BRITISH MAMMALS 



The leverets, unlike the young of the Rabbit which are born 

 naked and blind, are well clothed with fur and can see just after birth. 



As soon as her family arrives, the mother separates her young, placing 

 them apart in different hiding places where she can visit and suckle them 

 at night. 



The Hare has always been highly esteemed for purposes of sport, and 

 in former days was reckoned among the * five wild beasts of venery,' 

 namely the Hart, the Hind, the Hare, the Boar, and the Wolf 



At one time special sanctuaries appear to have been set apart to 

 encourage the increase and give protection to the Hare. One of these is 

 still in existence near Cheam, Surrey, which is said to date from Tudor times. 



My friend Col. Godwin Austin tells me he remembers another still 

 in use in his younger days but now demolished, situated on the top of 

 Merrow Down, Guildford. These sanctuaries consisted of enclosures of 

 several acres encircled by high walls, with convenient holes for the going 

 out and coming in of the animals. 



Besides their cry of pain when in distress, Hares have softer notes, 

 used when calling each other or when the mother is suckling her 

 young. 



THE MOUNTAIN HARE. 



Lepus iimidus, Linnaeus. 

 Plates 34-35. 



The Mountain Hare, the Lepus variabilis of Pallas, often known as 

 the Alpine, White, Blue, or Varying Hare, is smaller and in general 

 has more the character of the Rabbit than our Common Brown Hare. 



The head is rounder, the ears and tail relatively shorter, and the 



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