HARE. 



sit very close ; and as these are generally chosen 

 upon dry knolls, or other places where there is 

 withered vegetation, one may pass so near them as 

 almost to tread on them without their rising. This 

 is not only the case when there is no danger abroad, 

 for there have been instances in which those who were 

 following the greyhounds, in coursing, have picked 

 up a live hare within a yard or two of where the dogs 

 had passed not a minute before. The species are 

 \orv numerous, but we can find room for only a few 

 of the more remarkable. 



THE COMMON HAKE (L. timidus). It is -scarcely 

 necessary to describe the appearance of an animal 

 so common and so well known ; but the following 

 may be regarded as a summary of the leading 

 characters : The inside of the mouth is hairy ; the 

 tongue and nose are very thick ; the upper lip is 

 cleft to the nostrils, which seem to unite, and to form 

 a single opening ; the eyes, which are very promi- 

 nent, are furnished with a nictitating membrane ; the 

 feet are covered beneath, a* well as above, with fur ; 

 the heart is proportionally large, and the caecum 

 about six times as large as the stomach. Under the 

 Mosaic dispensation, when various animals were 

 described as clean or unclean, according to the 

 Levitical ritual, the hare is described as " chewing 

 the cud," that is, as being a ruminant animal. That 

 the hare is not a true ruminant, and furnished with 

 the compound stomachs of that class of animals, is 

 certain ; but still it says not a little for the truth of 

 the Bible's natural history, that the hare is still a 

 partial ruminant, and that, while she sits on her form, 

 she can occasionally bring up a portion of her food, 

 and give it a second mastication. It might not be worth 

 while to notice this fact, were it not that, on account 

 of it, some persons have taken an exception to this 

 part of the Bible. Hares, even of this species, are 

 common in most parts of the world, though they vary 

 considerably in size in different places. Generally 

 speaking, they are smaller in hot countries than in 

 cold ; and we might expect this, because the general 

 investiture of the whole body, feet and all, with fur, 

 naturally points out the hare as more an animal of 

 cold, or, at least, temperate countries, than of warm 

 ones. It has been observed, however, that, in places 

 not very different from each other, either in climate or 

 in situation, there are great differences of appearance 

 in the common hare. We shall afterwards have 

 occasion to advert to the Irish hare, which recent 

 observation has shown to differ greatly from the hare 

 of Britain, near as the islands are to each other ; but 

 we may mention, that a very small breed exists in 

 the island of Islay, on the west coast of Argyleshire, 

 and a very large one on the Isle of Man, where indi- 

 viduals have been taken that weighed twelve pounds. 

 In England examples occur of hares weighing from ten 

 to eleven pounds ; but from some of the rich districts 

 in the east of England hares of much greater weight are 

 frequently sent to the London markets, some weigh- 

 ing as much as fourteen and fifteen pounds. The 

 kind provisions of nature, for the preservation of this 

 race of animals, are equally numerous, and calculated 

 to command our admiration, and afford a striking 

 proof, among thousands which might be produced, of 

 that system of compensations, that balancing of 

 perfections and defects, that equalising of the quan- 

 tity of life and destruction, on which the continued 

 existence of the respective tribes of animals depends. 

 On the one hand, if the hare is exposed to the 



attacks of beasts of prey, on the other it is abundantly 

 fruitful ; and, if often pursued, it is also furnished with 

 various sources of evasion and escape. Its ears arc 

 so contrived, as to convey even remote sound from 

 behind ; and the eyes, as already mentioned, of the 

 class generally, are so situated as to enable it, when 

 it rests on its seat, to observe without difficulty, and 

 even without much motion of the head, a whole circle -, 

 and, though it sees but imperfectly in a straight line 

 forwards, it can direct its vision Jo whatever threatens 

 it in the way of pursuit, and the eyes are never 

 entirely closed while the animal sleeps. From the 

 powerful muscularity of its limbs, it can sustain the 

 fleetness of its course for a considerable time, while 

 the greater length of the hinder legs gives it such a 

 decided advantage in ascending, that, when started, 

 it always makes to the rising ground. 



Its habitual timidity, and perpetual apprehension 

 of danger, preserve it lean and in a condition the 

 best adapted to profit by that speed which forms its 

 security. In dry or frosty weather the thick hairy 

 covering to its feet also gives it an advantage over 

 the dog which pursues it. Its close approach in co- 

 lour to the soil, often conceals it from the sight of 

 man and predacious animals ; and, in northern coun- 

 tries, its fur frequently becomes white in winter, so as 

 scarcely to be distinguished from the surrounding 

 snow. As if conscious of its resemblance to the 

 earth on which it treads, it has frequently been known, 

 when closely pursued by the hounds, to squat imme- 

 diately behind a clod, and suffer the dogs to run over 

 it, which they no sooner do than it instantly starts off 

 in a contrary direction, and thus deceives them. As 

 it possesses the sense of smell in a pre-eminent de- 

 gree, it is often aware of the presence of an enemy 

 before it can ascertain its danger by sight. The 

 doublings of its course are familiar to every sports- 

 man ; and though its sagacity seerns to be in some 

 respects at fault, especially in exhausting its strength 

 in the early part of the chase, and in returning to its 

 resting-place by the same paths, it has been frequently 

 observed to have recourse to stratagems, which in 

 the human being would bespeak not only presence of 

 mind, but a prompt and practical application of the 

 reasoning principle. If undisturbed, the multiplica- 

 tion of hares would prove greater than that of most 

 quadrupeds ; for at all seasons they are capable of 

 breeding, and from the first year of their existence, 

 while the term of gestation does not exceed thirty- 

 one days. The hunters allege that when the pro- 

 duce consists of more than one, each leveret is marked 

 with a star-like appearance on the forehead, which 

 usually disappears with the first shedding of the 

 coat, but sometimes continues to a more advanced 

 period. Sir Thpmas Brown, in his " Treatise on 

 Vulgar Errors," asserts, from his own observation, 

 that female hares frequently have in their ovaries, at 

 the same time, young ones of different ages, and that 

 after those which are mature are brought forth, those 

 will remain, which are very far from the term of their 

 exclusion. This phenomenon of superfoctation in 

 the hare is confirmed by Buffon, who has explained 

 it upon anatomical principles. However, the ob- 

 servation is at least as old as Herodotus. The breed- 

 ing-place is usually under a tuft of grass, or high 

 brake, a bush of heath, brush-wood, or standing 

 corn. The young are suckled by the dam for about 

 two weeks, after which they separate, and procure 

 their own food, making their'fonns at sixty or seventy 



