NORTHERN HARE. 99 



courage ; they had previously suffered themselves to be chased and wor- 

 ried by the common English rabbit, and even retreated from the at- 

 tacks of the gray rabbit; but they now stood their ground, and engaged 

 in fierce combats ■vvith the other prisoners confined with them, and gene- 

 rally came off victorious. They stamped \vith their feet, used their teeth 

 and claws to a fearful purpose, and in the fight, tore off patches of skin, 

 and mutilated the ears of their former persecutors, till they were left in 

 undisturbed possession of the premises ! 



The males did not evince the vicious propensity to destroy their young, 

 which is observed in the domesticated English rabbit ; on the contrary, 

 they would frequently sit beside their little family, when they were but a 

 day or two old, seeming to enjoy their playfulness and to watch their pro- 

 gress to matur t}'. 



The Northern Hare seems during summer to prefer dry and elevated 

 situations, and to be more fond of grounds covered with pines and firs, than 

 of those that are overgrown with oak or hickory. The s^vamps and marshes 

 soil their feet, and after having been compelled to pass through them, 

 they are for hours employed in rubbing and drjing their paws. In win- 

 ter, however, when such places are hardened by the frost, they not 

 only have paths through them in every direction, but occasionally seek a 

 fallen tree top as a hiding or resting place, in the centre of a swamp. 

 We have observed them in great numbers in an almost impenetrable 

 thicket of black larch, or hackmatack, {Larix pendula,) considerable por- 

 tions of which were during summer a perfect morass. In what are called 

 the " bark clearings," places where hemlock trees have been cut down to 

 procure tan bark, this species is sometimes so abundant that twenty or 

 thirty of them may be started in a day's walk. 



As an article of food, this is the most indifferent of all our species of 

 Hares; its flesh is hard, dry, almost juiceless, possessing none of the 

 flavour of the English hare, and much inferior to that of ovu' gray rabbit. 

 Epicures, however, who often regard as dainties dishes that are scarce, 

 and who, by the skilful application of the culinary art, possess means of 

 rendering things savoury that are of themselves insipid, may dispute 

 this point with us. 



The Northern Hare, as is proverbially the case mth all the species, 

 has many enemies. It is pursued by men and dogs, by carniverous beasts 

 of the forest, by eagles, by hawks, and by owls. In the northern parts 

 of Maine, in Canada, and in the countries farther north, their most formi- 

 dable enemies are the Canada lynx, {Lrjnx Canadensis.) the jer falcon, 

 (Falco Islandicus,) and the snowy owl, (Sitrnea nyctea.) In the New 

 England States, however, and in New York-, the red-tailed hawk, {Buteo 



