THE COMMON HARE 



(Lepus europceus) 



The Common Hare has for ages attracted the attention of man more 

 than almost any other of the smaller animals of Europe, its excellence 

 as a sporting beast of the chase and a delicacy for the table having 

 particularly commended it to the Greeks and Romans, who thought 

 even more of it in these capacities than we do. For a rodent it is a 

 large animal, weighing from seven to twelve pounds, and its peculiar 

 form, with long ears and short tail, is very distinctive, not only 

 among rodents, but among beasts in general. The slender but 

 powerful limbs, of which the hind pair are much the stronger, bear 

 five toes on the fore and four on the hind feet, and have the pads 

 covered with hair. The teeth differ from those of most rodents, in 

 that there are two pairs of incisors in the upper jaw instead of one ; 

 but the second pair are very small, and are set behind the great 

 centre pair, so that they are neither noticeable nor useful. 



The coat of the Hare does not vary much in colour, though 

 occasional black and white specimens have been recorded, and a very 

 pretty silver-grey variety sometimes occurs, in which the tawny- 

 yellow ground of the fur is replaced by white, the black " tickjng "• 

 remaining. In the northern part of its range the Hare shows some 

 tendency to turn white in winter. 



It is essentially a European animal, being generally distributed 

 over Europe, and not found outside it ; in certain European countries, 

 also, it is absent — in North Russia, Scandinavia, and Ireland, though 

 in the last-named it has been artificially introduced in a few places. 

 Artificial introduction, also, has established it in New Zealand, where 



217 2 E * 



