THE COMMON HARE 95 



rabbit differs from the hare by its generally smaller size, by the 

 shorter ears of uniform brown colour, and by the shorter limbs. 

 The rabbit seems to have no social feeling for the hare, and it 

 rarely happens that a hybrid progeny of the two species is pro- 

 duced. In such cases, with one or two exceptions, the father of 

 the hybrids has invariably been a rabbit and the mother a hare. 



The COMMON HARE (Lepus timidus), Fig. 62, is tawny red on the 

 back and sides, and white on the belly. The ears are very long and 

 tipped with black ; the eyes are very large and prominent. The 

 length of the animal is about 2 ft., and when full grown it weighs 

 6 to 8 Ib. It is always lean, and from the form of its legs, runs 

 swifter uphill than on level ground. It runs by a kind of leaping 

 pace, and in walking uses the hind feet as far as the heel. It is 

 hunted both for the sport and its flesh. When hunted with grey- 

 hounds, the amusement is called coursing. Beagles are also used 

 for the same purpose, but they do not pursue and capture the hare 

 by sight and speed, like the greyhound, but by scent, patiently 

 following its track, until the wearied animal is no longer capable of 

 escaping. The voice of the hare is never heard but when it is 

 seized or wounded. At such times it utters a sharp, loud cry. The 

 flesh of the hare, forbidden to be eaten by the Jews and ancient 

 Britons, was held in great esteem by the Romans, and is now much 

 prized for its peculiar flavour, though it is very dark in colour, dry, 

 and devoid of fat. 



The hare breeds three or four times a year. The female goes 

 with young about a month, generally producing two to four at a 

 litter. The eyes of the young hares, called leverets, are open at 

 birth, and they possess the gifts of hearing and speed from birth. 

 The dam suckles them about twenty days, after which they leave 

 her, and procure their own food. The leveret (a hare of the first 

 year) as well as the adult hare, makes a sort of nest among grasses 

 both in coverts and in the open where sufficiently protective, and 

 in this, called a " form," lies crouched to the ground with the ears 

 laid along the back, and trusting to its concealment will often remain 

 quiet until the foot of an intruder almost touches it. The hare is 

 short lived, never attaining more than seven or eight years. 



The common hare lives entirely on vegetable food. Hiding by 

 day in coverts or places affording the needful growth of herbage for 

 " forms " and seclusion, the hares come out in the afternoon, evening 

 and at night, according to circumstances, to exercise, forage, and 

 feed. They roam afar through the fields, and where numerous cut 

 and clear away large open spaces to allow them more room for play, 

 and in the large amount of sustenance before them they bite down 

 and wantonly destroy more than they can possibly consume. No 

 crop escapes their ravages, hardly any plant in forest, field, or garden 

 is free from their attacks. 



Hares commit great havoc amongst forest trees, especially in the 



