THE COMMON OR BROWN HARE 281 



threatened. The exclamation is clear but not loud, and, 

 indeed, often only just audible. The same sounds were 

 described by Cornish 1 as "a kind of grunting squeak," and by 

 Mr Woodruffe- Peacock as a " snuffling grunt," which is 

 the accompaniment of a fight — "a peculiar grunting and 

 hissing sound, produced by the throat and lips together." 



The guttural pipe of the doe and the minor key of her 

 sucklings are noticed by Mr Woodruffe- Peacock as well- 

 known sounds of evening and early morning where hares 

 abound. These cries appear to have been first written of by 

 Edward Jesse. 2 That of the dam he considered faint, 

 and somewhat like the feeble bleat of a fawn ; the leverets 

 answer in still feebler tones. The mother's call has been 

 mentioned also by Mr Drane and Mr Millais. The latter's 

 information was obtained from a keeper, who informed his 

 employer, Sir Richard Graham, that this peculiar cry — 

 "something between a grunt and a whistle"' — can be heard 

 distinctly at a distance of three or even four hundred yards. 

 According to this man, the doe follows the scent of her young 

 just like a dog, and utters this curious call as she goes along, 

 and a similar one when she wishes to summon her litter to her 

 side. Mr Drane's description is slightly different, for he states 

 that the expression "oont" was emitted rather than uttered 

 by his pet hares to their young when loose at night in his 

 house ; it was so very subdued that to hear it at all an 

 observer must be at very close quarters. The discrepancy 

 may have arisen from the natural differences between observa- 

 tion in a house and out of doors. 



Mr Woodruffe- Peacock describes a warning sound produced 

 by the grinding together of the teeth. It is passed on from 

 hare to hare over a wide area, and puts every individual 

 within hearing on the alert for danger. Its effect is like the 

 stamping of the hind feet amongst rabbits. 



There are also "the low and plaintive tones," as they have 

 been called, of the amorous buck and doe, which, together 

 with the sounds already described, are so well known in the 



1 Op. cit., p. 156. 



2 Scenes and Occupations of a Country Life, 1853, 310, as pointed out by 

 Harting, Field, 4th March 1905, 375 ; see also The Hare. 



VOL. II. T 



