102 THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



keeps just ahead. This game lasts several minutes, till 

 presently one of the hounds is sharp enough to dodge 

 back and meet the hare the opposite way. Even then his 

 quick eye and ready turn often give him another short 

 breathing space by rushing away at a tangent. 



Rabbits, although of ' low degree ' in comparison with 

 the pheasant, really form an important item in the list of 

 the keeper's charges. Shooting generally commences 

 with picking out the young rabbits about the middle or 

 towards the end of the hay harvest, according as the 

 season is early or late. Some are shot by the farmers, 

 who have the right to use a gun, earlier than this, while 

 they still disport in the mowing grass. It requires ex- 

 perience and skill to select the young rabbit just fit for 

 table from the old bucks, the does which may yet bring 

 forth another litter, and those little bunnies that do not 

 exceed the size of rats. 



The grass conceals the body of the animal, and 

 nothing is visible beyond the tips of the ears ; and at 

 thirty yards distance one pair of ears is very like another 

 pair. The developed ear is, however, less pointed than 

 the other ; and in the rabbit of a proper size they are or 

 seem to be wider apart. The eye is also guided by the 

 grass itself and the elevation of the rabbit's head above it 

 when lifted in alarm at a chance sound : if the animal is 

 full grown of course the head stands higher. In motion 

 the difference is at once seen; the larger animal's back 



