2 20 BRITISH MAMMALS 



species, and the hind legs are proportionately much longer than 

 the fore limbs. As in the rabbit and the mountain hare, the soles 

 of the feet are completely covered with hair. Noteworthy in 

 hares and rabbits is the deeply marked cleft in the upper lip. In 

 colour the common hare tends to be much redder than the 

 mountain form or than the rabbit. The throat and chest are a 

 warm buff, which changes into white on the belly. The tail is 

 black above and white below. The ears are buff-coloured at the 

 back, with a black tip. The face is reddish-fawn-colour on the 

 cheeks and round the eyes, while the forehead and nose are a dark 

 blackish-brown. The hind and fore limbs are reddish-yellow. 

 The whole of the rest of the upper parts of the body is yellowish 

 in the under-wool, varied by the longer hairs which lie on the 

 surface, and these are generally gray in their lower half and black 

 for the rest of the length, so that the upper surface of the hare's 

 body appears grizzled (" pepper and salt "), with a warm yellow- 

 red in the clefts of the soft coat. 



Hares breed when a year old. The female goes with young 

 about thirty days, and then produces from two to five leverets 

 at a birth. These, as already stated, are born in an advanced 

 condition of development, with open eyes and covered with 

 hair, and practically able to run from the day of their birth. 

 There is no more beautiful object amongst the wild mammals 

 of Britain than the leveret of a few days old. Its large eyes 

 are a deep blue-gray. The ears are shorter and broader than 

 in the adult, and the fur is perhaps a little redder in tone. 

 These sweet little creatures in their timidity squat with their 

 limbs and ears closely adpressed to the body. They are a 

 warm, fluffy handful which it is irresistible to slip into one's 

 pocket. Hares are readily tamed, and their ways as domestic 

 pets are so charming and full of intelligence that it is surprising 

 they are not more often kept ; but it would seem as if there 

 were a very great difficulty in inducing hares to breed in captivity, 

 which is perhaps the reason why they have never become 

 domesticated like the rabbit. Large breeds of rabbits, on the 

 Continent especially, often assume, when domesticated, a hare-like 



