126 HARE SHOOTING. 



gestating term is the same as in the rabbit thirty- 

 one days. The young are fed by the mother about a 

 month, or not quite so long. Her fecundity is pro- 

 digious. One writer mentioning, that " a brace of 

 hares (the doe being pregnant when shut up) were 

 enclosed in a large walled garden, and proper plants 

 supplied for their subsistence. At the expiration of 

 twelve months the garden was examined, and the 

 produce was fifty-seven hares. On the manor of Sir 

 Thomas Gooch, also, there were six thousand hares 

 killed in 1806." At Fonthill, during its occupation 

 by the eccentric Mr. Beckford, hares swarmed to 

 such an extent, and had become so tame, in conse- 

 quence of their never being molested under any 

 circumstances whatever, that they might be seen 

 parading the alleys and green avenues of the park, 

 in files, as the Guards march the streets of 

 London . 



The hare is nocturnal in her habits : upon 

 her return from her rambles, she retires to her 

 form, where she squats under cover of brushwood, 

 a hedge, or whatever else may contribute to her 

 concealment; not that she appears to have any 

 notion of the sort, for she sits as open on her 

 form as is well possible. The neutral colours of 

 her fur much more assist her ambush than any 

 apparent care of her own. Many diseases, to which 

 hares are subjected, are known. They become drop- 

 sical with too succulent food. Their fore-teeth occa- 

 sionally grow out when kept in places where they 



