tail in the Stoat, never change colour. As already stated, the Alpine Hare is smaller than the Brown Hare, the combined length of head and body being about twenty inches, but the head is proportionately larger, the ears and tail shorter, and the legs longer. The fur is more woolly and of a duskier tint in summer, the whiskers shorter and finer, the eyes rounder, and the hair on the underside of the foot softer. Behind the breast the under parts are white, and the tail wholly so. Another name--Blue Hare--is suggested by its appearance in autumn and spring, when the summer and winter tints are mingled in its fur. The coat becomes closer and longer in winter than it is in summer. Sometimes the winter coat is retained longer than usual, through some unexplained retarding of the spring moult. Black and buff variations have been recorded. The average weight is between five and six pounds. The habits of the Alpine Hare are very similar to those of the Brown Hare; but it is less timid, and when alarmed clears off in a more leisurely and less excited manner. As contrasted with the nervous terror of the Brown Hare and Rabbit, the Alpine Hare may be said to be comparatively tame. Instead of making a form it hides in rock crevices and among stones where it may be sheltered from the sight of birds of prey overhead. Occasionally, and especially where there are no rocks, they excavate burrows a few feet in length in the hillside or into the peat-bank. In general its food is similar to that of the Brown Hare; but it is said to add lichens to its bill of fare in winter, and to grind up fir-cones in order to obtain the seeds. Precise observation is still needed respecting the breeding habits of the Alpine Hare, but they do not appear to differ greatly from those of the Brown Hare, two or three litters being produced in the year, and the leverets varying in number up to eight. *Irish Hare* (_Lepus hibernicus_, Bell). The abundance of Hares in Ireland has been noticed in literature for more than a thousand years, but it was not until 1833 that it was suggested that the Irish Hare was anything more than a variation of the Brown Hare. Even so, until quite recently it has been accepted by most of the high authorities as, at best, a variety or sub-species of the Alpine Hare. It occurs naturally all over Ireland, and is not found elsewhere except where distinct attempts have been made to introduce it. Even in places where this introduction has succeeded in establishing colonies--as in the Island of Mull, where it runs with the Alpine Hare--it refuses to breed with other kinds. Barrett-Hamilton is satisfied that it is distinct, and probably a direct descendant of the extinct _Lepus anglicus_ whose remains are found in late Pleistocene rocks.