38 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HAKE 



or below the desired point of landing. The other 

 hare then cantered back to the hills.' ' 



Mr. G. H. Kinahan mentions an instance, which 

 came under his own personal knowledge, of an Irish 

 hare voluntarily choosing to rear her three leverets 

 upon an island in a lake in Gal way. The islet was only 

 thirty yards in diameter, and distant about loo yards 

 from the shore. The hare apparently passed the day 

 on the hill and swam the ford at night to revisit her 

 progeny. ' E. H.,' a correspondent of N'atiire^ furnishes 

 a brief note showing how much at home in the water 

 a hare may be : — 'I was by the little river Arun below 

 the old mill at Pulborough one day, when I saw a hare 

 quietly cantering down the opposite field towards the 

 river. A bank hid the actual crossing from me ; but 

 when the hare emerged from the water into the field 

 in which I was standing, I was amused to see the 

 dog-like fashion in which it stood and shook off the 

 moisture, scattering the spray far and wide before re- 

 suming its leisurely canter. The act had the air of 

 being habitual.' - Mr. G. Plarr reported to the same 

 periodical how he saw a hare take to the water to 

 elude its pursuers, which it did with perfect success, 

 continuing its hurried flight as soon as it gained the 



• howdowns Mai;aziiie of Nalu}'a/ Hisio/y, vol. v. ]>. 99. 

 ^ Nature, vol. xxxix. p. 306. 



