66 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



withstand the English spring. A leveret, no larger 

 than a man's fist, runs with extraordinary speed, and 



often escapes from a dog, while a man must 

 Hares be sound in wind and limb to overtake it 

 Young * n *k e P en - Rabbits, born naked, develop 



a very fair turn of speed so soon as they 

 come above ground, but they quickly give up in 

 despair if pursued. 



There is a widespread idea that hares breed only 

 once in a year, and produce only one leveret. The 

 gamekeeper knows well that puss may produce 

 several leverets at a birth, and will have family after 

 family from as early as January to the end of Sep- 

 tember. As with rabbits, the leverets born early 

 one year themselves may breed in the late summer of 

 the same year. No doubt the hare is credited with 

 only one or two young ones because only one or two 

 are found together. Occasionally, it is true, several 

 very young leverets may be found in one place ; but 

 they are usually cradled in separate seats, not far 

 from each other. We once found a family of eight 

 little leverets crouching in a bunch under a heap of 

 hedge-trimmings. Evidently we discovered them 

 within a few moments of their entry into the world. 

 The mother hare is wise to separate her family. 

 Many dangers threaten the leveret's life ; but if 

 families were kept together the young ones would be 

 even more open to attack from rooks and crows, 

 and scent -hunting vermin in fur. The leveret with 

 its eyes pecked out by a rook, yet still living, is a 



