THE HARE 



171 



standing quietly in a field watching some fox-hounds that were 

 just entering a little copse about a hundred yards away, when 

 a hare started up and came straight towards him. H^ did not 

 move, and she came quietly hopping along, without seeing him, 

 till she was not more than a dozen feet distant. He then gave 



Hare 



a low whistle, at which she turned her head, caught sight of him, 

 and in a couple of seconds had disappeared. 



We often think that the hare is a very timid animal, and in a 

 certain sense she is. But she will sometimes show a quite unex- 

 pected courage. Tame hares, for example, have been known 

 repeatedly to chase and drive away cats that ventured into their 

 feeding-ground. Hares fight fiercely among themselves too; and 

 in defence of her young the mother hare will fight to the death. 



The young of the hare are called "leverets". There are 

 usually from four to six in a litter, and the little animals remain 

 with their mother for rather more than a month. Unlike the 



