HARE SHOOTING. 119 



venience of the practice, it is enough for our purpose 

 here to state, that in many parts of England, where 

 game preserving is very rigorously carried on, hares 

 so abound as to be a gigantic nuisance. In such 

 places hare shooting is a virtue ; and that our young- 

 friends may excel in that good work, we put before 

 them the best advice in our power. 



We do not treat you as going out to look for 

 hares, but rather as in some place where they most 

 do congregate. If we thought you had any difficulty 

 in the matter of finding this species of game, we 

 could point out that it keeps to the standing corn, so 

 long as any is to be met with ; and that when no 

 more remains, hares resort for shelter to covers and 

 hedges, to fallows and long wild grass, to the sides 

 and bottoms of old dry ditches and grips ; and that 

 after heavy rains, which fill the ditches, and cause 

 dripping from the trees and hedges, they are to be 

 found lying out upon close wheat stubbles. When it 

 is again dry, they return to covert ; there remaining 

 till the frost has robbed the trees of their leaves ; 

 and then, no hiding being afforded by the woods, 

 they betake themselves for good, to the open fields, 

 and make their forms, wherever enough of rough 

 vegetation exists to enable them to crouch among 

 it. Young wheat fields are their favourite localities, 

 and occasionally, old ploughed fallows ; in these, 

 within a range of some thirty or forty yards distance 

 from the hedges, you will be most likely to light 

 upon them. This, we say, we should have told you, 



