may be growing on its border, or seek for a 
secure shelter under the hollows made by the washing of the banks. 
The swiftness of foot possessed by this Hare, and the stratagems to 
which it is capable of resorting, might easily enable it to elude pursuit 
but for this habit of seeking for shelter as soon as it is chased, which 
is the cause of its being frequently captured.’’* 
I have never found a nest of this Rabbit, but according to Nelson 
it differs but little from that of the Cotton-tail. He says, “J. D. 
Mitchell of Victoria, Texas, informs me that the nesting habits of the 
swamp rabbit are identical with those of the Cotton-tail (S. f. chapmant) 
except that the nest is considerably larger and is placed in dry places 
in river bottoms near a fallen log, dead stump, or pile of trash. He 
* Quadrupeds N. Amer., I, 1846, p. 289. 
