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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 Leporidce .” He further says : “ Among the specimens 
of var. Americanus is a single example of melanism, a mutilated 
skin (No. 6268) labeled as follows : ‘ Lepus Americanus , Rainy 
Lake, H. B. T.’ It is apparently a winter skin, the pelage being 
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, March 21st, and April 3d, 
well illustrate the above described conditions of pelage. In spring, while the change is in progress, 
the attachment of the white tips is so feeble that hundreds may be 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. 
