HARE 



557 



woolly, the other longer and Htouter. The colour, 

 o\\iii>; t<> the varying tints of these two sets of 

 h.ms, is H (lull reddish-brown, paler on the sides 

 nti'l white, below, which from its resemblance to 

 tin- earth is admirably adapted to conceal the 

 animal. 



Tin- hare is in the main of nocturnal habits, and 

 passes the day sleeping in its 'form,' a slight 

 depression unions the grass and other herbage, 

 sheltered I'rom the MIM in summer and the wind in 

 wiuti-r. In the evening it creeps out to feed, 

 nearly all vegetable substances being palatable to 

 it ; green vegetables and root-crops are, however, 

 it> speci.-il delicacies, though it will gnaw the bark 

 oil trees when hard pressed. In places where it is 

 protected by game-laws it does great damage on 

 account of its voracity and fertility. 



In addition to its protective colouring, caution 

 and speed are the hare's security. Crouched in its 

 form, on any sign of danger it at once sits up on its 

 haunches and looks around ; its next action is to 

 crouch down and try to conceal itself ; should this 

 fail and the enemy approach too near, it betakes 

 itself to Ili^'lit, in which its long hind-legs give it 

 a great advantage in running either on a level or 

 uphill ; in descending it proceeds diagonally, other- 

 wise its springs would overturn it. Its course is 

 chosen with great cunning so as to place all possible 

 obstacles in the way of its pursuer, and though it 

 does not take naturally to water it has T>een 

 known to swim a considerable distance when 

 closely pressed. It has many enemies ; nearly all 

 beasts and birds of prey will attack it, not to 

 mention man, whose pursuit is treated in special 

 articles (see COURSING ; also GAME LAWS). 



The time of pairing is in February or March, 

 and at this period the pugnacity, which is even 

 more a characteristic of this cautious animal than 

 its proverbial timidity, comes into evidence, for 

 the males light ferociously for the females. The 

 period of gestation is thirty days ; there are three 

 to five young (known as 'leverets') in each litter, 

 and four (rarely five) litters are produced yearly; 

 the first in March, the last in August. The young 

 can see when born, and are only indifferently tended 

 by their mother for about a month. 



The Common Hare is distributed over the greater 

 part of Europe and a small portion of western 

 Asia, as far north as Scotland, south Sweden, and 

 Persia, and as far south as France and north 

 Italy. Three different local varieties have been 

 recognised : ( 1 ) the South European ( L. medi- 

 terraneus, L. meridioiialis), small, short, with 

 looser hair of a reddish tinge ; ( 2 ) the Mid-European 

 (L. timidus s. str., L. campicola), stouter, with 

 longer hair and brownish-gray; (3) the Eastern 

 form (L. caspicus), very thick-naired, and gray or 

 whitish-gray in colour. The Irish Hare, formerly 

 known as L. hibemicus, is not regarded as a dis- 

 tinct species by the best authorities, but as a 

 variety of the Alpine hare. 



The Alpine Hare (L. variabilis) is distinguished 

 by its smaller size, the shortness of the ears, 

 which are not so long as the head, the white tail 

 about half the length of the head, and the form of 

 the first upper molar. It occurs in the circum- 

 polar regions as far south as 55 N. lat., and also 

 in elevated positions in more temperate regions, 

 such as the Alps, Pyrenees, and probably the 

 Caucasus. As a British form it is confined to the 

 north of Scotland and Cumberland. Three differ- 

 ent varieties have been described : ( 1 ) the Polar, 

 white both in summer and winter, with the ex- 

 ception of the tips of the ears; (2) alpine form 

 or 'Blue Hare,' grayish-brown in summer; (3) 

 temperate form, grayish-brown l>oth summer and 

 winter, but somewhat whitish in the latter season. 

 The Irish hare is probably this form. 



Two species of hare have been recorded from 

 India and central Asia, and one from the Cape. 

