334 Unexplored Spain 



of large quantities), the conejete rarely receives more than an 

 hour or two's attention. 



Hares (^Lepus mediterraneus), common all over Spain, are 

 rather more numerous in the marisma than on the drier grounds. 

 They hav^e indeed developed semi-aquatic habits, in times of flood 

 swimming freely from island to island and making arboreal 

 " forms " in the half-submerged samphire-bush. Should the whole 

 become submerged, the hares betake themselves to the main 

 shore, and on such occasions, with two guns, we have shot a 

 dozen or so on a drive. These small Spanish hares are marvel- 

 lously fleet of foot, especially when an almost equally fleet-footed 

 podenco is in full chase over ground as flat and bare as a bowling- 

 green. 



In these hares the females are larger and greyer in colour than 

 the males. Their irides are yellow, with a small pupil, whereas 

 in the male the eye is hazel and the pupil large. The fur of the 

 latter is bright chestnut in hue, especially on hind-quarters and 

 legs, which frequently show irregular splashes of white. The 

 lower parts are purest white, and along the clean-cut line of 

 demarcation the colour contrasts are the strono-est. Lonsf film- 

 like hairs grow far beyond the ordinary fur on their bodies, and 

 the tails are longer and carried higher than in our British species. 



Weights of Ten Spanish Hares, killed January 30, 1908 



Males . . 4| 4| 4^ 4| 4| lbs., deadweight 



Females . . 4j 5 5| 5| 5^ lbs., deadweight 



Weights op Spanish Rabbits (in Couples) 

 Ten couples . 3 3 3 3l 3| 3| 3^ 3i 3^ 3| lbs., clean 



These rabbits difi"er from the home-breed not only in their smaller 

 size, but in the colder 'grey of their fur and large transparent ears. 

 Hitherto shooting over great areas of rural Spain has been 

 practised under conditions absolutely natural — almost pristine. 

 The game on mountain, moor, or marsh is not only free to any 

 hunter who possesses the skill to capture it, but it is left to 

 figjht unaided its struofgle for existence aQ^ainst hosts of enemies, 

 feathered, furred, and scaled, the like of which has no equivalent 

 in our crowded isles; and which work terrible havoc, each in its 

 own way, among the milder members of creation. The presence 

 of so many fierce raptorials, however (though it ruin the " bag"), 



