THE COMMON HARE 
or other engines should forfeit for every hare so taken or destroyed 
20s. This prohibition of the use of hare-pipes was continued by 22 
and 23 Car. II, c. 25, as well as by 4 and 5 Will, and Mary, c. 23, and 
only dropped out of the statute book in 1831, when these and other game 
laws were repealed on the passing of what is now known as the principal 
Game Act, 1 and 2 Will. IV, c. 32. As in none of these statutes is the hare-pipe 
described, it is a matter of conjecture whether the instrument in question 
was a mouth -pipe, as figured by Gaston Legrand for imitating the cry of 
the hare, or the combination of pipe and snare which strangled the animal 
by its operation. From the words of the Act of James I, “hare-pipes, cords, 
or any such instrument,” it might be inferred to be a snare; while as “nets ” 
are referred to in the earlier statute, the contrivance may have been a 
pipe net; for the tunnel nets used for taking partridges, as well as wild- 
fowl in decoys (introduced in the time of James I) are referred to by old 
writers as “ pipes.” 
The natural history of the hare if followed out in detail would be very 
voluminous, and would extend far beyond the limits of the present article. 
It has been necessary, therefore, to confine attention to a fewonlyof themany 
interesting points which suggest themselves. Hares swim well, not only 
when pressed by hounds, but also when in search of a mate, or seeking 
fresh feeding grounds across a river. This is especially the case on saltings 
near the sea or tidal rivers, when, to escape the incoming tide, a hare which 
has been surrounded by the water is compelled to swim to reach dry land. 
They like the saline flavour imparted to the pasture by the salt or brackish 
water from a tidal harbour. 
Preservation . — Those who preserve hares would do well to bear in 
mind that food without shelter is not sufficient to ensure the maintenance 
of a proper stock. In times of much rain and heavy snow, hares leave the 
open country and betake themselves to thick hedgerows and coverts. Hence 
the more accommodation there is of this kind the better for the interests 
of sportsmen, since the fewer plantations there are upon a sporting estate 
the fewer will be the number of hares. They will undoubtedly seek shelter 
elsewhere. 
J. E. HARTING. 
185 
