Total length, 363-520; tail, 25-55; hind foot, 112-150; ear from notch (dry), 62-70. Upper parts brownish or dusky grayish; hind feet brownish or white depending on subspecies; winter pelage white except in certain populations along Pacific Coast; basilar length less than 67; first upper incisors inscribing an arc of a circle the radius of which is less than 9.6 mm. There are two to six young in a litter according to Orr (1940:59).
Lepus americanus americanus Erxleben.
1777. [Lepus] americanus Erxleben, Systema Regni Animalis ..., 1:330, type locality Hudson Bay, Canada.
1778. Lepus hudsonius Pallas, Glires, p. 30, type locality not stated.
1790. Lepus nanus Schreber, Säugethiere, 4:880-885, pl. 234B, a composite of Lepus americanus and Sylvilagus floridanus. No type or type locality designated. Range given as from Hudson Bay to Florida.
1899. Lepus bishopi J. A. Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 12:11, March 4, type from Mill Lake, Turtle Mts., North Dakota (inseparable from L. a. americanus according to V. Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna, 49:138, January 8, 1927 [not December, 1926]).
Marginal records (Nelson, 1909:89, unless otherwise noted).—Keewatin: Hudson Bay (Anderson, 1947:100). Ontario: Fort Severn (Nelson, 1909:88); around shore of Hudson Bay to approximately 56° N thence to Ungava: Fort Chimo. Labrador: Hamilton Inlet. Ontario: North Bay of Lake Nipissing; Michipicoten Island; Isle Royal (Anderson, 1947:100). Manitoba: Dog Lake. Saskatchewan: Indian Head. North Dakota (V. Bailey, 1927:139): Mill Lake, Turtle Mts.; Grafton; "near" Fargo; Elbowoods; Buford. Saskatchewan: Battle Creek (Soper, 1946:149). Alberta: Red Deer; 50 mi. N Edmonton; Fort Chipewyan; Govt. Hay Camp, Slave River (Soper, 1942:140).
Lepus americanus bairdii Hayden.
1869. Lepus bairdii Hayden, Amer. Nat., 3:115, May, type locality Columbia Valley, Wind River Mts., Fremont County, Wyoming.
1875. [Lepus americanus] var. bairdii, J. A. Allen, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 17:431, February 17.