690 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
LEPUS CALLOTIS, Wagler. 
Jackass Rabbit; Texas Hare. 
Lepus caUotis, Wagler, Nat. Syst. Amph. 1830, 25.— Ib. Isis, 1831, 511. 
Wagner, in Schreber S'augt. IV ; pi. ccxxxiii, E. (original figure.)— Ib. Suppl. Schreb. IV, 1844, 106. 
Waterhouse, Nat. Hist. Mamm. II, 1848, 138. 
Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. II, 1851, 95 ; pi. lxiii. 
Giebel, Saugt. 1845, 449. 
Lepus nigricaudalus, Bennett, Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond. I, 1833, 41. 
Bachman, J. A. N. S. Phil. VIII, i, 1839, 84. 
1 Lepus flavigvlaris, Wagner, Suppl. Schreb, IV, 1844, 106. 
? Lepus texmnus, Waterhouse, N. H. Mamm. II, 1848, 136, probably not of Aud. & Bach. 
Sp. Ch. —Rather smaller than the European hare. Ears very long and broad ; nearly one-third longer than the head and 
one-fifth longer than the hind foot. Hair on the buttocks short and close. Color above, yellowish gray, blotched and 
lined with black. Upper surface of tail and central line of rump, black ; tail beneath, grayish white. Sides of rump, clear 
ash gray. Legs, ashy. Nape, black, (sometimes whitish ?) Beneath, dull whitish, with a yellowish brown color on the 
throat. A light ring round the eye. Tip of the posterior surface of the ear black. 
In a considerable number of specimens before me of the Lepus callotis, I find appreciable 
differences in color, length and texture of fur, and size of the ears, which, however, pass from 
one extreme to another by such gradual stages as to leave very little base for subdivision into 
species. In what may perhaps be considered as a typical specimen, (299,) the ears are nearly 
one-third longer than the head, and at least one-fifth longer than the hind feet. The tail is 
more than half the length of the ear. The prevailing color above is a yellowish gray, lined and 
waved with black in irregular amount of aggregation ; the two colors quite distinct. The upper 
part of the tail (all visible from above) is black to the bases of the hairs ; this extending up the 
rump for full the length of the tail, and separating on either side a patch covering the rump and 
thighs of a whitish ash color, finely lined with black, and in strong contrast to the more yellowish 
fur anterior to it, which is strongly blotched with black. The nape is sooty black. The 
under parts of body are white, the collar on the throat alone of a pale dirty brownish yellow ; 
the under part of the tail is grayish white. The long hairs on the anterior margin of the ears 
are brownish white ; the posterior margin of the ear pure white ; the back of the ear is dirty 
brownish white ; posterior face and margin of the tip of the ear are black. 
Nos. 134 and 252 agree in the black nape. In all the others the nape is grayish white, with 
a brownish line down the centre. In some specimens there is a dusky tinge in the white. In 
some specimens there is a very distinct yellowish white ring round the eye. Sometimes the 
light color of the internal surface of the ear is a pure white in strong contrast with the terminal 
black. The yellowish gray of the upper parts is sometimes rather more of a buff; never as 
much as in the L. californicus , however. 
In specimens from the Llano Estacado the fur is much fuller and longer. I can, however, 
appreciate no other difference. The fringe of the ear is very long. 
Several specimens collected by Dr. Suckley at Fort Boise, on Snake River, Oregon, agree in 
general characters, though differing in some respects. In one the fur is very thin and 
scant, being probably the old summer fur. The gray of the back is quite pure. The black of 
the tail and rump very broad and distinct. The color of the nape cannot be made out. The 
ears are as described; the black at the tip behind about an inch long. The under parts are 
of a smoky white ; of the tail rather more brownish. 
