Mr. J. E. Ilarting on Forest Animals. 89 



hares at birth are clothed with fur and have their eyes 

 open. Eabbits produce their young underground; hares 

 construct *' a form " above ground. To this general rule, 

 however, exceptions have been noted. Eabbits have been 

 known to breed above ground/'' and hares have been ob- 

 served to burrow. t You may generally tell whether turnips 

 have been nibbled by hares or rabbits by the difference in 

 their mode of attacking the root. A hare will bite off the 

 peel and leave it on the ground ; a rabbit will eat peel 

 and all. t 



Hares vary much in weight, and occasionally in colour. 

 The average weight may be between 7 lbs. and 81bs., but I 

 have notes of three, shot in Lincolnshire, in the autumn of 

 1877, which weighed respectively lllbs. 3oz., lllbs. 12oz., 

 and lllbs. 3oz. § With regard to variation in colour, I have 

 notes of the capture of three black hares, several albinos, 

 and one parti-coloured one, in different parts of the country. 



Black and sandy-coloured rabbits are not very un- 

 common, but an albino rabbit, truly wild, is, I think, not 

 often met with. 



Both hares and rabbits can swim well, but it generally 

 requires the persuasion of the sportsman or his dog to 

 make them take the water. I have only once seen a hare 

 swim voluntarily, and then the stream crossed was not a 

 wide one. 



The appearance of the Squirrel must be so familiar to 

 everyone that I need not offer any description, but will 

 confine myself to a few remarks on its habits. 



We have seen how one Eodent lives underground, and 

 another makes its " form " upon the surface. We have 

 here a case of one which constructs its nest in a tree, some- 

 times in a hole, sometimes in a fork between two branches. 

 This nest is made of moss, leaves, and long dry grass, and 

 makes a soft cradle for the young ones, which are born 



* See The Field, December 2nd and 16tli, 1876. 

 f Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. v., p. 262. 

 + The Zoologist, 1878, p. 100. 

 5^ The Field, November 10th, 1877. 



