102 



gUJBKIXGEOU VERTEEITATA. 



Leporidae. The 

 Hares are distinguished 

 by two small teeth behind 

 the chisel-like upper in- 

 cisors. Flight being their 

 only means of escape, 

 their ears are peculiarly 

 adapted to catch the 

 faintest rustle and their 

 eyes to look easily in 

 every direction. When 

 alarmed, they stamp with 

 their feet, as if to give 

 notice of danger; and, 

 with seeming consciousness of their mimicry, often merely 

 squat behind a clod, and, suffering their pursuers to run over 

 them, quickly start off in a contrary direction. They gen- 

 erally lie concealed during the day, and venture forth only 

 at night, seeking their food of grass, roots and tender buds. 

 In Europe they are hunted with dogs, the greyhound being 

 kept almost exclusively for their pursuit. 



The Northern Hare has in summer a tint of reddish- 

 brown, and in winter an impure white. It never burrows, 



Fig. 171. 



Cavla cobaia, Guinea Pig. 



^ ,^-rstei 



Lepus sylvaficus, Gray Rabbit.* 



but makes a "form" of grass, 

 etc., in which it crouches, its 



Lepus americanus, Northern Hare. T V i *j i '.LIT i 



' ears laid along its back, and 

 trusting to its mimicry for concealment. It is a timid 



* This animal, the smallest of the hares, is misnamed in this country, as there is 

 no rabbit indigenous to America. 



