342 VERTEBRATA. 



from the bills of the mainland toward the sea-side, one of which from time to time left its com- 

 panion, and proceeding t«> tin- very edge of the water, stopped there a minute or two, and then 

 returned to its mate. The tide was rising, and alter waiting some time, one of them, exactly at 

 high water, took to the sea, and swam rapidly over in a straight line to the opposite projecting 

 point of hind. The observer on this occasion, who was near the spot, but remained unperceived 

 l.\ the hares, had no doubt they "ere of different sexes, and that it was the male that swam 

 across the water, as he had probably done many times before. It was remarkable that the hares 

 remained on the shore nearly halt' an hour, one of them occasionally examining, as it would seem, 

 the state of the current, and ultimately taking to the sea at that precise period of the tide called 

 slack-water, when the passage across coul. I l>c effected without being carried by the force of the 

 stream either above <>r below the desired point of landing. The other hare then cantered back 



to the hills." 



Of the common hare there are sometimes accidental varieties; there is a specimen of one of 

 these in the museum of the Zoological Society of London. Albinos arc not uncommon. All at- 

 tempts {•• promote a breed between the hare and rabbit appear to have been hitherto fruitless. 



The hare is rarely found in very hilly or mountainous situations; neither is it often found in 

 places much exposed to the wind, especially when it blows from the north or south; its favorite 

 residence being in rich and somewhat dry and flat grounds. The hare-finders and shepherds re- 

 mark that the hares on the downs have a variety of seats, which they shift from time to time, as 

 the weather directs, generally ascending to the more elevated grounds when rain prevails. Their 

 food consists of various vegetables, but, they seem to prefer those of a milky, succulent quality, 

 and to be very partial to pinks, carnations, parsley, birch, and laburnum. They will prey on the 

 bark of almost every tree during winter, and they are often very injurious to young plantations. 

 Their cry. which has been compared to that of an infant, is seldom heard, except in cases of dis- 

 tress or surprise. They are taken in some countries by a call imitative of that between the male 

 and female. 



The hare is naturally of a gentle disposition, although not very susceptible of strong attach- 

 ment, and when taken young, may be tamed with little difficulty. Shy and timid as it undoubt- 

 edly is in its native haunts, yet, when domesticated, it often assumes a forward, and even a 

 petulent demeanor, as has been finely exemplified by Cowper in his account of three which he 

 wat< led himself. The names he gave them were Puss, Tiney, and Bess. Tiney was a reserved 

 and surly hare; Bess, who was a hare of great humor and drollery, died young. "Puss grew 

 pr< sently familiar, would leap into my lap, raise himself upon his hinder feet, and bite the hair 

 from my temples. He would suffer me to take him up and carry him about in my arms, and 

 more than once fallen fast asleep upon tny knee. lie was ill three days, during which tine 

 I nursed him, kept him apart from his fellows that they might not molest him, — for, like main 

 other wild animals, they persecute one of their own species that is sick, — and by constant can 

 and trying him with a variety of herbs, restored him to perfect health. No creature could 1" 

 mor 'ill than my patient after his recovery, a sentiment which he most significantly 



pressed by licking my hand, firsf the back of it, then the palm, then every finger separately, thei 

 between all the fingers, as if anxious to leave no part of it unsaluted; a ceremony which he in 

 performed but once again upon a similar occasion. 



'•binding him extremely tractable, I made it my custom to carry him always after break! 

 into the garden, where he hid himself generally under the leaves of a cucumber vine, sleeping or 

 chewing the cud, till evening; in the leaves also of that vine he found a favorite repast. 1 hid 

 not long habituated him to this taste of liberty, before he began to be impatient for the time 

 when he might enjoy it. He would invite me to the garden by drumming upon my knee, and 

 by a look of such expression as it was not possible to misinterpret. If this rhetoric did not in 

 mediately succeed, he would lake the skirt of my coat between his teeth and pull at it with all 

 his force. Thus Pnaa mighl be said to be perfectly tamed, the shyness of his nature was done 

 away, and, on the whole, it. was visible by many symptoms, which I have not room to enumerate, 

 that he was happier in human society than when shut up with his natural companions." 



As ;in article of food, the flesh of the hare has been inhigh esteem from very remote antiquity! 



