Bethel, Maine
1907
Jan'y 22
(No 2)
fleeting form would show for an instant with
startling distinctness. It ran nearly straight away
until lost to sight following vistas and open glades
and avoiding the windfalls and thickets by which
they were bordered. Judging by their tracks in the
snow these Hares are much given to keeping in
well beaten and unobstructed trails during their
nocturnal wanderings but they frequently diverge
from such paths when in search of food. They
do not appear to often bark trees or shrubs, at least
in the woods, but by looking closely one can quickly
find where they have nibbled off many small
terminal branches and twigs. This, I am convinced
by long observation, is their habitual and
characteristic manner of feeding in winter. 
  (On January 31st I again visited the place where
the Hare was started on the 22nd. On this second
occasion I found it within a few yards of where it was
seen on the first but so concealed by the top of a birch
that had been bent down by the snow that I did
not discover it until it started to run. I have had
similar experiences in former years and I believe that as
a rule (but certainly not invariably) these Hares are
in the habit of opening the day in the same places.
It is exceptional, I think, for them to do this in
open ground and they are especially given to concealing
themselves under fallen tree tops and in dense brush.)