38 HARE-HUNTING AND HARRIERS 



considerably more. The heaviest hare of which 

 the writer has a note weighed 13 lb., and another, 

 shot on the Longwitten estate, near Morpeth, by 

 Mr. R. Henderson in 1876, was stated in the Field of 

 October 28 of that year to have weighed 13I- lb. 

 The blue or mountain hare is a considerably smaller 

 animal, and averages about 5^ lb. ; a heavy Scotch 

 blue hare will, however, scale as much as 8 J lb., 

 which weight has been several times recorded. 



The outward form and appearance of our common 

 brown hare are well known, but perhaps all readers 

 may not be aware that the animal has imperfect collar- 

 bones, three pairs of premolar teeth in the upper jaw 

 and two in the lower, five toes to the fore-limbs and 

 four to the hinder pair. The thickly-brushed, hairy 

 soles to the feet are well-known characteristics. These 

 brushes serve two purposes : they protect the foot 

 in those long chases during which the feet of a dog 

 or hound are often badly cut and bruised ; and they 

 are used indefatigably for cleansing purposes. The 

 hare is a beast scrupulously nice as to its person ; 

 it has no unpleasant scent ; and it cleans itself with 

 great perseverance. The hare's foot is not only, with 

 the scut, a welcome trophy to the merry beagler after 

 an exceptionally hard run, but has been used for many 

 centuries by the fair sex, and especially by actresses 

 and actors, for rouging the face. It is probably not 

 known to every sportsman that in both hares and 

 rabbits the insides of the cheeks, as well as the outer 

 parts, are hairy. There are many instances of varia- 

 tion in colour in this animal. White examples are 

 occasionally met with. In 1888 the Earl of Burford 

 shot at Bestwood Park, Notts, a full-grown white 

 hare with eyes of a pale blue. At Tillyfour, Aberdeen- 

 shire, and in the Island of Mull, a large yellow variety, 



