THE COMMON OR BROWN HARE 271 



had opened up communications with the low country ; x and it 

 may have been in some such way as this that individuals have 

 found their way into parks and towns, as described above 

 on page 256. 



The form soon takes on a rough oblong cast or print of the 

 animal's body, with smooth sides and the floor trampled or 

 scratched bare by the feet. 2 The shape is probably preserved 

 by the occupant entering only in one direction, sitting quietly 

 while at home, and, it may be, pulling the grass over it 

 with its teeth. Thus it acquires a homely, warm, dry, and 

 comfortable appearance, surprising when it is remembered 

 that it is merely the space formed by the animal when lying 

 down in a tuft of grass or other vegetation. 



Forms, however, vary much in detail, 3 for the animal 

 changes its domicile at intervals, and its movements from 

 one situation to another are usually attributed by writers to a 

 capricious but doubtfully existent love of comfort. Un- 

 doubtedly hares are very hardy, and warmly clad with fur, and 

 their wants were thus briefly summarised by a recent writer on 

 sport: 4 — "They like dry ground beneath them, but are very 

 indifferent to shelter ; it is a common thing to see a hare 

 squatting on the side of a hill with the wind blowing into 

 her fur. In this respect she is far less luxurious than the 

 fox." The general opinion may be further stated somewhat as 

 follows : — The hare does not like very thick coverts, nor those 

 with a drip. In the summer it selects a shady spot, and in 

 the winter an aspect where it may receive the warmth of the 

 sun's rays. It is usually to be found in covert during rain, and 

 in the open in fine, but not in very bright, weather ; there are 

 days when, the season permitting, it must be sought for in 



1 J. A. Harvie-Brown, Proc. R. Phys. Soc, Edinburgh, vi., 167, 1880-81, 

 quoting from New Statistical Account of Argyleshire, 233. Thomas Pennant {Tour 

 in Scotland, 1772, 102) has a similar note referring to the neighbouring districts 

 of Glencoe, Glen Creran, and Glen Ety. 



2 Well described by Gervase Markham {Country Contentments, 4th ed., 1631, 

 i., 34), with reference to its appearance as indicative of use and the probability of 

 a hunt. 



3 Beckford (pp. cit., 127) remarks that he had heard of a common practice 

 amongst the shepherds on the Wiltshire downs of constructing artificial forms for 

 hares to sit in ; and, when made on the side of a hill, it was possible to see at a 

 distance whether they were occupied or not. 



4 The Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, Encyc. of Sport, vol. i., 1897, 559. 



