THE RABBIT OR CONY 221 



whereas a good hare is only then settling down into its stride. 

 The rabbit goes off with a fine rush for a few yards, while a hare, 

 on the contrary, reserves her strength. As Mr Allan Gordon 

 Cameron has remarked, 1 a rabbit gets up its top speed at 

 once, and has.no spurt at a pinch, whereas a hare requires 

 pressing, will not otherwise get properly extended, and answers 

 splendidly to every effort of the dogs that may be almost 

 touching it. In temperament, in fact, the two animals are 

 widely different. The hare, confident and having no thought 

 for a snug burrow at the end of her run, deliberately looks for 

 her salvation to the length of the course, and is never beaten 

 until she is in the enemy's mouth. The rabbit, designing only 

 to effect an expeditious retreat to its burrow, loses heart if its 

 efforts are not crowned with immediate success. If cut off from 

 home and sorely pressed, it sometimes becomes paralysed with 

 fear, and yields its life without further endeavour. Another 

 point of difference is that a hare, owing to its superior size and 

 longer stride, cares little for the nature of the ground on which 

 it runs, and, indeed, sometimes when the going is unsuitable to 

 greyhounds, its furry feet render it invincible. A rabbit, owing 

 to its short legs, must have fairly good ground to run on if it is 

 to make its best efforts. It is a poor performer across furrows, 

 and in thick tussocky grass I have myself run down and 

 caught one without the assistance of dogs. 



Similarly, rabbits suffer a great deal when there are heavy 

 falls of snow, the presence of which is very harmful to 

 them. Their short legs are of little use in carrying them 

 over the soft surface, and if they venture abroad they are easily 

 caught. If no thaw comes in a very few days, they become 

 emaciated, and may ultimately die, after having been reduced 

 to feeding on the bark of trees and shrubs. 



The spoor of a rabbit will be recognised from the annexed 

 figure without further description. It resembles that of a hare, 

 but is smaller, and the marks of the four feet at each hop fall 

 nearer together. 



The "paralysis of fear," mentioned above, may have 

 some connection with the crouching of an outlying individual 

 in its form until a deft kick hurls it forth into a rush for 



1 Field, 30th November 1895, 895. 

 VOL. II. p 2 



