254 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



burrow, and has not the natural protection 

 of the rabbit. Although the colour of its 

 fur allows it to conform in a marvellous way 

 to the dead grass and herbage among whilst 

 it lies, yet it starts from its "form" at the 

 approach of danger, and from its size offers 

 an easy mark. It is not unfrequently " chopped" 

 by sheep dogs ; and in certain months hundreds 

 of leverets perish in this way. They are often 

 destroyed wholesale during the mowing of 

 grass and reaping the wheat. For a short 

 time in summer leverets especially seek this 

 kind of cover, and farmers or their labourers 

 kill great numbers with dog and gun ; and this 

 at a time when they are quite unfit for food. 



In addition to these causes of scarcity, there 

 are others known to sportsmen, who have the 

 remedy in their own hands. When harriers 

 hunt late in the season, as they invariably do 

 nowadays, many leverets are sacrificed without 

 affording the least sport. Some are " chopped " 

 in their forms; and for every Hare that goes 

 away probably three are killed in the manner 

 indicated. At least that is the teaching of one 

 who has had pretty wide experience. When 

 hunting continues through March, master and 



