302 



of ^atttral 



own subsistence. Its food consists of various 

 kinds of herbage, but it prefers vegetables of 

 a milky and succulent quality, and is espe- 

 cially fond of parsley. It is at times a very 

 annoying and destructive invader, not only 

 of the field and garden, doing great injury 

 to the young wheat and other grain ; but it 

 also frequently commits sad havoc in young 

 plantations, by gnawing off the bark, and 

 feeding on the young shoots of various shrubs. 

 It is proverbially timid, and flies if dis- 

 turbed when feeding, at the slightest alarm ; 

 I and, led by a natural instinct, it invariably 

 makes towards the rising ground, the length 

 of its hind legs giving it an advantage in 



has effectually evaded the hounds. It is 

 also not unusual for the Hare to betake 

 itself to furze bushes, and leap from one to 

 another, whereby the dogs are frequently 

 misled ; and as it swims well, and takes the 

 water readily, it will cross a river with the 

 same intent, if it has the opportunity. It 

 may be observed, however, that the first 

 doubling which a Hare makes generally 

 affords a key to all its future attempts of that 

 kind, the latter exactly resembling the 

 former. The Hare is a short-lived animal, 

 and is supposed rarely to exceed the term of 

 seven or eight years. Its voice, which is 

 seldom heard but in the distress of sudden 



this respect over its pursuers. These animals , surprise or when wounded, resembles the 

 seldom migrate far from the spot where they j sharp cry of an infant. Its enemies are 

 are produced ; but each makes a form at a i numerous and powerful. Every species of 

 small distance, showing a predilection rather the dog kind pursues it by instinct ; the cat 

 for the place of their nativity than the society | and the weasel tribes exercise all their arts 



to ensnare it ; and birds of prey, snakes, 

 adders, &c. drive it from its form, particu- 

 larly during the summer season : these, with 



of their kind. They pair in February ; and 

 as they only quit their couch in the night 

 time to obtain food, so they never leave it 

 for the companionship of their mates but at 

 the same silent hour : often, indeed, are 

 they observed by moonlight, playing and 

 skipping about in the most sportive manner ; 

 but the slightest breeze, or even the falling 

 of a leaf, is sufficient to disturb their revels ; 

 and they instantly fly off, each pursuing a 

 different track. 



the more destructive pursuits of mankind 

 contribute to thin the number of these 

 animals, which from their prolific nature 

 would otherwise multiply to an extravagant 

 degree. 



The flesh is now much prized for its 

 peculiar flavour, as it was by the Romans ; 

 but it was forbidden to be eaten among the 



In order to enable this creature to perceive Jews, Mahometans, and ancient Britons, 

 the most distant approaches of danger, nature The fur, until of late years, when silk became 

 has provided it with very long ears, which, so generally used, was of great importance 

 like tubes applied to the auditory organs of | in the manufacture of hats ; and in some 

 deaf persons, convey to it such sounds as are j parts of the continent it is also woven into 



remote ; and the motions of the Hare are 

 directed accordingly. Its large prominent 

 eyes being placed so far backward as to 

 receive the rays of light on every side, it can 

 ' " " ^ ' J ~ 1 - il - ;i 



receive me rays ui iigiit uu cvci^ UUA it ^,u 

 almost see distinctly behind while it runs 

 directly forward. The muscles of its body 

 pith fat, 



ctly forwa 

 being strong, and unencumbered 



^t has no superfluous burden of flesh to carry : 

 and to assist it in escaping from its pursuers, 

 the hinder legs are considerably longer than 

 the fore, which adds to the swiftness of its 

 motions. But they generally exhaust their 

 powers by their first efforts, and are con- 

 sequently much more easily caught than 

 foxes, though these wily creatures are slow 

 when compared with them. When the Hare 

 hears the hounds at a distance, it flies for 

 some time from a natural impulse, till 

 having gained some hill or rising ground, 

 and left the dogs so far behind that their 

 cries no longer reach its ears, it stops, rears 

 on its hinder legs, and looks back, for the 

 purpose of satisfying itself whether its 

 enemies are still in sight or not : but the 

 dogs having once gained the scent, trace it 

 with united and unerring skill ; and the 

 poor animal soon again receives indications 

 of their approach. Sometimes, when hard 

 hunted, it will start a fresh Hare, and squat 

 in the same form ; at others, it will creep 

 under the door of a sheep-cot, and conceal 

 itself among the sheep ; sometimes it will 

 enter a hole, like the rabbit ; at others, it 

 will run up one side of a quickset hedge, 

 and down the other ; and it has been known 

 to ascend the top of a cut hedge, and run a 

 considerable way, by which stratagem it 



cloth. 



The IRISH HARE (Lepus Hibernicus~), usu- 

 ally considered a species of the common 

 Hare of England, is said by Mr. Bell, in his 

 " British Quadrupeds," to be specifically 

 distinct. In support of his opinion, he says, 

 " The characters in which it principally 

 differs from the latter are as follows : It is 

 somewhat larger ; the head is rather shorter ; 

 the ears are even shorter than the head, 

 while those of the English Hare are fully an 

 irtionally 



inch longer ; the limbs are 

 rather shorter ; and the hiu 



proport 

 der legs 



! 

 gs do not 



so much exceed the fore legs in length. The 

 character of the fur is also remarkably dif- 

 ferent : it is composed exclusively of the 

 uniform soft and shorter hair which in the 

 English species is mixed with the black- 

 tipped long hairs, which give the peculiar 

 mottled appearance of that animal ; it is 

 therefore of a uniform reddish brown colour 

 on the back and sides. The ears are reddish 

 gray, blackish at the tip, with a dark line 

 near the outer margin. The tail is nearly 

 of the same relative length as in the common 

 species. The numerous discrepancies in the 

 colour and texture of the fur, and in the 

 form and proportion of the different parts of 

 the animal, appear to me to be too import- 

 ant to constitute merely the characters of a 

 variety." 



The SCOTCH, or VARYIXG HARE, (faptis 

 variabilis.) This species, which is inter- 

 mediate in size between the Common Hare 

 and the Rabbit, differs greatly in its habits 

 from both. Though confined to alpine dis- 



