THE COMMON OR BROWN HARE 273 



do its utmost to save its life. At such times it is all compact- 

 ness and entirely lacks the appearance of length which is at 

 other times noticeable. Its habit of running "with its eyes 

 behind it" 1 has been known to result in collision with dogs, 

 men, bicycles, cattle, trees, or a member of its own species, 2 

 with unexpected and fatal results. So sharp is the creature's 

 hearing that Richard Blome 3 notes that of old when warreners 

 wished to prepare hares for the market they filled their ears 

 with wax ; the idea being that when not continually disturbed 

 by noises, the animals are quiescent, and grow sleek and fat. 



The short tail may be carried bent over the back like 

 a rabbit's, or it may be pointed straight backwards ; 

 countrymen and keepers profess to distinguish males and 

 females by the attitude of this organ. That it has attracted 

 attention from very early times is shown by a remark of 

 "The Master of Game" 4 that "An hare that crumps her tail 

 upon her rump when she starteth out of her form as a coney 

 (does) it is a token that she is strong and well running." 



As part of its ordinary routine the Common Hare never 

 enters a burrow like a rabbit, and trusts entirely to speed to 

 escape from its enemies. But, if hard pressed, it will occasion- 

 ally seek concealment under ground, 5 and where these animals 

 are preserved in numbers for coursing, it is customary to provide 

 them with artificial escapes, usually entered by drain-pipes, in 

 which they are trained to seek sanctuary. 



As stated above (p. 169), a hare's gait is peculiar. 

 Owing to the length of its hind legs the animal is believed to 



1 The old idea was that foxes hear from above, polecats forwards, hares back- 

 wards {vide an old writer quoted by W. B. Daniel, Rural Sports, 1801, i., 286) ; 

 i.e., foxes catch their prey by stealth, polecats by pursuit, but hares are always pursued. 

 This is supported by the direction of the bony external openings leading to the 

 internal ears, as pointed out by W. Farrar, Loudon's Mag. Nat. Hist., iv., 183 1, 9. 



2 For an account of a collision between two hares, see E. T. Booth, Field, 6th 

 October, 1883, 490. 



3 Gentleman's Recreation, 1686, pt. ii., 95. As in other nocturnal animals, the 

 whiskers, which are very prominent, probably function as organs of touch, especially 

 by night. Drane observed their use as such in his pets {op. cit, 107). But the 

 ears and external nasal apparatus are always twitching and on the qui vive. 



4 Anno 1406-1413, ed. W. A. and F. Baillie-Grohman, 1909, 17-18. 



5 References are hardly necessary for such a well-known fact, which was known 

 as well to "The Master of Game" as to twentieth-century naturalists ; see, however, 

 E. W. H. Blagg, also Reginald Graham, both in Field, 15th February 1896, 258. 



