738 
THE MOUNTAIN HARE. 
woods, among plants, where they chiefly reside, leap considerably 
higher. When found in such places, it is impossible to take them, 
from their wonderful agility, and their evading all pursuit by bound- 
ing into the thickest part of the covert they can find. “ 
“With respect to the figure given of it in its dormant state, I have 
to observe, that the specimen was found by some workmen, in dig- 
ging the foundation for a summer-house in a gentleman’s garden, 
about two miles from Quebec, in the latter end of May, 1787, It 
was discovered enclosed in a ball of clay, about the size of a cricket 
ball, nearly an inch in thickness, perfectly smooth within, and about 
twenty inches under ground. The man who first discovered it, not 
knowing what it was, struck the ball with his spade, by which means 
it was broken to pieces, or the ball would have been presented to me. 
How long It had been under ground, it is impossible to say ; but as I 
never could observe these animals in any part of the country after the 
beginning of September, 1 conceive they lay themselves up for some 
time in that month, or beginning of October, when the frost becomes 
sharp. Nor did I ever see them again before the last week in May, 
or beginning of June. From their being enveloped in balls of clay, with- 
out any appearance of food, I conceive they sleep during the winter, 
and remain for that term without sustenance. As soon as I conveyed 
this specimen to my house, I deposited it, as it was, in a small chip 
box in some cotton, waiting with great anxiety for its waking, but 
that not taking place at the season they generally appear, I kept it 
until we found it begin to smell ; I then stuffed it, and preserved it 
in its torpid position. I am led to believe its not recovering from 
nicely dried, that state arose from the heat of my room during the 
time it was in the box, a fire having been constantly burning in the 
stove, and which in all probability was too great for its respiration.” 
The Mountain FIare, or Alpine Rabbit. 
This species of hare is first seen in the Altaic chain, and extends 
to lake Baikal, — thence to Kamschatka, — and is found in the Fox 
Islands : they inhabit always the middle regions of the snowy moun- 
tains, in the rudest places, wooded, and abounding with herbs and 
moisture. They sometimes form burrows between the rocks, and ' 
often lodge in the crevices. They are generally found in pairs, but 
in cloudy weather they collect together, and lie on the rocks, and give 
a keen whistle like that of a sparrow. On the report of a gun, they 
run into their holes, but soon come out again. By wonderful instinct, 
they provide against the rigorous season. A company of them, 
towards autumn, collect together vast heaps of herbs and grasses, 
newly dried, which they place either beneath the overhanging rocks, or 
between the chasms, or round the trunks of trees. In many places 
the herbs appear scattered as if to be dried in the sun. 
The heaps are formed of round or conoid ricks, and are of various 
sizes, according to the number of the society employed in forming 
them. They are sometimes of a man’s height, and many feet in 
diameter, but usually about three feet. Without this provision of 
winter’s stock they would perish during the storms of snow^ They 
