150 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



Jacks and Coyotes," said Nat, cheerfully. "No one 

 would mind, would they, uncle '.'' " 



" I am quite sure they would not," said the Doctor, 

 laughing ; " and it would be one less thing for animal 

 lovers to worry about." 



" We are quite lucky to have such a nice sort of 

 Rabbit living here, even if it does eat a little more 

 than we can spare," said Nat. " But you haven't told 

 us about the kind that changes his color every year. 

 What is it called, and does that live in the North or 

 South ? " 



" It is named the Varying Hare and lives northward 

 from the state of New York, up to Canada and the 

 northwestern parts of British America,. In fact, its 

 haunts in the Northwest touch and overlap those of tlie 

 Polar liure, who lives as far noi'th as man has been, 

 and is the companion of the Musk ( )x and Polar Bear. 

 In that far-away home this Hare always stays the color 

 of tlie surrounding snow. 



"In size this \'ar3ang Hare comes between the Jack 

 Rabbit and ]\Lirsh Hare ; it has much of Jack's length 

 of lindjs, ears, and power of running, though it is, 

 fortunately, ]iot as destructive. It has furry feet like 

 our Wood Hare, and the feeding and living habits of 

 the two are very much alike, except that the Varying 

 Hare is more rarely seen about in full daylight and 

 prefers to feed toward evening, or in the night, like so 

 many of our fourfoots. The change of color is what 

 calls our attention to it. In summer its sreneral hue 

 is reddish brown, many of the long hairs having black 

 tips. Its underparts are white and vellowish and its 

 little turned-up tail is white and fluffy, so that the 



