Part 73 (1/2)

SIZE.--Head and body, about 17 inches; tail, with hair, 5 inches.

This hare was obtained by Dr. Stoliczka, and was first described and named by Mr. W. T. Blanford ('J. A. S. B.' vol. xiv. 1875, part ii.

p. 110).

NO. 416. LEPUS CRASPEDOTIS.

_The Large-eared Hare_.

HABITAT.--Baluchistan, Pis.h.i.+n.

DESCRIPTION.--Colour brown above, white below; the fur of the back is very pale French grey at the base, then black, and the tip is pale brown, almost isabelline; the black rings are wanting on the nape, hind neck and breast, which, like the fore-legs and hinder part of the tarsi are pale rufous brown; ears externally mouse brown, blackish-brown on the posterior portion near the tip, the anterior edges white, with rather longer hairs, except near the tip, where the hair is short and black; the posterior margins inside pale isabelline, the pale edge becoming broader near the tip; tail black above, white on the sides and below; whiskers black near the base, white except in the shorter ones throughout the greater part of their length; a pale line from the nose, including the eye, continued back nearly to the ear (Blanford's 'Eastern Persia,' vol. ii. p. 81, with plate).

SIZE.--Head and body, 15 inches; tail, with hair, 4.5 inches; ear, 6 inches; breadth of ear laid flat, 3.25 inches.

This is a new species, described and named by Mr. W. T. Blanford.

NO. 417. LEPUS HISPIDUS.

_The Hispid Hare_.

HABITAT.--The Terai and low forests at the base of the Himalayas.

DESCRIPTION.--”General colour dark or iron grey, with an embrowned ruddy tinge, and the limbs shaded outside, like the body, with black, instead of being unmixed rufous” (_Hodgson_). The inner fur is soft, downy, and of an ash colour, the outer longer, hispid, harsh and bristly. Some of the hairs ringed black and brown, others are pure black and long, the latter more numerous; ears short and broad.

SIZE.--Head and body, 19-1/2 inches; tail, with hair, 2-1/8 inches; ears, 2-3/4 inches.

This animal seems to be a link between the hares and the rabbits.

Like the latter, it burrows, and has more equal limbs; but, according to Hodgson, it is not gregarious, but lives in pairs. It would greatly help in the identification of its position if some one would procure the young or a gravid female, and see whether the young are born blind and naked as in the rabbits, or open-eyed and clad with fur as in the hares. Jerdon says it is common at Dacca, and is reported to be found also in the Rajmehal hills, and that its flesh is stated to be white, like that of the rabbit.

FAMILY LAGOMYIDAE--THE PIKAS, OR MOUSE-HARES.

One or two premolars above and below; grinding teeth as in _Leporidae_; skull depressed; the frontals are contracted, without the wing-like processes of the hares; a single perforation in the facial surface of the maxillaries; a curious prolongation of the posterior angle of the malar into a process extending almost to the ear tube, or auditory meatus; the basisphenoid is not perforated and separated from the vomer as in _Lepus_; the coronoid process is in the form of a tubercle; the clavicles are complete; ears short; limbs nearly equal; no tail.

_GENUS LAGOMYS_.

Animals of small size and robust form; short-eared and tailless; two premolars above and below.

NO. 418. LAGOMYS ROYLEI.

_Royle's Pika_ (_Jerdon's No. 210_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Rang-runt_, or _Rang-duni_, in Kunawur.--_Jerdon_.

HABITAT.--The Himalayan range, from Kashmir to Sikim.

DESCRIPTION.--Rabbit grey or brown, with a yellowish-grey tinge, more or less rufous on the head, neck, shoulder and sides of body; a hairy brown muzzle, with pale under-lip; long whiskers, some white, the posterior ones dark; under-parts white; fur soft and fine. The upper lip is lobed as in the hare; ears elliptical, with rounded tops.

SIZE.--From 6 to 8 inches.