 The American continent yields some <lo/.en different 

 forms, only one of which, however, occurs in the 

 southern portion. Among these are the Polar 

 Hare (L. glacialis), the Northern Hare (L. ameri- 

 canits), and L. aquatic.ua and L. paluttris, the 

 Swamp and Marsh Hares; these last are excellent 

 swimmers and divers. 



Fossil hares have been found in the Pliocene 

 formations of Fiance, the I'o-t Pliocene of North 

 America, and the caves of Brazil. 



The Pikas belong to the genus Lagomyu (some- 

 times made the type of a distinct family, Logo- 

 n iy i< he), which is 'distinguished from Lepus by ite 

 short hind-legs, very short tail, and rounded ears, 

 as well as by the presence of complete collar-bones. 



The type species L. alpinus somewhat resembles 

 a Guinea-pig in shape and size ; the colour is 

 reddish-yellow sprinkled with black above, redder 

 on the sides and front of the neck, paler below. It 

 continually emits a penetrating Whistle, repeated 

 two or three times in succession, which has been 

 compared to the note of a woodpecker. It inhabits 

 burrows in the ground which it excavates for itself, 

 and in which it stores up food for the winter. Its 

 habits are nocturnal. There are eleven different 

 species, which extend from Kamchatka along the 

 ciiain of mountains in the centre of Asia, just 

 entering Europe in the neighbourhood of the 

 Volga. In America they are confined to certain 

 parts of the Rocky Mountains. See FURS ; and 

 1'he Hare, by Macpherson, Lascelles, &c. ( ' Fur and 

 Feather ' series, 1896). 



Hare, JULIUS CHARLES, one of the chief early 

 leaders of the Broad Church party, was born near 

 Vicenza, in Italy, September 13, 1795. He spent 

 part of his boyhood in Germany, and after his 

 return was sent to the Charterhouse, from which 

 in 1812 he passed to Trinity College, Cambridge. 

 Here he was elected to a fellowship in 1818, and 

 afterwards became classical lecturer. He tried the 

 study of law, but soon abandoned it, took orders in 

 1826, and succeeded his uncle in the rich family 

 living of Hurstmonceaux, Sussex, in 1832. He 

 gathered round him a line library of 12,000 volumes, 

 and numbered among his friends Landor, Maurice, 

 Bunsen, and others of the greatest spiritual teachers 

 of his time. He hod John Sterling as his curate 

 (1834-35), and married in 1844 Esther Maurice, 

 sister of Frederick Maurice. He became Arch- 

 deacon of Lewes in 1840, in 1853 chaplain to the 

 Queen, and died January 23, 1855. His annual 

 charges are among the most important sources for 

 a study of the ecclesiastical controversies of his 

 time. Another great service that he did was to 

 awaken Englishmen to the fact that they had much 

 to learn in theology from Germany. His style is 

 cumbrous, and his \KX>ks gain nothing from their 

 orthographical peculiarities. Already in 1820 he 

 hod translated Fouque's Sintram, when in 1827 he 

 published anonymously Guesses at Truth, written in 

 conjunction with his brother Augustus. His next 

 work was the translation of Niebuhr's History of 

 Rome (1828-32) in collaboration with Thirlwall, 

 and his own Vindication of Niebuhr's History 

 (1829). His most important contributions to 

 theology are The Victory of Faith (1840) and The 

 Mission of the Comforter (1846), two series of 

 elaborate sermons preached at Cambridge. In 1848 

 he edited the Remains of John Sterling, with a 

 life, a strong sense of the inadequacy of which 

 inspired Carlyle's masterpiece. Other books are 

 Parish Sermons (2 vols. 1841-49) and a Vindica- 

 tion of Luther against his Recent English Assail- 

 nuts (1854). See his nephew's Memorials of a 

 Quiet Life. His elder but less important brother, 

 AUGUSTUS WILLIAM HARE, was born in 1792, 



