132 THE AMERICAN HARE. 



their hind-legs, with ears in listening attitude, as 

 though trying to ascertain whether they have been de- 

 ceived, or whether man really has designs against the 

 lives of any of the family. In this position the}^ are 

 good rifle practice. 



This sound is supposed to indicate a note of warning 

 as well as anger, and is very common amongst the 

 males when they meet in desperate combat for the good 

 oTaces of the female. When the hare has finished 

 feeding, it retires to its form in the thick foliage of a 

 fallen tree, or in some long grass, as the English hares 

 do, or amongst the crevices of the rocks, if the country 

 is hilly. 



Nature, which is ever bountiful to all her creatures, 

 has been especially so to the hare, whether it is the 

 English or American breed. Its ears are so constructed 

 as to catch the most remote sounds, and give warning 

 of distant danger; but it can only hear imperfectly 

 sounds proceeding from before it, its ears having much 

 more sensibility to sounds which have their origin 

 behind. To this, in many cases, it owes its safety — its 

 fleetness of foot being only a secondary consideration. 

 But, in order to convey it clear from all danger, its 

 legs are of the most muscular mould, especially the 

 hind ones, which have nearly double the length of the 

 fore ones. This length in the hind-legs gives the hare a 

 great superiority in locomotion, especially in ascending 

 a hilly country; and the hare of America, like its 



