204 THE BROWN HARE. 



the young are born with their eyes open, though 

 they remain in the form till about a fortnight old. 

 Gestation takes approximately four weeks, and 

 two or three at a birth is the usual number. 

 During the periods of abnormal increase in their 

 numbers, to which subsequent reference is made, 

 five or even six may be born, but the number 

 always returns to the original two or three. 

 The young are mature at one year, and the 

 first two years of a hare's life are the most 

 critical. If it survives these, it is well on the 

 way to becoming a wise hare, which is the only 

 hare that lives till the decline of its powers 

 heralds its going. 



As soon as the young are old enough to leave 

 the nest they are able to dispense with the services 

 of their mother. Each day thereafter they become 

 more and more independent of her, living their 

 lives apart. By this time she has probably formed 

 new associations, and is well on the way to the 

 production of another family. It is seldom that 

 the young are seen following the mother, except, 

 perhaps, during abnormally dry seasons, when water 

 becomes necessary to their existence ; then, occa- 

 sionally, the young may be seen accompanying the 

 dam down to the drinking-place. She will, how- 

 ever, fight on their behalf till she becomes occupied 

 with a second brood, and the squeal of one of her 

 leverets brings her instantly to the place, prepared 

 to do battle with cat or stoat as the occasion may 

 demand. 



In passing to and from the form in which her 

 young are hidden, a mother -hare exercises the 

 utmost care to break the line of tell-tale scent she 

 leaves. This she does by back-tracking a certain 

 distance, so as to leave a dead end in her trail ; 



