﻿82 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



Americana) in the winter pelage ; it is of a rich brown and grey coat in 

 summer. This species occurs in New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, 

 Canada, Minnesota, and perhaps in the northeastern part of Ohio. It is a 

 fair table species. 



The largest hare we have is the " polar hare," {Lepus timidus var 

 borealis), which occurs in Dakota, Washington Territory and the Hudson 

 Bay Company's possessions. It is the largest species in the world and 

 identical with the hare of Ireland, England and Scotland. It is white in 

 winter and brown in summer, and completely mimics its surroundings. 



A very interesting species is the " water hare," {Lepus Aquaticus), a 

 species with an enormous head. It takes to the water to elude its enemies 

 and swims with great speed and ease ; it also goes into the water and swims 

 about, feeding on the tender shoots of aquatic plants of which it is very 

 fond. Its flesh is worthless as food. It occurs in South Illinois, Ken- 

 tucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, etc. 



The marsh or swamp hare, {Lepus Palustris) has about the same range, 

 but lives in the dense thickets and canebrakes on the edges of the water ; 

 both of these species are great desiderata in many collections. 



Lepus Bairdii or "Baird's hare," found in the Rocky Mountain region, 

 is perhaps more remarkable than any, from the fact that the male has the 

 mammalary glands fully developed, and assists the female in suckling the 

 young. A case without a parallel I believe in nature. Mr. John M. 

 Murphy gives an interesting account of this in his work on the " Game in 

 the Far West," published by a house in London, and authenticates it by 

 statement of the surgeon who dissected the animals. 



Lagomys is a genus of rodents allied to the hares, which includes four 

 species : one in the northern mountains of Europe, one in Mongolian Tar- 

 tary, one in southeastern Russia and one in the Rocky Mountains of the 

 United States. Ours is called the "little chief hare " ( Lagomys princeps) . 

 They lay up a store of food for winter use and their cry is like the bleat 

 of a sheep. 



Six species of extinct hares have been described from the Miocene de- 

 posits of Dakota and Colorado. They are about the same size as existing 

 species and belong to the Genera 



Palceolagus, Panolax, and Praotherium. 



Let us return thanks that the zoological ' hair splitters" have not 

 l( i ii able to subdivide the genus Lepus up into eleven genera, each one to 

 take in a species and its varieties. They can do it with the fossil species, 

 08 perhaps the genus is founded on a broken tooth or the head of a broken 

 rib, and one or two collections contain all the pieces ever collected. 



