4( 



SPEED OF THE TEXAN HARE. * 141 



openings in the bushes through which the hares pass ; 

 but as brass wire is not so common on the prairies as 

 it is in English villages, the Indians are compelled to 

 construct their snares of a kind of hemp, or slips of hide 

 — the whole very neatly twisted together. The Texan 

 hare, unlike its more northern kinsman, has very little 

 hair on its foot. 



It is a beautiful sight to see one of these long-limbed 

 animals bounding away. His feet are hardly seen to be 

 extended, so rapidly are they moved. The animal seems 

 to alight perpendicularly upon his feet at each leap. 

 His long ears are thrown first forward, and then back 

 upon the shoulders, and its head is stretched forward, as 

 it appears to fly over the prairie ridges, like the swallow 

 fliting over the surface of a sluggish stream in pursuit 

 of insects. 



The young of the Texan hare are littered about the 

 month of April, or sometimes a little earlier. The ani- 

 mal does not much frequent low marshy lands, but ap- 

 pears fond of high open prairies where clumps of trees, 

 dense bushes, and patches of briar, afford it safety from 

 the attacks of eag:les and the larger hawks. From 

 other foes it trusts to escape by its speed. 



When I first landed in Texas I was told most impro- 

 bable stories concerning the size of these hares — some of 

 the old hunters assuring me that they were as large as 

 a dog of moderate size. I soon discovered that these 

 old Nimrods were as good hands at drawing the long 



