Varying Hare 
foxes have been seen to do, one of them lying in ambush beside 
the path followed by the hares in order to seize any that may 
pass that way in their endeavours to escape from the other foxes 
which are driving them from their cover. The henhawks and 
goshawks, the great gray owl and the horned and snow owls 
as well as the eagles either pounce upon them unawares from 
the evergreens, or pursue them at full speed through the under- 
brush, while in fall and winter men hunt them with dogs and 
catch them with various kinds of traps and snares. 
Although in the summer and early fall the dense undergrowth 
of the forest assists the hares in their constant endeavours at con- 
cealment, in the cold weather the leaves, with very few excep- 
tions, either fall or, shrivelled to a fraction of their former dimensions 
hang listless upon their stalks, allowing the eye to penetrate where 
before everything was hidden, and, as if this were not enough, 
the snow comes to flatten the ferns and grasses and lay on a 
background of white against which all objects are conspicuous. 
The Northern hare, however, like the ermine, has this advantage 
over the other wood dwellers in that at the approach of winter its 
fur, which from March to November is cinnamon or reddish brown 
of a shade best suited to match its accustomed surroundings, becomes 
in the course of a few weeks or even less perfectly white, and although 
for a time the brown fur still shows in spots, the general effect 
is such that of those that I have seen on the snow I should say 
that at least one half appeared actually whiter than the snow over 
which they ran, and this similarity of colouring with their surround- 
ings makes it possible for them to crouch in safety practically 
invisible to human eyes, and undoubtedly often baffling the keener 
glances of the hawks. 
Much has been written on the change of colour of the varying 
hare and other mammals and birds, but there are few subjects 
concerning which more mistakes have been made. We read of the 
change taking place in a single night, coincident with the first fall of 
snow and of the actual blanching of the the individual hairs; one 
statement being quite as erroneous as the other. The change is really 
very simple. All mammals, in northern climes at least, shed their coat 
twice a year, acquiring a thicker fur in winter and a thinner one in 
summer, and in the present species the winter coat is white while 
the summer one is brown and the individual hairs never alter their 
colour from the time they appear until they fall out. The change 
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