]184 Common Hare of the Gangetic Provinces. [No. 108. 



that of Timidus. The general colour of the Indian Hare is a deep cinnamon 

 red, copiously mixed with black on the body superiorly, but unmixed 

 upon the limbs and front of the neck and chest, and also on the nape 

 and dorsal aspect of the neck near it ; pure white upon the head and 

 body below, as well upon the insides of the limbs near it, upon the 

 genital region, posterior margin of the buttocks, and whole inferior 

 and lateral surfaces of the tail. The front of the upper lip, the margin 

 of the mouth, a circle round the eye, and a line thence to the nostril 

 are always pale, rufescent, hoary, or purer white, and so also the bases 

 of the ears dorsally, and a strip thence continued towards the shoulders, 

 and bounding the purely ruddy hue of the soft nape. The superior 

 margin of the ears on both sides is black, but the general hue of the 

 fur on the ears anteally is similar to that of the head, whilst posteally 

 and interiorly the ears are nearly nude. The mustachios (which are 

 not undulated) are half black and half white, and though the arms or 

 cubits are usually unmixed with black, yet this is not always the case, 

 the animal in very high fur having the cubits, like the tibiae (externally) 

 powdered with black. The fur in general is very rich, full, and soft, 

 both the woolly and hairy portions, the former of which seldom exceeds 

 an inch in length, whilst the latter varies from 1 i- to 1 J inch. The hair 

 has mostly four rings from the base, thus — bluish hoary, black, red, and 

 black. The wool wants the terminal black ring every where, and is 

 for the most part white, but ruddy apically : the hair wants it on the 

 purely red parts of the animal, such as the abdominal aspect of the 

 neck and the limbs ; and both wool and hair are devoid of all rings, 

 and wholly white upon the belly and parts adjacent, as well as upon 

 the inferior surface of the head. Some hairs are wholly black or dusky 

 on the back ; but in general besides its bluish hoary base, every hair 

 on that surface of the animal, has two black rings divided by a red one, 

 which latter is of a deep cinnamon hue, almost exactly, or if the reader 

 pleases, brownish-red. The buttocks posteally are less dashed with 

 black than the middle of the back, which in fine furred animals is very 

 dark : but the ordinary dorsal colouring of the hair and wool prevails 

 on the buttocks, as well as on the dorsal aspect of the tail, both parts 

 being like the back, though somewhat paler. Occasionally the wool 

 and base of the hair are dusky, rather than hoary, and the intensity of the 

 red hue, as well as the quantity of black tipt hairs, depend on health, 

 age, and season, both in the hills and the plains. There are of course five 

 digits on the fore extremities, and four on the hind ones, but the thumb con- 

 sists of a nail only, and the other anterior digits are gradated, as in our hand ; 

 Avhilst in the posterior extremities the central digits are equal, and of the 



