222 BRITISH MAMMALS 



in which the long hind legs play a great part. Hares are strong 

 swimmers, and in escaping from their enemies or in pursuing 

 their mates they do not hesitate to take to the water, though 

 they are more timid about crossing streams with a strong 

 current. In swimming, the rump and tail are kept above the 

 water almost as high as the head, while the back is bent 

 inwards. 



Except that so many people who read books to-day are 

 inhabitants of towns and better acquainted with zoological 

 gardens than with the wild beasts of their own land, it would 

 hardly seem necessary to describe the remarkable intelligence 

 and agility with which the hare eludes its pursuers. Unless 

 taken unawares it can only be caught by dogs specially bred 

 for swiftness during countless generations. But the hare is 

 not only swift a very ordinary qualification it is also remark- 

 ably intelligent in eluding and disappointing the greyhound ; 

 for it will constantly reverse its course, will " double " and 

 start off with unchecked speed in a direction almost the reverse 

 of the one it has been pursuing. Granted the proximity of 

 cover, and the hare must escape again and again by this trick, 

 but of course it is practically doomed to death when its pursuit 

 by greyhounds has been carefully arranged on chosen ground. 

 The cunning and agility of the hare made a deep impression 

 on early man, especially in Southern Europe and Africa. The 

 hare enters into Grecian and Iranic fables, while in African 

 folklore it is universal, and takes the place of the fox, the 

 European emblem of astuteness and cunning. Elsewhere the 

 hare is really the origin of " Brer Rabbit." The negro slaves 

 imported from West Africa into the United States brought 

 with them their beast stories and fables, in which the hare played 

 such a prominent part. In the early days of American coloni- 

 sation the white settlers called every hare a rabbit. The 

 negroes, therefore, adopted this name for their equivalent to 

 "Reynard the Fox." 



The North Aryan word for hare is derived with some 

 probability from a root meaning "jumper." Its name in Greek 



