FRIENDS OR FOES f 



In some places they are not much better than 

 vermin, not worth the shooting or trapping for 

 food ; in other more favoured parts they are eagerly 

 sought for, and fetch a good price in the market ; in 

 fact, from some estates the rabbits alone bring large 

 sums of money to the owners. There are large links 

 and warrens on or close to the sea-shore, where the 

 rabbits dot along and eat the seaweed to such an ex- 

 tent as to spoil them as marketable commodities. 



On the edge of the wood and on the bleak hillside 

 the hare has his seat or form. In the fields of stand- 

 ing corn, or when the last load has been carried, on 

 the fallows, or crouched in the stubbles, you will 

 find the merry-hearted brown hare; — on the wild 

 marshes, too, separated from the lonely beach, 

 where the curlews wail and the ring-dotterels pipe. 

 By the sea-wall of our North Kent marshlands he 

 thrives and multiplies, growing large there. 



" Timid as any hare " is a term of reproach which 

 he does not merit, for in his own way he is a most 

 courageous creature. His speed is proverbial ; add 

 to this his swimming and his boxing, to say nothing 

 of his feats as a jumper, and few could say with 

 truth and justice that he was behind other creatures 



