Natural History 489 



seashore pea, it has a long bill of fare, which always aids in sur- 

 vival, and it will pass from lichens on the rocks, which its cousin 

 the mountain-hare also eats, to the twigs of furze-bushes, and from 

 the leaves of dandelions to the fruits of the bramble. Let us take 

 three more illustrations of the hare's astonishing fitness. How 

 simple and yet effective is its habit of taking a great leap from 

 and into its "form" or nest, so that the scent track is interrupted. 

 In his fine study, The Story of the Hare, Mr. Tregarthen notes 

 that the doe leaves little scent when the young ones are helpless 

 in the nest, that is, about the month of April. When a particular 

 nest is endangered, it may be by a hungry vixen, the doe hare will 

 transport its leverets to a safer place, carrying one at a time in her 

 mouth, at dead of night. It is said that if the litter be over two 

 cases of 4-6 are recorded there may be a division into two nests ! 

 Elusive is the word for a hare, but at the breeding season in 

 March the instinct of self-preservation wanes before sex-passion. 

 The bucks race about at a high speed in the open day and in the 

 open field, searching for the does and fighting with rivals. They 

 box with their paws and kick with their hind-legs, and a common 

 trick is for one buck to jump over another, kicking back as he 

 does so. The buck is a roving lover ; he may consort with one doe 

 for a little while, but he soon seeks another. The hare is a high- 

 strung creature, with quick-beating heart, rapid breathing, tremu- 

 lous ears, but it presents a brave front to persecution, now saving 

 itself by its alertness, and again by its capacity for lying low. As 

 there is no burrow, it is not surprising to find that the leverets are 

 born furry and open-eyed, very different from the naked young 

 of their second cousins, the rabbits. 



The Significance of Play 



There are many playing mammals, and the work of Groos 

 in particular has shown that the play is of great importance in the 

 life of the creature. Kittens chase a leaf whirled by the wind; 

 puppies indulge in a sort of sham hunt ; young otters and stoats 



