346 LEPORID^— LEPUS 



the wants of three leverets, swam every night to an island on 

 an artificial lake. 1 



Occasionally these hares lie out so close to the sea that 

 it would seem to be not unusual for them to be cut off and to 

 have to regain the shore by swimming. Thompson states 

 that he twice in one day came upon hares resting on rocks 

 usually isolated for at least half of every twelve hours. 



The breeding habits, so far as has been ascertained, are 

 similar to those of other hares. At Kilmanock young 

 leverets may be found, like rabbits, at almost all times of the 

 year, 2 so that the does must have several litters each season ; 

 and in fact Thompson found that some kept in an enclosed 

 yard in Belfast produced young three times in a year. That 

 writer believed that there are five litters during each season. 

 At Kilmanock the majority of leverets begin to make their 

 appearance in March, that is not quite so early as young rabbits. 

 The usual number of young was stated by Thompson to be 

 three, which agrees with my own observations, no instance 

 exceeding that number having come under my notice, while in 

 three cases I found only two. Thompson was, however, 

 informed by two gamekeepers, that they had, although rarely, 

 observed four, and his friend William Sinclaire took six out of 

 a doe weighing 8 lbs. in May. 



As in the case of other hares, the leverets are seldom found 

 lying together in one nest, because they soon either disperse of 

 their own accord or are separated by their mother. But it is 

 probable that all the members of a litter are dropped in the 

 same place, where, indeed, they may occasionally be discovered. 

 One instance of three havino- been thus encountered together 

 has come within my personal knowledge, and two others have 

 been reported to me. On one occasion my gamekeeper kept 

 the leverets under observation, and he found them on each 

 subsequent day farther apart until he lost sight of them 

 altogether. It seems likely that the young of a litter, although 



1 H. C. Dent, Field, 14th June 1890, 892. 



2 The following dates are taken at random from MS. notes, all made at 

 Kilmanock: — female suckling, 20th January; rabbit-sized leveret, 25th January; 

 female in young, 14th February ; recently born leveret, 27th August ; three embryos, 

 October ; this practically covers every month except July and September, there 

 being no need for records from March to June. 



