

271 The Hare. 



doe, and they pair for the time being. The buck then 

 seeks another mate under similar conditions, leaving the 

 doe to breed and to rear her litter alone. In this manner 

 breeding proceeds all the year round, except under the 

 circumstances just noted, and three or even four litters may 

 result within the twelve months. The period of gestation 

 is usually denned as being thirty days, but I very much 

 doubt if this be correct, and I should be inclined to main- 

 tain that the period varies, is never less than thirty days, 

 and not infrequently reaches thirty-eight or forty. I am 

 quite convinced they " go " invariably more than the 

 calendar month. Hares breed from as early as eight or 

 nine months, according to whether early bom in the year 

 or otherwise. 



Contrary to the almost universal opinion that hares 

 produce but one or two at a litter, the usual number is five, 

 frequently only four, and occasionally six or seven. The 

 form where the young are brought forth is, as a rule, of 

 the rudest description, the doe making no provision in the 

 shape of a nest or the like, as does the rabbit, although 

 sometimes roughly-scraped holes are found where hares 

 have kindled. As a rule, however, the merest shelter to 

 the doe's hindquarters is deemed sufficient, and the young 

 are dropped on the bare ground. For from five to ten 

 days the young remain at the kindling-form ; they are then 

 removed at night-time to individual suckling-forms, 

 probably prepared beforehand by the doe, in which they 

 remain, if undisturbed, each in solitary state until they 

 reach the age of a month or five weeks. These suckling- 

 forms are spread around at a more or less considerable 

 distance from the mother-hare's form, and at a corre- 

 sponding one from each other. To each of these in turn 

 the doe resorts at intervals to suckle her young, which 

 remain placidly in their respective forms until they begin 



