winter, but towards the tips it is ringed with yellowish-brown and black. On the back, the
black is.in large proportion, and the resulting colour of the surface is a dark umber-brown,
mixed with yellowish-brown. On the head there is more brown, and it has a brighter tint.
There is more black on the crown of the head than on the cheeks; the sides of the muzzle
are paler, aud are sprinkled with white. A white circle surrounds the eye, but the margins
of the eyelids are black as in winter. The under jaw is smoke-gray, the throat unmixed
yellowish-brown. The white colour commences between the fore-legs, extends over all the
belly, and predominates on the extremities; but wherever the fur on the latter is ruffled,
the brown colours of the roots of the fur are seen. The sides present a dull, pale, yellowish-
brown colour, with a few scattered black hairs. The ears are nearly naked in the summer,
but the fur generally remains on their margins of a mixed white and blackish-brown, the
latter colour prevailing at their tips. The tail is white underneath on its' upper surface the
gray and brown colours appear through the white. Whiskers as in winter.
D im e n s io n s ,
Of fall-sized individuals.
Inches. Lines.
Length. of head and body
from nose to the tip of the middle
19 0
' daw of the hind leg, when stretched out .
of head, measured with a line over
27 6
the curvature of the forehead . 4 3
of head, measured with callipers 3 6
ears, in their winter far (posteriorly) 3 2
ears, from rictus to apex . 2 9
j» tail (vertebrae) • 1 6
tail, induding fur- . - 2 6
1 1 whiskers • *
Fore Extremities.
3 ' 9
ulna.
from carpal joint to point of middle
3 6
daw 2 9
Inches.- Lines«
Length of middle toe and claw 1 3
„ ■ the middle fore-claw alone 0 7
Hind Extremities.
,, from knee joint' to end of middle
daw . ■ Y\ '. 9 &
„ of tibia . . .i 4 &
,, from heel to end of middle daw 5 6
„ J heel to root of middle foe 3 3
,, of middle toe and claw ; 2. 4
. middle daw ■ .. 0 ■
,, the scull, from the insertion of the
incisors to occipital spine (measured by
calliper compasses) 2/ 9
[69.] 2. L e p u s g l a c ia l i s . (Leach.) Polar Hare.
Varying Hare. P e n n a n t , Arct. Z o o l vol. i. p. 94. H e a r n e , Journey, p. 382.
Lepus timidus. F ab n ic ie s , Fauna Greenly p. 25.
Lepus glacialis. Leach, R oss’s Voyage. Capt. Sabine, Suppl. Parry's First Voy., clxxxviii. Sabine (Mr.),
Franklin’s Joum., p. 664. Richardson, Appendix Parry's Second Voy., p. 321. Harlan,
Fauna, p. 194.
The Polar Hare. G o d m a n , Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 162.
Kaw-choh. C o p p e r and H a r e I n d ia n s .
Ookalik. E s q u im a u x . Rekaleek. G r e e n l a n d e r s .
This animal was, down to the period of Captain Ross’s voyage to Baffin’s Bay,
considered as the same with the varying hare; although Pennant had remarked
that its size was greater than that of the latter animal. Dr. Leach first noted
Captain Ross’s specimens as belonging to a distinct species; and Captain Sabine
enumerated its specific characters in the Appendix to Captain Parry’s First Voyage.
Many specimens, brought home by the Tate arctic voyagers, exist in various,
museums in Great Britain. The Polar Hare inhabits both sides of Baffin s Bay,
and is common on the Barren Grounds, at the northern extremity of the American
continent. Its most southerly known habitat is the neighbourhood of Fort
Churchill, on Hudson’s Bay, which is in the 58th parallel of latitude; but it may,
perhaps, extend further to the southward on the elevated ridge of the Rocky
Mountains, or on the eastern coast of Labrador. It is not found in wooded
districts ; hence, it does not come further south on the line of the Mackenzie and
Slave Lake than latitude 64°. It was found in latitude 75° on the North Georgian
Islands. Although it does not frequent thick woods, it is often seen near the
small and thin clumps of spruce fir, which are scattered on the confines of the
Barren Grounds. It seeks the sides of hills, where the wind prevents the snow
from lodging deeply, and where, even in the winter, it can procure the berries of
the alpine arbutus, the bark of some dwarf willows, or the evergreen leaves of the
Labrador tea-plant (ledum) *. It does not dig burrows, but shelters itself amongst
large stones, or in the crevices of rocks, and in the winter time its form is
generally found in a wreath of snow, at the base of a cliff. The Polar Hare is
not a very shy animal, and on the approach of a hunter it merely runs to a little
distance, and sits down, repeating this manoeuvre as often as its pursuer comes
* On the barren coast of Winter Island, the hares went out on the ice to the ships, to feed on the tea-leaves,
thrown overboard by the sailors.—-Lyon’s Private Journal.