290 LEPORID^— LEPUS 



render the term captive inappropriate.^ It has pretty, cat-like 

 ways of cleaning itself, and is in every way a most engaging 

 animal, full of life, activity, and inquisitiveness, but rather 

 large for convenience, and requiring more space and attention 

 than can be spared by ordinary people. In fact, the playful 

 but boisterous habit of climbing all the furniture in turn, 

 so that nothing was out of its reach, caused Mr Cocks to 

 banish an otherwise delightful pet to an out-of-door cage ; and 

 one belonging to a lady of my own family met the same fate, 

 owing to its aggressive attacks on strangers and its noisy 

 nocturnal activity. Hares may be taught to play all sorts 

 of curious tricks,^ and to appear as performers in public 

 shows. They will associate freely with, and are at least a 

 match for, domestic cats and dogs,^ but often meet their 

 end owing to attempted liberties with strange dogs, as did 

 one which lived with a butcher in the town of Alloa, Clack- 

 mannanshire.* 



The love of drumming mentioned above is highly character- 

 istic, both of hares and of rabbits, which often sit upright on 

 their haunches and vigorously vibrate their forearms, beating 

 the air with a motion somewhat distantly resembling the action 

 of a man practising boxing. There are frequent intervals in 

 the performance, during which the paws are licked and cleaned, 

 and one of them may be placed in a feline-like manner flat on 

 the breast, palm inwards. 



A classical instance of tame hares is that of the poet 

 W. Cowper, whose description ® of the ways of his three pets, 

 Bess, Tiney, and Puss, is still well worth reading, but is too 

 long to transcribe. The three had quite different characters, 

 and assumed a varying degree of tameness. One died soon 

 after attaining maturity ; the second reached nine years before 

 succumbing, as was supposed, to an accident ; but the third 

 died of sheer old age at one month short of twelve years. 



' The leverets may be reared on cow's milk, or suckled by a cat. Woodruffe- 

 Peacock states that they require fairly coarse sand for grinding down their teeth 

 (pp. cit, 13). 



2 E. C. Phillips, Field, 26th July 1902, 183. 



' C. Wapshare, Field, 3rd January 1891, 10. 



* P. Anderson Graham, Country Pastimes for Boys, 1908, 226. 



^ Gentleman's Magazine, June 1784, 412; epitaph on "Tiney," Journ. cit., 

 December 1784, 935. 



