3o8 



MAMMALIA. 



temporarily interrupted, the two colors appearing in alternate zones. 

 And during the latter part of March, when the body of the animal 

 is still white, it is not uncommon to find hundreds of black hairs 

 scattered over the back, many of them with the extreme apices, 

 and a narrow zone between the middle and base, white. In fall or 

 early winter the soft fur becomes tipped with white, the white 

 portion increasing somewhat in length and diameter. In spring a 

 curious phenomenon takes place. The white portion of the fur 

 loses its vitality, becomes brittle, and breaks off on slight friction, 

 so that the animal, in brushing through the undergrowth, soon 

 rids himself of it. As a rule the long hairs change first.* Both 

 in spring and fall the time of the change seems to be governed by 

 the presence or absence of snow, and is not affected by the tem- 

 perature. It occurs independently of the moult, and the new hairs 

 assume the prevailing color of the animal, or the color toward 

 which it is tending at the time of their appearance. 



Mr. J. A. Allen, in his elaborate monograph of North American 

 Hares, states that instances of melanism " are very rare among the 

 American Lcporidcey He further says: " Among the specimens 

 of van /luiericanus is a single example of melanism, a mutilated 

 skin (No. 6268) labeled as follows: ' Lepus Amcricaiuts, Rainy 

 Lake, H. 11 T.' It Is apparently a winter skin, the pelade bein^r 

 very long and full. The color is dull plumbeous-black throughout, 

 there being a slight grayish cast to the surface of the pelage, par- 

 ticularly on the head, breast, and back." f I have had the good 

 fortune to examine two excellent melanistic specimens of this 

 species, both in the collection of Mr. Romeyn B. Hough, of Low- 

 ville, New York. The animals were shot in winter (one in March), 



* Specimens in my museum, killed in Lewis County, December 1st, Maicii 2lst, .ind April 3d, 

 well illustrate the above described conditions of pelage. In spring, wliiie the change is in progress, 

 the attachment of the white tips is so feeble that hundreds may l)e blown off at a single puff. The 

 change occurs more or less irregularly over the greater part of the body, but is usually symmetrical 

 on the head, giving rise to a very pretty pattern. 



f Monographs of North American Rodentia, 1877, p. 305. 



