632 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



young, which is observed in the domesticated EngHsh Rab- 

 bit; on the contrary, they would frequently sit beside their 

 Httle family, when they were but a day or two old, seem- 

 ingly to enjoy their playfulness and to watch their progress 

 to maturity." 



"These young ones left their nest in ten or twelve days, 

 and from that time seemed to provide for themselves and to 

 derive little sustenance or protection from their mothers. "° 



My impression is that when the young are between two or 

 three weeks old they leave the home nest and never return to 

 it. Then and there the family is scattered. They are now 

 independent of the mother's care and are seldom seen near her. 

 I never expected to hear of a mother Hare followed by her 

 brood, so was much interested in an exceptional case observed 

 by D. R. Hanford, of Duluth, Minn. His record contains 

 more than one surprise: 



"Two years ago this June [he says], while trout-fishing 

 on French River, a stream about twelve miles from here, I 

 saw a mother Hare coming down the trail, followed by 4 

 young ones, about half or two-thirds grown. Upon killing 

 the mother, we found 2 young ones, fully developed, and 

 about ready for birth." (Letter of April 24, 1907.) 



On June 21, 1883, I was seeking for bird's nests in the 

 Carberry Spruce forest (Manitoba). A White-throated Spar- 

 row was chirping plaintively near, and I was peering into every 

 likely place for the nest, when under a brush pile I saw a 

 young Hare crouching as still as a moss bump. I cautiously 

 reached down through the branches and caught it, whereupon 

 it squealed vigorously, and an old Hare, doubtless the mother, 

 came running through the woods. She rushed about in dis- 

 tress, keeping at a distance of fifteen or twenty yards, but 

 seemed half-disposed to attack me. The little one ceased 

 squealing when put in my pocket, and then the mother dis- 

 appeared. 



The place where it had been sitting was a mass of twigs, 

 but I think not the nest; no sign of fur or lining was to be seen 



« Ibid., p. 98. 



