1886-87.] The Hare. 69 



would immediately sit np for a second, then scamper oflf. None 

 know tliis better than poachers, who, when hanging nets on 

 gates, always take care to keep to the lee-side. I have fre- 

 quently noticed the keen scent of hares by observing one 

 following the track of another, sometimes after an hour had 

 intervened. 



That hares are quick-sighted may be inferred ft-om the fact 

 that when one is discovered lying on a field — it may be hun- 

 dreds of yards off — directly any person goes over the fence, or 

 even stops opposite it on the road, she will at once squat closer. 

 The quick sense of hearing in the hare is noticeable when being 

 driven out of a wood where they had shortly before been dis- 

 turbed, and where they may be seen stealing away at the other 

 end, sometimes half a mile ahead. 



Hares trust a great deal to being passed unnoticed, and will 

 sometimes allow people almost to trample on them before 

 making off. When one is squatted in a field, and the sports- 

 man goes straight towards where she is concealed, she will 

 very frequently rise out of shot. Human intelligence, how- 

 ever, is superior to animal instinct, and when one is seen in its 

 form, the sportsman, by circling round as if going to pass her, 

 will get within easy range. 



Another peculiarity by which the hare very frequently makes 

 good her escape is by doubling back on her tracks, and thus 

 throwing dogs off the scent. In my boyhood I was frequently 

 surprised at seeing harriers and beagles " full cry " on a burning 

 scent, when, all at once, the " music " would cease, and the sport 

 was brought to an abrupt termination. I was, however, fortu- 

 nate one day in having the mystery unexpectedly solved. The 

 harriers were out, and hares being plentiful, they were very soon 

 " full cry." I climbed a tree in order to have a good view of 

 the sport. It was not long before I descried the hare, a long 

 distance in advance of the hounds, coming near to where I was 

 concealed. " Puss " galloped up the centre of a field, then sud- 

 denly stopped, sat up, and for a second, with pricked ears 

 listened to the distant full cry of the hounds. Instantly she 

 wheeled round and galloped back for a' couple of hundred yards 

 exactly where she had come up, then struck off at right angles 

 down wind, and speedily disappeared from view. I then turned 

 my attention to the hounds and riders, who were fast approach- 



