. Familiar life in field and forest; the animals, birds, frogs, and salamanders . Northern Varying Hare ; summer coat. His greater relative who lives in the Xorth,more particularly among the mountains, is called theAmerican varying hare (L&pus amcrt-canus virginianus). This animal isremarkable for his change ofcolor; in summer he isdark-red brown, andwinter he is perfectlywhite. Regarding thenature of this changeI must repeat in sub-stance the opinions ex-pressed by Dr. Merriam and Prof. J. A. Merriam says that when the change occursin the fall, the fur lengthens andblanches, the ind
. Familiar life in field and forest; the animals, birds, frogs, and salamanders . Northern Varying Hare ; summer coat. His greater relative who lives in the Xorth,more particularly among the mountains, is called theAmerican varying hare (L&pus amcrt-canus virginianus). This animal isremarkable for his change ofcolor; in summer he isdark-red brown, andwinter he is perfectlywhite. Regarding thenature of this changeI must repeat in sub-stance the opinions ex-pressed by Dr. Merriam and Prof. J. A. Merriam says that when the change occursin the fall, the fur lengthens andblanches, the individual hairschanging color after thefirst fall ofsnow. Likea majority of^ the mammals,this hare has two ^7^^\ *^S? kinds of fur : anunder and soft kind ^^f»*\ which covers allparts of the body, and ^%^ an upper, longerand stifier kind which is scattered through it. This last, which is blackish in summer, becomesin the fall white at the tips first, and fades down-. 264 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. ward. In spring the process is exactly reversed—theexposed portions of the stiff fur become black by theend of March, and while the animal is still whitehundreds of the blackish hairs appear scattered overthe back, some of which are white in the middle andothers white on the tips. In the course of time thewhite fur loses its vitality, becomes brittle, and isbrushed off by the underwood of the forest. Professor Allen says that while the change frombrown to white in the American varying hare is sup-posed to be largely due to molt, it sometimes ap-pears to take place so suddenly that it is popularlythought to be due in some degree to the blanching ofthe hair; but the real nature of the change is notprecisely agreed upon by naturalists, it is as yet amatter of dispute. We are at liberty, then, to accept any hypothesisof this remarkable change of color which seems mostreasonable; and who shall decide when doctorsdisagree ? In summer this varying har
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