18G9.] 89 Coues. 



which penetrating into the flesh and continually enlarging, causes 

 pain to the animal and renders it lean." 



While it is not to my present purpose to give any special descrip- 

 tion of the marsh hare, I may mention a few points of external form 

 before proceeding to a consideration of the skull, the decided pecu- 

 liarities of which, as compared with that of the wood rabbit, I wish 

 to elucidate. The animal's gait already described is a direct conse- 

 quence of the comparative shortness of its legs — of the hinder ones 

 particularly. A part of its bunchy appearance is due to the dispro- 

 portionally large head. When closely examined, its physiognomy is 

 noticeably characteristic, owing to the unusual size of the eyes, and 

 of the upper incisors. Whether the condition of the former organs is 

 related, as cause or effect, to nocturnal habits of the animal, I am not 

 prepared to say; the proportions of the incisors, however, in all proba- 

 bility are directly correlated to the nature of the vegetable substances 

 upon which the animal ordinarily feeds. The shortness of the ears, 

 and their great proportional width, are noticeable features. The 

 remarkable shortness of the tail, which exhibits the extreme among 

 American hares, so far as I know, appears to be of a part with the 

 equally noticeable scanty furring of the feet, and to be connected 

 with the semi-aquatic habits of the animal. The condition of the 

 fur (aside from considerations of color) is palpably a similar result, 

 or to speak more correctly, a similar evidence of designing adapta- 

 tion. Though very dense, the under fur particularly, it has a peculiar 

 coarseness and harshness to the touch; it is not so glossy, or does it 

 lie so smoothly as in other species, appearing matted and " shocky "; 

 and the longer hairs are very numerous, stiff and wiry. This condi- 

 tion is partly due, I think, to the mechanical action of the reeds, 

 among -which the animal spends much of its time; constant friction 

 of the coarse wiry rushes and saw-like silicious grasses effecting a 

 certain roughening and fraying of the fur. An entirely analogous 

 condition is seen on the plumage of certain birds that live in the 

 same situations, as the sea-side finches and clapper rails; in which 

 latter, indeed, the fraying of the feathers is carried so far as to become 

 very palpable to the eye. The length and number of the bristles 

 may be designed as protection against too great an injury of the rest 

 of the fur. 



The following dimensions of an adult male, taken in March, will 

 be found to differ somewhat from those given by Audubon and Bach- 

 man ; and are believed to represent an average. In total length, the 



