80 Field and Forest Rambles. 



producing four to five young at a time ; moreover, the latter 

 are said to couple before a twelvemonth. Reference will be 

 made elsewhere to the steady increase of hares in this region, 

 consequent on the destruction of their four-footed enemies, 

 much to the advantage of the great Virginian and Snowy owls, 

 which prey extensively on the animal, keeping it in a con- 

 stant state of dread, especially during winter, when, in common 

 with other rodents, it seeks to evade the stoop of rapacious 

 birds by diving instantly headlong into the snow, thus escaping 

 them, but ensuring destruction by man, and such animals as 

 the fisher-cat and lynx, who can easily dig it out. 



The leveret, in common with the young of other members 

 of the family, presents a mark of relationship in having the 

 white spot on the forehead. Like the variable hare of Scotland 

 and Tibet, the above is by no means shy. Its runs are in 

 thick bush, where when pursued it may be heard stamping its 

 feet. The flesh is not savoury, and is highly flavoured with 

 turpentine during winter, when the animal subsists chiefly on 

 conifers. It is also subject to differences in size, the denizens 

 of hilly parts being larger than such as frequent the level forest 

 tracts. 



The foot of the American hare, like that of nearly all the 

 furred animals, is admirably adapted for progression on snow, 

 inasmuch as not only are the feet bones lengthened, but they 

 admit of much lateral expansion, so that with the intervening 

 fur there is presented an excellent snow-shoe, which enables 

 it to run with ease on the softest surface. I measured several 

 fore footprints three inches, and hind foot impressions four 

 and a half inches in breadth. The nails ; t re long in winter, 

 for the reason that their tips are not subjected to the same 

 amount of friction as in summer. 



Modifications of structure and appearance, either of advan- 

 tage to the individual or the reverse, are highly instructive. 

 For example, in comparing the feet of the Moose and Reindeer, 

 it appears strange that nature should have been so considerate 



