HARE. 93 



up its quills on the slightest appearance of danger. There 

 are three other species known ; one a native of Brazil, 

 the second of Canada, and the third of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago : in every essential feature, however, they agree 

 with the animal which has just been described. 



THE HARE. 



The form of the hare is generally known ; but its habits, 

 which are well deserving our attentive notice, are often 

 overlooked. Timid and persecuted ; the prey of men and 

 animals for its flesh, and the object of savage sport to the 

 idle or the wanton ; did it not owe much to a principle of 

 fear, which is ever alert for its preservation, and to its 

 amazing fecundity, the breed would long since have be- 

 come extinct. 



In order to enable this innocent and delicate creature to 

 perceive the most distant approaches of danger, nature has 

 provided it with very long ears, which, like tubes, convey 

 remote sounds ; and with prominent eyes, which receive 

 the rays of light on every side. It is also endowed with 

 extraordinary swiftness ; and from its hind-legs being 

 longer than the fore, has the peculiar advantage of an 

 ability to run up ascents with more facility than any of 

 its pursuers. Every species of dog hunts it by instinct* 

 while the cat and the weasel tribe exercise all their little 

 arts to ensnare it : but its most inveterate and destructive 

 enemy is man, who leagues with dogs, or employs the 

 snare or the gun to thin its numbers, often more for need- 

 less pastime than for the value of the spoil. 



The hare breeds when very young, continues pregnant 

 thirty days, and generally produces three or four, several 

 times every season. In about twenty days the young are 

 able to provide for themselves. The food of these animals 

 is wholly vegetable ; and no kind, even the bark of trees, 

 is unacceptable to them. They seldom live more than se- 

 ven or eight years, even should they escape the multiplied 

 dangers to which they are so exposed. They pass a life 

 of solitude and silence, except during coupling-time. 



