THE HARE AND ITS WAYS 53 



looking over ploughs, he should walk slowly, keeping 

 his eye constantly searching the soil, and not trying 

 to cover too much ground at once. A dozen yards 

 is quite enough for the eye to range over, and many 

 a man overlooks and passes a hare lying within a 

 few feet of him. As a friend once remarked to me, 

 " walking a hare up is not finding her." The hare 

 found in her form — and she will usually lie close, 

 unless she catches the searcher's eye, in which case 

 she will probably start off — the finder will cry out, 

 " See ho ! " or, better still, hold up his hat. The 

 accomplished hare-finder never, if he can possibly 

 help it, lets his eye meet the hare's. He just 

 moves on quietly for a few paces, or stands looking 

 the other way, and by holding up his hat, or by his 

 voice, lets the huntsman know that he has found. 



It has been said that hares seldom live much beyond 

 seven years. This, I think, is not always the case. 

 Hares, of course, run many risks, and their lives are 

 not what insurance companies would call good ones. 

 But that they are capable, in the ordinary course of 

 nature, of living to as much as twelve or fourteen 

 years is certain. Of Cowper's hares, which, although 

 protected from the assaults of enemies, could hardly 

 be said to lead natural lives, one died at maturity, 

 from being placed in a damp box ; another lived to 

 the age of nine years ; while the third, " Puss," sur- 

 vived to the respectable antiquity of twelve years all 

 but one month. 



The tricks and devices by which a hare attempts 

 to throw off her pursuers are infinitely varied, and 

 add an extraordinary zest and interest to the chase. 

 In the case of one hare that a sportsman watched, 

 " as soon as the hounds were heard," says an old 

 writer, " though at the distance of nearly a mile, 



