594 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
LEPUS CALIFORNICUS, Gray. 
California Hare. 
. Lepus californieus, Gbay, Charlesw. Mag. N. H. I, 1837, 586, (named only in Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond. IV, 1836, 88.) 
Bachman, J. A. N. Sc. Phil. VIII, i, 1839, 86. 
Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. IV, 1844, 110. 
Waterhouse, Nat. Hist. Mamm. H, 1848, 131. 
Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quad. HI, 1853, 63 ; pi. cxii. 
Giebel Saugt. 1855, 450. 
? Lepus richardsonii, Bach. J. A. N. Sc. VIII, i, 1839, 88. 
Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. IV, 1844, 111. 
Lepus bennettii, Gray, Zool. Sulphur, Mamm. 1844, 35 ; pi. xiv. (In color rather nearer L. californicus.) 
Sp. Ch.- —Size large. Ears and hind feet much longer than the head, (the ears longest.) Tail as long as the head. 
Limbs elongated ; not very densely furred. Fur rather soft. Upper parts light cinnamon and black. Sides of the body 
anteriorly, chest, and outer surfaces of limbs cinnamon, with a slight mixture of black. Under parts whitish cinnamon on 
the median line, darker externally and on the inner surfaces of the limbs. Tail dull cinnamon ; the upper part and a line 
running up a short distance on the rump, black. Extremity of the dorsal surface of the ear, with the adjacent edges, 
black. Internal and external bands, dusky ; rest of the dorsal surface of the ear, with the posterior edge, fulvous white; 
rest of the external surface, with the anterior fringe, pale cinnamon. Under surface of the head lighter than the chest. 
Bases of the hairs aud fur above, grayish white ; below, white ; on the sides, light plumbeous. Nape, dusky grayish. 
General color above, mixed black and light cinnamon red ; tbe longest hairs being light 
smoky ash, or whitish ash, for about half the length, then dark sooty brown, then pale 
cinnamon red, and tipped with black; the intermediate shorter hairs are similar but without 
the terminal black. The fur proper is without the terminal black and sub-terminal cinnamon. 
The sides are similar, but with less black. The under parts are a very pale cinnamon, becoming 
darker along the edges of the abdomen, and the inner surfaces and edges of the limbs. These 
hairs on the median region of the belly are nearly white at the base, but towards the sides 
their bases are pale lead color, becoming darker externally. The sides of the body anteriorly, 
the entire throat and chest for some distance from the fore leg, and the external surfaces of the 
limbs are of a light cinnamon, but with very little black intermixed; a small proportion of the 
hairs only have annulations of this color, and these principally the longer ones. The fur here, as 
on the sides, is plumbeous at the base instead of ashy white, as on the back. The under part 
of the head is of a dirty yellowish white, clearly defined against the band on the neck just 
mentioned, where the fur is also much fuller. The nape behind the ears is covered with very 
short fur of a smoky gray, without any median line of darker ; the eyelids are cinnamon, the 
sides of the head behind the eyes like the back, with less black. 
The base of the dorsal surface of the ear is a pale fulvous white, this color running up on the 
posterior margin of the ear, which is densely clothed with soft compact hairs. The same color, 
less pure, extends over the rest of the dorsal surface or convexity, with the exception of the ex¬ 
ternal band, hereafter mentioned, and about an inch of the tip, which is very dark brown, (this 
color not invading the external band, except at the very tip.) The internal surface of the ear, 
or the concavity, (with the exception of the internal band,) is like the dorsal, but more fulvous. 
The internal and external bands (of Waterhouse) are mixed black and light cinnamon, like the 
back. The anterior fringe is light cinnamon, with black tips to some of the hairs. The edge 
of the upper part of the ear, opposite the dark patch, is also dark. 
