THE BROWN HARE. 195 



' That hare is drowned ! ' we all agreed, and 

 went our respective ways. 



But just on the edge of dusk, as I was descend- 

 ing the mountain-side, I saw a very tired and 

 bedraggled hare wending his way towards me. 

 Constantly he paused and listened ; then, making 

 off by the old familiar runs, he departed into 

 the gloom, heading for the mountain heights. 



Did I recognise him? I can't swear to that; 

 but I know there was only one hare on that part 

 of the mountain-side, and I know the hare I 

 saw, returning wearily home at dusk, followed the 

 private runway of the creature we had pursued. 



How far will a hare run before dogs ? Some 

 say eight miles at the most. Personally, I think 

 eighteen a fully conservative estimate. Before 

 a pack of hounds he will not run far, because 

 his spirit is broken by fear ; before a single dog 

 no faster than himself he is capable of putting 

 up a very different show. 



HABITS WHEN PURSUED. 



Each hare has its own runways or, rather, 

 passes to and from its feeding -grounds by the 

 same routes. Normally it will never go through 

 or over a wall if there is a gateway through 

 which it can pass, and it is to be feared that this 

 partiality towards open going often proves the 

 hare's undoing. The poacher knows it well, and 

 has nothing to do but place his net across the 

 gate-gap, and then drive the hare into it, using 

 his snares in the same way. But occasionally an 

 old hare knows these things, and once having been 

 frightened, he never faces a gate again. 



The hare is one of the few animals that can 

 see behind it as it runs, and it is owing to this 



