152 FOUR-FOOTED AMERICANS 



brown and then blanches, while others confess that they 

 have not yet decided. 



"You know I told you a few minutes ago that our fur 

 animals have a soft under-fur beside the' long hairs. 

 Some Wise Men say these, in the Varying Hare, are 

 quite black in summer, but as soon as very cold weather 

 touches them they begin to grow white at the tips. As 

 the cold continues the white spreads down, until in 

 very cold climates the whole hair grows white, and the 

 thick under-fur also comes in white. They say that in 

 spring, when the cold is over, the little white tips break 

 off the long hairs and the color comes back to the lower 

 parts until such times as they are pushed out by new 

 hair ; but animals like the Arctic Fox, Polar Hare, and 

 Bear always stay in the cold and snow and so are always 

 protected by a white coat." 



" Why do you think this Hare moults and grows new 

 white fur, uncle ? " asked Nat. 



" Because I have examined many specimens shot at 

 different seasons, and I found that the white fur is 

 much finer and softer than the brown summer coat, — 

 a fact very easily seen on the nose and ear tips, Avhere 

 the change begins ; in fact, the white winter fur seems 

 to me to be of an entirely different texture, without 

 the grain and stiffness of the summer coat. Perhaps 

 one of you boys will, some day in the future, be 

 the very one who will settle this matter — who knows ? 

 But whether this Hare changes by moulting or not, in 

 places where it is not so cold only the tips of the outer 

 fur are white, and he looks merely snow sprinkled. So 

 you see varymg is a very good name for the Hare, as he 

 even varies according to the place where he lives." 



