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THE AMERICAN HARE. 345 



these various productions are ripe, that they become fit for the 

 table. 



In the North, they depend for support during the long winters 

 upon the buds and bark of the pine and fir, upon which they 

 grow fat. 



THEIR FLESH. 



The flesh of the American hare, when cooked, is dark and of a 

 game-flavor, and, if it were not for their great abundance, would be 

 highly esteemed as a delicacy for the table ; but, so long as they 

 can be purchased in our markets at twelve and a half cents apiece, 

 the public will not think a great deal of them. 



The hare is not in condition for the table until after several 

 severe frosts, when the meat will be found clean, delicate, juicy, 

 and tender, provided it is cooked in right style and with the pro- 

 per condiments. In the summer season, hares are not fit for the 

 table at all ; their flesh at this time is tough and stringy, and, 

 moreover, their bodies, more particularly about the head and 

 upper part of the neck, are infested with a species of oestrus, that 

 lays its eggs in the skin, and which, when hatched, grow sometimes 

 to an enormous size before leaving its nest ; we have found them 

 buried in the very flesh of the neck, as much as an inch long, and 

 as large as the point of the little finger. Their presence must 

 worry and torment the poor animal much, as we have always 

 found those with these worms in them very lean, and to all appear- 

 ance weak and sickly. We have shot them as late as November 

 witli these worms in them, but they generally fall out much earlier 

 than this. 



