348 LEWIS'S AMEKICAN SPORTSMAN. 



ferocity. Skunks, wild cats, foxes, hawks, owls, snakes, &c. all 

 prey upon the hare whenever they can succeed in capturirg him 

 either by pursuit, stealth, or stratagem. 



DIFFERENT VARIETIES. 



There are several varieties of hares distributed over different 

 sections of our extensive country. Their habits are generally 

 very analogous to those of the Lepus sylvaticus. 



Some varieties, however, are smaller, while others are larger; 

 and those inhabiting the more northern latitudes change their 

 sombre summer pelage during the winter months to a spotless 

 white. Their flesh at the proper season is universally esteemed, 

 and the timid creatures are consequently much persecuted by the 

 inhabitants of the districts wherever they are found. 



MEMORANDA. 



1. The American hare is not a rabbit, but a bona fide hare, both 

 in appearance, flesh, and mode of life : no naturalist disputes the 

 point. 



2. Different varieties of foreign rabbits have been imported into 

 the country from time to time ; but there is no species of rabbits s 

 native of this continent as yet discovered. 



3. American hares, like the European, live singly above ground, 

 and never burrow ; they also breed far less often than the rabbit, 

 and have fewer at each litter. 



4. The English rabbits live in communities, and form extensive 

 excavations in the ground, termed burrows or warrens, where they 

 mostly reside and deposit their young. 



5. The young of the Lepus sylvaticus, as the foreign hare, are 

 covered with hair at birth, their eyes open, and their limbs strong 

 enough for immediate action. 



6. The young of the true rabbit are quite bare of hair : when 

 first brought forth, their eyes are closed and their limbs tender 

 and weakly. 



7. The American hare is a lonely, timid creature ; the rabbit, 



