THE COMMON HARE. 293 



A young Hare may be known from an old one 

 by the following signs. When the animal is dead, 

 if the thumb-nail be thrust against the knee-joints 

 of the fore-legs, it will be easy to distinguish whe- 

 ther the heads of the bones are close together or 

 not. If there is no space, the Hare is an old one; 

 but if there is a separation betwixt them, it is a 

 sure proof that the animal is young; and the 

 greater the separation is, the younger the Hare 

 may be considered. If the under jaw is easily 

 broken, the Hare is a young one. The cleft of 

 the lips spreading very much, the claws being 

 blunt and rugged, and the ears dry and tough, 

 are signs of old age. When, on the contrary, the 

 ears easily tear, the cleft of the lip is narrow, 

 and the claws are smooth and sharp, the Hare is 

 young*. 



A Hare, when newly killed, will be stiff, and the 

 flesh of a pale colour : if it is limber, and the flesh 

 is beginning to turn black, it may to a certainty be 

 considered as stale. 



Hare hunting is at present a popular amusement 

 amongst country gentlemen in most parts of Eng- 

 land; and it was formerly so much followed, that, 

 as appears from a manuscript written in the early 



* " La Venerie," par M. du Fouilloux. See also Daniel's Rural 

 Sports, i. p. 323 and 353. 



X 3 part 



