THE HARE. THE RABBIT. 215 



weeds growing on the top; and Fouilloux says, that 

 he has seen a hare, which, after having run more 

 than two hours before the dogs, pushed another hare 

 from its seat, and took possession of it, thus concealing 

 itself at the other's risk. 



The hare derives a considerable degree of safety 

 from its colour resembling that of stubble, or fallow 

 ground : in some of the northern regions it turns 

 white in winter, and is scarcely distinguishable frcm 

 the snow, which demonstrates the attention of the 

 Author of Nature to the preservation of his creatures. 



Mr. Borlase, in his History of Cornwall, gives an 

 account of a hare which was so completely tamed, as 

 to lie quietly under a chair in a common sitting room, 

 feed from the hand, and, after occasionally regaling 

 in the garden, return to the house, as its proper ha- 

 bitation : its evenings were always spent with a spaniel 

 and a greyhound, which slept quietly on the same 

 hearth, and even permitted the little creature to rest 

 upon their bodies, though both of these animals w ere 

 remarkably fond of hare-hunting. 



The hare is found in most parts of the world. Its 

 flesh was forbidden to the Jews, but was esteemed a 

 great delicacy among the Romans, as it is now at our 

 tables. Among the ancient Britons this animal was 

 held sacred : at this day it is reckoned unclean by the 

 Mahometans. The fur of the hare is of great use in 

 the manufacturing of hats; and many thousands of 

 their skins are annually imported from Russia for this 

 purpose. 



The hare is very prolific. The female goes thirty 

 days with young, and produces three or four at a lit- 

 ter, three or four times a year. 



THE RABBIT 



is an animal so common, and so well known in every 

 part of this kingdom, that any description of its form 

 would be superfluous; it may not, however, be amiss 

 to observe, that although the tame kind assume a va- 

 riety of colours, the wild are invariably brown. 



Notwithstanding the general resemblance which 

 exists between tliis animal and the hare, their habits 



