PICAS AND HARES. 193 



Hares, as all the members of the family save the rabbit are 

 Distribution. 



called, have an almost cosmopolitan distribution, although none are 



indigenous to Australasia. Of some thirty known species, by far the greater 

 majority are, however, confined to the Northern Hemisphere ; the whole of South 

 America having only a single species, the Brazilian hare (Lepus brasiliensis). 



With the exception of the rabbit and the curious hispid hare of 

 Northern India, all the members of the family dwell either in open 

 country among grass and other herbage, or among rocks and bushes. They are 

 solitary ; and each inhabits a particular spot known as its form ; such form being 

 either a flattened resting-place among grass or bushes, or merely the sheltered side 

 of some rock or stone. As a rule, a hare returns to its form, sometimes day by 

 day, for a considerable portion of the year ; but the situation is changed periodically. 

 Hares are mainly nocturnal, going forth at evening in quest of food, and not 

 returning to their forms till after sunrise. Their speed is great ; but, owing to the 

 great relative length of their hind-limbs, they are better adapted for running 

 uphill than down. All the members of the genus are remarkable for their extreme 

 timidity, and their long ears are admirably adapted to collect the least sound, and 

 thus to give the earliest possible notice of danger. It will not fail to be observed 

 that the ears are the shortest and the legs the less elongated in the rabbit and the 

 hispid hare, both of which dwell in burrows, and have not, therefore, such need of 

 protecting themselves by acuteness of hearing and extreme speed. All the members 

 of the family breed with great rapidity ; the young being able to reproduce their 

 kind within about six months after birth. Whereas, however, the young of the 

 true hares are born fully clothed with hair and with their eyes open, those of the 

 rabbit, and probably also of the hispid hare, come into the world blind and naked. 



THE COMMON HARE (Lepus europceus). 



Such a well-known animal as the common hare requires but a comparatively 

 brief description, although it is necessary to point out such features as serve to 

 distinguish it from the mountain-hare. The length of the head and body is 

 generally a little short of 22 inches ; the ears being rather longer than the head, 

 with black tips. The general colour of the soft fur of the upper-parts and flanks 

 is tawny grey, more or less mingled with rufous, but tending to a purer grey in 

 winter than in summer. The under-parts are white ; while the tail, of which the 

 length is nearly equal to that of the head, is black above and white beneath. The 

 usual weight is from 7 to 8 Ibs. 



With the exception of the north of Russia, the Scandinavian 

 Peninsula, and Ireland, the common hare is found over the whole of 

 Europe, ranging as far eastwards as the Caucasus ; but in the north of Scotland 

 the species is confined to the low grounds and valleys. It may be mentioned 

 here that this species is commonly alluded to under the name of Lepus timidus ; 

 that name was, however, applied by the Swedish naturalist Linne to the hares of 

 his own country, and therefore clearly rightly belongs to the next species. In the 

 more northern parts of its habitat the hare tends to become white in winter ; while 

 the maximum of rufous in its coloration occurs in the more southerly districts. 



VOL. in. 13 



