258 MAMMALIA—AMERICAN HARE. 
the woods; but to the westward, bordering on the southern Indian country, 
they are in some places pretty numerous, though by no means equal to what 
has been reported of them at York Fort, and some other settlements in the 
Bay.” In parts of the Union, this hare is exceedingly common, and large 
numbers are annually destroyed for the sake of their flesh and fur. 
During the daytime the hare remains crouched within its form, which 1s 
a mere space, of the size of the animal, upon the surface of the ground, 
cleared of grass, and sheltered by some overarching plant ; or else its habi- 
tation is in the hollowed trunk of a tree, or under a collection of stones, &c. 
It is at the earliest dawn, while the dewdrops still glitter on the herbage, 
or when the fresh verdure is concealed beneath a mantle of glistening 
frost, that the timorous hare commonly ventures forth in quest of food, or 
courses undisturbed over the plains. Occasionally during the day, in retired 
and little frequented parts of the country, an individual is seen to scud from 
the path, where it has been basking in the sun; but the best time for study- 
ing the habits of the animal is during moonlight nights, when the hare is 
to be seen sporting with companions in unconstrained gambols, frisking 
with delighted eagerness around its mate, or busily engaged in cropping its 
food. On such occasions the turnip and cabbage fields suffer severely, 
where these animals are numerous, though in general they are productive 
of serious injury. However, when the food is scarce, they do much mis” 
chief to the farmers, by destroying the bark on the young trees in the 
nurseries, and by cutting valuable plants. 
The flesh of the American hare, though of a dark color, ismuch esteemed 
as an article of food. During the summer season they are lean and tough, 
and in many situations they are infested by a species of estrus, which lays 
its eggs in their skins, producing worms of a considerable size. But in 
the autumnal season, and especially after the commencement of the frost, 
when the wild berries, &c., are ripe, they become very fat, and are a delicious 
article of food. In the north, during winter, they feed on the twigs of the 
pine and fir, and are fit for the table throughout the season. The Indians 
eat the contents of their stomachs, notwithstanding the food is such as we 
have just mentioned. 
The American hare never burrows in the ground like the common 
European rabbit. When confined in a yard, our animal has been known to 
attempt an escape by scratching a hole in the earth near the fence or wall ; 
but there are few wild animals, whatever may be their characters, that will 
not do the same, under similar circumstances, though in their natural condi- 
tion they may never attempt to burrow. Such is the fact in relation to the 
American hare, which never burrows while it is a free tenant of the fields 
and woods. Jt has been said that this animal also occasionally ascends 
trees, which must be understood solely of its going up within the trunks of 
hollow trees, which it effects by pressing with its back and feet against 
