THE HARE. 147 



As the whole of the family consists of animals to which in common parlance the names of 

 Hares and Rabbits are given, we may take as examples of it the Hares and Rabbits which are so 

 abundant in Great Britain, the other species agreeing generally with one or other of them in 

 character and habits. 



They may all be characterised as animals destitute of any means of defence against their 

 enemies, except the rapidity of their movements, and as exceedingly shy and timid. Their general 

 colour is a mixture of grey and brown, sometimes quite tawny, sometimes almost pure grey, and, as 

 Mr. Bell remarks, " The admirable wisdom which has assigned such colours to a group of defenceless 

 animals which conceal themselves amidst the brown sombre vegetation of woods and heaths, will 

 appear more striking when it is recollected that certain species inhabiting the snowy regions of the 

 north become wholly white in winter. All the members of the genus," he adds, " are remarkable 

 for their timidity, and their whole structure is such as at once to announce to them the presence 

 of danger, and to enable them to escape from it. The eyes and ears are so formed and situate as to 

 become instantly cognisant of even distant warnings of peril, and the limbs are admirably adapted for 

 the most rapid flight." 



This last statement applies in a special manner to the COMMON HARE (Lepus europwus), 

 which is singularly well adapted for getting over the ground rapidly by the great length and powerful 

 development of its hind legs. These organs are nearly twice as long as the fore limbs, and, as most 

 of us are well aware, the bones composing them are set in motion by an enormous mass of solid 

 muscle. Owing to their great preponderance the Hare, when moving slowly in search of food, goes 

 with a sort of lolloping gait ; but the moment there is occasion for him to move with rapidity, the 

 disproportionate hind limbs stand him in good stead, and he shoots along over the ground by a series 

 of long leaps, and with great swiftness. At the same time, it is observed that the length of its hind 

 legs causes the Hai-e to run with much greater facility up hill than down, and, in fact, it is said that 

 in descending steep inclines the animal is obliged to run obliquely in order to escape over-balancing 

 itself. When pursued, the Hare has the art of making sudden turns in its course, known as 

 " doubles " or " wrenches," by which the Dogs in chase of it are thrown out, for although most 

 Greyhounds are swifter of foot than a Hare, they are incapable of changing their course so sharply, 

 and thus, while they are carried some distance onwards by their own impetus, their intended victim 

 is making off in a different direction. They adopt other cunning artifices in order to escape from 

 their pursuers, and some of these indicate a considerable amount of intelligence. Under such 

 circumstances, and also in search of a more plentiful supply of food, the Hare will take to the water 

 readily, and swim across rivers. Mr. Yarrell observed a Hare even swimming across an arm of the 

 sea about a mile broad. 



The Hare lives chiefly in cultivated fields, where it resides in a small depression of the sur- 

 face, which is called its "form." It shifts the situation of this simple residence according to the 

 season, selecting a shady spot in summer, and a sunny one in winter, and going into cover in wet 

 weather. It is rather a nocturnal or crepuscular than a day-feeding animal, although it may not 

 ur,frequeiitly be seen abroad in the day. In the evening and early in the morning it is most active, 

 passing the brighter hours at rest in its form. When out in the field in search of food it goes hopping 

 along among the herbage and cultivated plants, every now and then sitting upright on its haunches 

 and listening with erected ears for the slightest sound indicative of approaching danger. Its food 

 is exclusively of a vegetable nature, but it seems to embrace pretty nearly the whole round of 

 cultivated plants. Cruciferous plants appear to be amongst its favourite articles of diet, but it also 

 does much damage to fields of young wheat. In the winter, when the open fields are covered with 

 snow frozen hard, and, indeed, sometimes in the summer, the Hare will make his way into gardens 

 in search of food, or, if this resource is not at hand, into plantations of young trees, where it will 

 gnaw off and feed upon the bark, thus destroying great numbers of the trees. Mr. S. Mawson has 

 recoixled finding the stomach of a Hare killed in winter filled with hawthorn berries. After its 

 wanderings the Hare always returns to its own form. 



Hares pair when they are about a year old, and from that time produce several broods every 

 year, each consisting of from two to five young, which are born covered with hair and with their 

 eyes open. From Mr. Bell's statement, these animals would appear to breed almost all the year 



