226 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



credited with at certain seasons has not the least 

 foundation; in fact, he is a very wide-awake in- 

 dividual, as he well needs to be. As we sit on 

 the bough of a tree that does duty for top-rail, two 

 hares slip by on one side of us : they have come 

 down from the uplands to feed in the fields. Those 

 white dots moving so rapidly are the scuts of rab- 

 bits showing, as they chase each other close to the 

 hedge-side ; for the rabbit never ventures far from 

 his burrows to feed : he is very quick for a short 

 run, and makes the most of it to reach his home. 

 With the hare it is different : speed serves his turn, 

 enduring speed, and it serves him well. In sporting 

 terms we ought to have said serves her ; for no 

 matter what the sex may be, Puss is the comprehen- 

 sive name for the hare. 



There they are in front of us, four of them feeding ; 

 in the twilight, glasses serve as at any other time. 

 We can see all their movements at this short dis- 

 tance. Their long mobile ears are playing and 

 working in all directions, — sometimes erect, at 

 others held apart, then brought forward as if feel- 

 ing for some sound or other, then laid down close. 

 If the hare wishes to look round or to give its 



