196 THE BROWN HARE. 



faculty that the animal is so well able to dodge 

 hounds at close quarters, doubling and twisting 

 in the ace of time, and thus tiring and dishearten- 

 ing its pursuers when every one thinks the run 

 is at an end. So absorbed does the hare often 

 become in looking behind that it forgets to 

 calculate for danger ahead ; and many a hare, 

 pursued by dogs, has been known to run into 

 the legs of spectators, never seeing them, so 

 intent was its backward gaze. 



Most motorists have indulged in a short, if 

 unsuccessful, pursuit of a hare, the animal sticking 

 to the open roadway ahead of the car, watching 

 the vehicle as he runs, never thinking of turning 

 aside till the car is actually on him. Pursuing 

 a hare thus, I have timed it by speedometer to 

 maintain a pace of twenty-eight miles per hour 

 over a short distance, which seems about the 

 animal's limit. 



One wet night I was motoring near Birmingham, 

 when a hare got up in front of the car, and posi- 

 tively refused to get off the road, setting the 

 pace for over two miles. During the run we 

 noticed that the lamps were getting dim, and it 

 appeared as if we were passing through a heavy 

 shower. Finally the hare dodged off, and descend- 

 ing, we discovered that the dimming of the lamps 

 was due to the mud thrown up on the lenses 

 by the hare's hind-legs ! The whole front of the 

 car was literally drenched in dripping mud, the 

 wind-screen was opaque, while we ourselves were 

 splashed about the face. One would never have 

 believed so small an animal was capable of dis- 

 placing so much* liquid in so short a space of time. 



The hind-legs of a hare are most abnormally 

 developed, for, like those of the kangaroo, they 



