^02 AMERICAN HARE. 



of September, and the grey or summer coat re- 

 appears in April ; but in the very severe climate 

 of Siberia it continues white all the year round. 

 It has been sometimes found entirely coal- 

 black ; a variety which is also known to take 

 place occasionally in the common hare. The 

 varying hare sometimes migrates in order to ob- 

 tain food in severe seasons. Troops of five or six 

 hundred have been seen to quit in this manner 

 the frozen hills of Siberia, and to descend into 

 the plains and woody districts, from which they 

 again return in spring to the mountains. 



AMERICAN HARE. 



Lepus Americanus . L. cauda abbreviata, pedibm posticis corpore 



dimidio longioribus, auricularwn caudoeque apicibus nigris. Lin. 



Si/sL Nat. Gmel.p. 162. 

 Tawny-grey short-tailed Hare, white beneath, with the hind 



legs longer than the body, and the ears and tail tipped with 



grey, 



American Hare. Forst. "PUl, Trans, uol. 62^ p. ^^6. Pennant 

 Quadr. i.p. 102, Catesb. app, 27. 



This animal is not much superior in size to a 

 rabbet; measuring about eighteen inches. Its 

 colour nearly resembles that of the common hare, 

 to which it seems much allied ; but the fore legs 

 are shorter, and the hind ones longer in propor- 

 tion. The belly is white ; the tail black above 

 and white beneath ; the ears tipped with grey^ 

 and the legs of a pale ferruginous colour. It is 

 said to inhabit all parts of North America ; and 



