MAMMALIA— HARE. QK 



ported, that it is no longer possible to extirpate them, and no small art is 

 required in order to diminish their number. Some species of hares are 

 migratory. They move, in flocks of five or six hundred, and often to a great 

 distance, in search of food. 



In those districts in England, which are reserved for the chase, four or five 

 hundred hares are killed in the course of perhaps one day's sport. These 

 animals multiply amazingly ; they are in a condition to engender in all 

 seasons, and before the first year of their life is expired. The females do 

 not go above thirty or thirty-one days with their young. 



The young ones are brought forth with their eyes open ; the mother 

 suckles them for the space of twenty days ; after which they separate them- 

 selves from her, and provide for their own subsistence. They do not with- 

 draw themselves far from each other, nor from the place where they first 

 drew breath ; yet they live in solitude, and each composes for itself a form, 

 at a little distance, perhaps sixty or eighty paces. Thus, when we find a 

 young leveret in one place, we are almost sure of finding one or two more 

 in the neighborhood. They feed more by night than by day; and their 

 favorite articles of provision, are herbs, roots, leaves, fruit, and grain, but, 

 above all, such plants as yield a milky juice. They even eat the bark of 

 trees in winter. When they are reared at home, they are fed with lettuce 

 and roots ; but the flesh of these domestic hares is always of a bad flavor. 



Hares sleep much, but always with their eyes open. They have no eye- 

 lashes, and seem to have but bad eyes. The eyes, however, are so promi- 

 nent, that they can see both before and behind. Their hearing is exceeding- 

 ly acute, and their ears are very large, compared with the size of their body. 

 They move these long ears with great facility, and use them as a helm, in 

 order to direct their course, which is so rapid, that they easily outstrip all 

 other animals. As their fore legs are much shorter than their hind legs, 

 they can more easily ascend than descend ; for which reason, when they 

 are pursued, their first object is to gain, if possible, some mountain. Their 

 motion in running, is a kind of gallop ; they proceed without making any 

 noise, because their feet are plentifully covered with hair, even underneath ; 

 and perhaps they are the only animals which have hair growing within 

 their mouths. 



Hares live not above seven or eight years. They pass their lives in 

 solitude and in silence ; and never are known to exert their voice, but whet 

 they are forcibly laid hold of, tormented, or wounded. They are by no 

 means so wild, as, by their habits, might be supposed ; they are gentle, and 

 susceptible of a species of improvement. As they have a good ear, as they 

 rest on their hind feet of their own accord, and use their fore legs like arms, 

 some have been so tutored as to beat a drum, to gesticulate in cadence, &c. 



Hares may be domesticated, and they then display sagacity, affection, and 

 no small share of curiosity. Cowper, the poet, has given an amusing 

 account of three of them, which he kept for some years. 



