218 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



it thrives well and attains a great size ; it does not become a pest 

 like the Rabbit, being less prolific and not a burrower. 



Its life of constant exposure on the surface of the ground is made 

 up for by its great speed and agility; its long hind-legs enable it to 

 gallop very rapidly, especially up hill ; but the same peculiarity of 

 form is against it in descending a slope, and makes it apt to over- 

 balance. It cannot see ahead very well when running, and hence is 

 apt to run into danger. In addition to being a good runner, the 

 Hare can leap to a vertical height of five feet, and clear as much as 

 five yards' width at a spring ; it also swims well and strongly, and 

 readily takes to the water, crossing rivers and even arms of the sea. 



By choice it lives in open country, squatting by day in its " form," 

 a depression it makes among the herbage, and coming out at evening 

 to seek its food of grass and other plants ; it often ravages gardens 

 and crops, and indeed prefers cultivated land. Hares are not, how- 

 ever, so destructive or omnivorous as Rabbits. They are usually 

 solitary, but in early spring, when they pair, several may be seen 

 playing about together, even by day — the proverbial madness of the 

 " March Hare." The bucks fight savagely together, striking heavy 

 blows with their fore-feet, so as even to kill each other at times ; 

 indeed, the Hare, though proverbially so timid, is only so with man 

 and the numerous carnivorous enemies which seek its life. With its 

 own kind, and harmless animals like Cattle and Sheep, it is bold 

 enough. The doe usually produces about five young, which are born 

 furry and open-eyed, not helpless and blind like young Rabbits ; these 

 leverets she soon disperses in separate forms, going regularly to each 

 one to suckle it. In this way they run less chance of being lost than 

 if collected all together ; and the precaution is needful, for Hares 

 have many enemies, from the Wolf, Lynx, and Eagle, down to the 

 Weasel and Crow, to say nothing of the depredations of man. When 

 being killed the Hare utters a loud painful scream, but its usual note 

 is only an inward grunt, or a low call to its mate and young. 



As every one knows, Hares, besides being shot, are hunted in two 

 ways, being "coursed," or run by sight, by a couple of Greyhounds, 



