March 



The hare's retirement seemed a singularly virtuous 

 act, and I was therefore less prepared for the sequel. 

 Slipping through the hedge, he came out on to the 

 road, but immediately fell foul of a couple of his 

 kind, who had been sitting quietly on the grass at 

 the roadside. Without more ado, the three were up 

 on their hind legs, boxing one another with their fore- 

 feet in a ludicrously human manner. Round and 

 round they waltzed, seeking for an opening, and I 

 caught the crack of their pads as one or another got 

 home. They do not hit out, but use a downward, 

 clawing stroke. The psychological import of the 

 episode seemed to be that the hare had bottled up 

 his futile wrath in presence of the partridges, but 

 yielded to sudden temptation upon falling in with 

 something of a more fightable quality. After all, 

 virtue is probably as elastic among quadrupeds as 

 with men, and what is temptation to the hare may 

 well be the salvation of the tortoise. 



The cock pheasant is at this time as demon- 

 strative in his attentions to the brown lady who 

 happens to have caught his passing fancy, as he will 

 probably be to a score more before the season is out. 

 Carried away by his amorous ardour, he breaks off 

 feeding, swings round with a sweep of his fine tail, 

 and runs rapidly up to her. She anticipates his over- 

 tures by laying her chin to earth, and remains so 

 whilst the cock, standing close before her, bows 

 repeatedly, so that when his head is dipped, his beak 

 almost touches hers. Then follow a few minutes of 



93 



