1924] Swarth: Birds and Mammals of the Skeena River Region 385

separating the two species in this region, or their ranges may really
overlap for some distance. More data are required to establish the
actual conditions.

We happened to visit the Skeena Valley in a ‘‘good rabbit year”’
and the animals were abundant everywhere in the lowlands. None was
seen at high altitudes. In the poplar woods the ground was con-
spicuously crisscrossed with rabbit trails, and these trails were in
constant use. The rabbits themselves were most often encountered
about dusk; at that time, too, in a walk through the woods there
could be heard again and again the resounding thumps of rabbits’
feet, as the startled creatures fled unseen. This alarm note, usually

TABLE 4

MEASUREMENTS IN MILLIMETERS OF Lepus americanus columbiensis FROM THE
UpprrR SKEENA VALLEY, B.C.

Total Tail Hind Ear from

length vertebrae foot notch
32776 fof 438 46 130 76
32778 oe 450 58 133 70
32779 rot 420 42 130 77
32782 of 451 45 132 65
32777 ce) 466 55 138 75
32780 Q 439 41 130 70
32785 Q 445 40 133 70

repeated many times, presumably serves some good purpose, but it
seemed as though in this region it could act only as a guide for some
pursuing horned owl that otherwise would have had difficulty in
following its prey through the bushes.

By the middle of June young rabbits were seen in some numbers,
but we found it impossible to shoot them. They were much more
active than the adults, and in the tangles of windfall and brush where
we saw them, usually close underfoot, they could dart under cover
with amazing speed. The juveniles collected were all trapped.

Adults taken early in June still retained some of the white winter
pelage. One collected on June 6 is pure white below, the feet are
white (with pale cinnamon under-fur), and there are scattered white
hairs on the rump and sides. The white lingers longest upon the feet,
traces being seen even upon one or two rabbits that were shot in July.

Pregnant females taken on June 1, June 12, and July 11, contained,
respectively, eight, one, and five embryos.

Ps

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