22 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



possible. As they approached the object, it 

 seemed still more strongly to bear out the re- 

 semblance, and eventually, on their reaching it, 

 it got up and galloped away. My informant 

 was the late John Bowles, Esq., of Milton, in 

 Berkshire, whose veracity was, of course, beyond 

 doubt. I fear to state the distance he mentioned 

 from memory, lest I should do so incorrectly, it 

 being so many years ago that I cannot feel 

 certain of being accurate, but it was well-nigh 

 incredible. I only regret, as do all who knew 

 him, that he is no longer living for me to 

 refer to. Of course, the fact of the hare being 

 visible at an extraordinary distance must have 

 been due to a peculiar condition of the atmo- 

 sphere. 



Hares love to squat on the hillsides out of the 

 wind. An east or west wind are those to which they 

 least object, but when a cold north or a rain-laden 

 southerly wind prevails, they betake themselves 

 off to the hedgerows and coverts. The barest- 

 looking ground is often selected by them to lie 

 on, and a hole scratched out on the leeward side 

 of a molehill, or a broken bank, affords comfort- 

 able shelter, and there, unless disturbed, they will 

 sit throughout the day, asleep with wide-open 

 eyes, or survey the world around them until it is 

 time to caper off to supper in the turnips. The 

 ears of a hare are singularly adapted for hear- 

 ing, the size and position of their eyes enabling 

 them to see around and behind them. Strange 



