GRAY RABBIT. 179 



there far from being abundant. It was exceedingly scarce north-east of 

 Albany thirty-five years ago, where it has now become far more numer- 

 ous tban the Northern hare, which was then the only species usually met 

 with. It abounds in the sandy regions covered with pine trees west of 

 that city. From Dutchess county to the southern limits of New-York it 

 is found in considerable numbers. In Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, Mary- 

 land, and all the Southern States, hunting the Gray Rabbit affords more 

 amusement to young sportsmen than the pursuit of any other quadruped 

 in the countrj^ We have traced this species through all the higher por- 

 tions of Florida. To the west we have seen it in all the Southern States, 

 and it is very abundant on the upper Missouri River to nearly 1000 miles 

 above Saint Louis. 



GENERAL EEMAKKS. 



This being the most common of our hares in the Atlantic States of 

 America, it has been longest and most familiarly known. Hereiott, who 

 gave an account of the third voyage of the English to Virginia in 1586, 

 in enumerating the natural productions of that country, under the head 

 of Conies, says, " Those that we have seen, and all that we can hear of, 

 are of a gray colour like unto hares ; in some places there are such plen- 

 ty that all the people, of some to\vns, make them mantles of the fur, or 

 fleece of the skins of those which they usually take." It is subsequently 

 mentioned by the intrepid Governor Smith of Virginia, by Lavvson and by 

 Catesby. Kalm, in the 1st vol. of his Travels in America, gave a cor- 

 rect description, not only of the animal, but of its habits. The following 

 is an extract from his Journal, the entry was made either at Philadelphia 

 or his favourite retreat " Racoon," in the vicinity of that city, on the 6th 

 Jan. 1749. " There are a great number of hares in this country, but 

 they differ from our Swedish ones in their size, which is very small, 

 and but little bigger than that of a rabbit ; they keep almost the 

 same gray colour both in summer and winter, which our Northern 

 hares have in summer only ; the tip of their ears is always gray, and 

 not black ; the tail is likewise gray on the upper side, at all seasons ; 

 they breed several times a year. In spring they lodge their young ones 

 in hollow trees, and in summer, in the months of June and July, they 

 breed in the grass. When they are surprised they commonly take refuge 

 in hollow trees, out of which they are taken by means of a crooked stick, 

 or by cutting a hole into the tree, opposite to the place where they lie ; 

 or by smoke which is occasioned by making a fire on the outside of the 

 tree. On all these occasions the greyhounds must be at hand. These 

 hares never bite, and can be touched without any danger. In the day-time 



