RABBIT SHOOTING. 165 



come upon you at any moment ; and unless you are 

 prepared to take him without the slightest hesitation 

 the moment he shows himself, he will be gone. 



I do not think it wise to run from one position to 

 another unless you are very well acquainted with the 

 ground; for both hares and rabbits have very sharp 

 eyes, and will detect the slightest movement of your 

 person. If they see nothing about you to frighten 

 them, they will not hesitate to come very near you. 



If well ahead of the dog, a hare will not always run 

 at full speed. Occasionally he will stop, cock himself 

 up on his hind-legs like a monkey, and work his big 

 ears back and forth in the endeavor to hear the dog. 

 He will frequently try to puzzle his pursuer, and will 

 often succeed in doing so. I have known hares, when 

 well ahead of the dogs, to go back on their tracks for 

 some distance, and then jump off on one side with a 

 long leap, so that when the hounds came to the end of 

 the track, they were sorely puzzled. An experienced 

 hound will not be thrown off the track easily by this 

 skilful manoeuvre. Dogs are up to this trick, and 

 whenever they come to such an abrupt ending of the 

 track, they at once go back on it, closely examining it 

 for several feet on each side until they strike the fresh 

 trail. In cases, however, where the hare back-tracks, 

 the sportsman should assist his dog. He can gener- 

 ally tell when the dog has met with this little contre- 

 temps, by his not giving tongue. On approaching 

 scrub-oaks or scattered cover, the hare, when followed, 

 will sometimes stop and listen for the dog. Should he 

 come up and stop within a short distance of you, do not 



