1 68 ON THE WING. 



rabbit will easily dodge the hound in the chase. The 

 greyhound is the best dog for this kind of sport, and 

 the open prairie is the best place for it. Even there 

 the short and sudden turns of the rabbit are likely to 

 be too much for the hound, who, although a rapid run- 

 ner, and leaping twice as far as the rabbit, and going 

 entirely by sight, yet is so apt to go past and over the 

 rabbit, in every imaginable way, that the latter, taking 

 advantage of all the favorable points of the ground, will 

 usually contrive to escape. 



A singular circumstance once happened while I was 

 shooting hares and rabbits in the winter alone. I was 

 in a thick, dark swamp some five or six miles in ex- 

 tent, and an excellent place for both kinds of game 

 hares and rabbits. The swamp rejoiced in the appel- 

 lation of the " Devil's Den " ; so called because it was 

 supposed that no one, except the Old Fellow himself, 

 could get through some of the thickest and miriest 

 parts of it. Having killed several white hares (for it 

 was in December), I was just passing into the more 

 open part of the " Den," near some alders, when I 

 discovered a gray rabbit sitting at the foot of a large 

 pine tree. My dog being away in search of game, I 

 walked boldly up, until within easy killing distance ; 

 but I despised the idea of shooting him while sitting. 

 I concluded he would cross the open space to the 

 alders on my left, which he did ; and when on the 

 jump, I gave him a charge, at which he stopped imme- 

 diately, with his head cocked up, apparently wondering 

 what was the matter. My first thought was to give 

 him the other barrel ; but applying my rabbit-rule of 



