24 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HARE 



paused on the brow of the hill just above the house. 

 These creatures used to call to one another in low 

 and plaintive tones, but it was always quite easy to 

 hear the wild fellow responding to the plaintive over- 

 tures of the prisoner. Eventually, he may have won 

 her affections, for she escaped from confinement, and, 

 taking to the fields, reverted to a wild life. On one 

 occasion she was recognised and nearly recaptured ; 

 but freedom was sweet and she wisely made the most 

 of it. I am assured that the old doe hare usually 

 calls to her leverets, in a way similar to that just 

 described, when she desires to suckle them ; but I 

 cannot at present vouch for the accuracy of this 

 from personal knowledge. Certainly an old hare will 

 always answer the cry of a leveret that squeals in fear 

 or pain ; but that is of course entirely another matter. 

 I once saw a hare that lived in a happy family, so- 

 called, together with a kite, several cats, and some 

 small birds and quadrupeds. Tame hares generally 

 fraternise with the dogs of the house in which they 

 live. Mr. C. Wapshore tells me that Mr. Brooker of 

 Winterbourne reared a tiny leveret, which he found 

 in the month of August 1890. He trained it to sit 

 up at his command, holding a small stick in its 

 mouth, but its favourite performance was to beat a 

 tambourine, an accomplishment shared by another 



