CYNEGETICA, III. 502-514 



itar." It lays a huge egg, of size to hold so great a 

 bird, armed about with stony shell. 



Let us sing of Hares,'' rich harvest of the hunt. 

 The body " is small and hairy, the ears are very long, 

 small the head above, small the feet, the hmbs 

 unequal The colour with whicli they are clothed 

 varies ; some are dark and dusky, which inhabit the 

 black-soiled tilth : others are reddish-yellow, which 

 Hve in red-coloured plains. Brightly flash their 

 goodly orbs, their eyes armed with sleeplessness ** ; 

 for never do they slumber and admit sleep upon their 

 eyelids, being afraid of the \iolence of wild beasts 

 and the nimble wit of men, but they are wakeful in 

 the night and indulge their desire. Unceasingly 



in Attica, cf. Nausierates (Comic Poet) ap. Atlien. I.e. ev tj 

 yap 'ArriKg rf s eiSe irci-jrore | X^ojras t] toiovtov 'irepov drjplov ; j ov 

 5affinro5' evpiiv kariv ovyi padcof. In many of the Cyclades the 

 Hare is extremely common and differs in no essential point 

 from the Common Hare of Europe (Erh. p. 2-2). On the 

 other hand, in some of the Cyclades it is either not found at 

 all or confined to a particular region, its place being taken 

 by the Rabbit, L. cunieulus. The curious thing is that 

 Hares and Rabbits in the Cyclades seem to be mutually 

 exclusive. Thus only Hares are found in Ceos, Siphnos, 

 Syros, Tenos, Naxos, Paros, Melos, and the North of 

 Andros ; only Rabbits in Gyaros, Cythnos, Seriphos, As- 

 pronisi, Myconos, Delos, Cimolos, Pholegandros, and the 

 South of Andros. There is nothing in the geographical 

 conditions to account for this phenomenon ; all the islands 

 offer exactly similar facilities for life and nurture. Yet 

 Syros has only Hares, while the little island of Aspronisi, 

 six nautical miles S. of Syros, has only Rabbits. A curious 

 parallel is offered by Syria, where the Hare is common, 

 while *' No Rabbit is found in S\Tia or in anv of the adjoin- 

 ing countries " (Tristr. p. 99). 'Cf. Plin. viii! 226 f. 



' A. 519 a 22, etc. ; Xen. C. o. 22 ff. ; PoU. v. 66 ff. ; AeL 

 xiii. 13 f. ; Phil. 60 f. ; Plin. viii. 317 ff. 



** Callira. //. iii. 95 ov niovra \ayw6v; Xen. C. 5. 11 and 

 26 ; Poll. V. 69 and 7.' ; Phil. 60 : Ael. ii. 1-?, xiii, 13, 



157 



