6o8 



THE NATURE BOOK 



two types are divergent offshoots from 

 less highly specialised ancestors. It should 

 be noted, however, that many instances 

 have been recorded of Rabbits construct- 

 ing their breeding nests above ground, 

 and of Hares depositing their leverets 

 under substantial cover. 



Though the fact that Hares breed almost 

 tlu"oughout the year has long been known, 

 the number of leverets in a normal litter 

 was, until quite recently, a disputed 

 question. It is now 

 generally agreed that 

 this number is usu- 

 ally live, and that 

 the doe disposes of 

 her progeny in two or 

 three separate breed- 

 ing " forms," which 

 she \-isits regularly, 

 and from which, if 

 she suspects danger, 

 she transfers them. 

 It is not usual to 

 find more than three 

 leverets in one 

 "form," but I have 

 seen an excellent 

 photograph of Mr. 

 F a r r e n's showing 

 five, and I think it 

 likely that five 

 leverets which are born 

 left together for a day 

 weather this disposition 

 be advantageous. 



Of all wild babies the leveret is the most 

 lovable. I have never chanced on one 

 which I have not felt tempted to appro- 

 priate (sometimes, I must confess, I 

 have succumbed to the temptation), 

 and I have never seen a photograph, or 

 drawing, which suggested a leveret's 

 innocence. A leveret's coat is curiously 

 touzled (as though the owner needed "a 

 good brushing), but in this "touzhng" we 

 see something of Nature's method, for the 

 light and shade of it. coml:)ined witli a 

 pepper-and-salt coloration, give exact 1\- 

 that " speckliness " wliich is of all colour 

 combinations the least conspicuous. 



Sometimes a leveret can be taken up 

 quietly, but more often, if he is of any 

 bulk at all, he will put up a laughable 

 fight with his fore feet, and, if you still 

 insist, will utter reiterated screams, 



like those of an old-fashioned squeaking 

 toy. It is of little use attempting to rear 

 a leveret who is only a few days old, 

 unless one can provide him at once with a 

 foster-mother — the domestic cat has often 

 been pressed into service. Should, how- 

 ever, one chance upon a leveret a fortnight 

 or three weeks old, who is stocky in build, 

 and capable of nibbling soft " tops," little 

 difficulty will be experienced in rearing 

 him if one can school oneself to respect 



his instinct for doz- 



mg away 

 time under 



the day- 

 cover. 



BROWN HARE. 



together 

 or two. 

 would 



will be 



In cold 



certainlv 



In rearing young 

 wild animals over- 

 attention is just as 

 fatal as neglect. 



To return, how- 

 ever, to the leveret 

 at home. In order to 

 see him clearly, the 

 grass, or whatever 

 shelters the "form," 

 must be parted, and, 

 even when this is 

 done, one need only 

 turn one's head to 

 lose him. His ears, 

 compared with those 

 of the grown hare, 

 are distinctly short, 

 eyes are almost as large and 

 as his mother's, and the greater 

 extent of the light fur-patch 

 eye and nostril, combined with 



but his 



lustrous 



relative 



between 



the relatively blacker muzzle, so break 



up and confuse the outline of his head, 



that it needs a trained eye to see him 



two 3/ards off. 



He is, in fact, admirably specialised for 

 avoiding observation. He needs to be ; 

 for it must be remembered that, from the 

 moment of his birth, he has no more than 

 a flimsy grass-screen to protect him, 

 and in this respect, so far as British 

 animals are concerned, is uniquely defence- 

 less. ]Much of his protective coloration 

 he carries with liim to maturity. An 

 adult Hare's ears are between four and 

 fi\'e inches long, and present on their 

 hind (or under) surface, a remarkable 

 colour-scheme. Starting from the root- 

 ends one finds first about one and a half 

 inches of thick brown fur, then about 

 two and a half inches of sparse blue-grey 



