STUDIES IN HARE LIFE 



was lying on the ground at the time. Mr. J. G. 

 Cornish volunteered his experience that many leverets 

 of the size of full-grown rabbits are to be seen in 

 Dorsetshire in the middle of April. ' Even in 

 exposed down-country,' he says, ' they are frequently 

 born before March i. The second week in March is 

 the time when we generally expect to find them ; but 

 in mild winters I have known of does in young at the 

 beginning of January. With regard to the number of 

 leverets in a litter, there is a curious belief among the 

 countrymen in Berks and Wilts. If a leveret has a 

 white star on its forehead, it is certain to be one of 

 a litter of four, they say.' ' Another correspondent 

 (T. W. P.) wrote to express his belief that ' the white 

 spot on the forehead of a leveret indicates a buck. I 

 have examined many hares and leverets with regard 

 to this small spot, and have never found one on a 

 doe, and have never seen a buck without one. I 

 have only once known a litter of five leverets. They 

 were a very fine litter, and could be seen almost every 

 evening about the same spot following the doe, and 

 by the first week in May they were nearly as large as she 

 was. My opinion is that (in Lincolnshire) most of the 

 early leverets breed in July and August, but these late 



' Fields May 14, 1892. 



