144 Lepoeid^. MAMMALIA. Leporid.®. 
THE COMMON HAEE {Lepus Plate 16, 
fig. 53 — is familiar to every one in these islands, and 
is to be met with throughout Europe, except in Norway 
and Sweden. The general colour of the fur is tawny- 
grey, inclining to brown on the back, and to a rusty tint 
lower down ; underneath the belly and throat it is white, 
as well as on the inferior surface of the tail, which, 
however, is usually directed uppermost. The ears are 
longer than the head, and more or less tipped with 
black in difierent individuals. Eespecting its habits, 
they are almost too well known to need any lengthened 
record. To the sportsman, hares afford the excitement 
of the hunt, the amusement of the course, and the 
pastime of the gun. Of all the various methods employed 
in destroying these comparatively defenceless animals, 
perhaps that of shooting them is the least cruel, and 
therefore the most perfectly legitimate. The barbarities 
of the slaughter-house, where cattle are daily sacrificed 
for civilized man’s consumption, are not one whit less 
cruel than the ordinary method employed for destroy- 
ing game by shooting ; and these animals, are “ nothing 
to be refused,” if received with thankfulness. While 
deprecating most sincerely any wanton cruelty in the 
use of these gifts, we hold the ordinary methods of 
destroying game to be quite consistent vdth mercy 
and humanity ; and of one thing we are tolerably cer- 
tain, that if man did not undertake to destroy these 
defenceless creatures in the usually summary manner 
that he does, their natural enemies would effect the 
same result, in ways far less considerate. For example, 
witness tlie case of the agonies of the poor hare (seen 
by the Eev. F. W. Hope, and recorded at page 91) 
with a weasel sticking to its throat! Witness again 
the instances where they fall into the merciless clutches 
of the fox, or even into the penetrating talons of the 
hawk tribe I Surely a charge of shot, or the sudden 
gripe of a greyhound, renders the agonies of death less 
prolonged and less painful than do the natural modes 
of death above cited. And, if so, why display a false 
and useless sentimentality in denouncing the conduct 
of those who, with the gun, cut short the existence of 
these creatures Avhich are designed to form part of his 
means of subsistence? Whilst writing these very 
words, an important batch of game, including “ puss,” 
arrives from a friend in the country ; and we respect- 
fully beg to inform our readers that we shall allow no 
qualms of conscience, on the score that these creatures 
have fallen under the torture of powder and shot, to 
destroy the satisfaction we hope to derive from their 
consumption. This, at all events, is a practical view 
of the question. The hare feeds exclusively on vege- 
table substances, and causes terrible injury to young 
plantations, fields of early wheat, and other cereal crops. 
The habits of the hare are for the most part nocturnal. 
During the day they rest in open fields and stubbles, 
and especially in grassy situations. For partial conceal- 
ment and comfort, they construct superficial hollows 
in the soil. These excavations are technically termed 
“ forms,” and they are more or less perfect, according 
to the character of the situation chosen. Here they rest 
in a cat-like crouching manner, with the chin and throat 
resting on the front paws. Hares are good swimmers, 
when occasion requires. Tims, in the fifth volume of I 
Loudon's Magazine, Mr. Yarrell has recorded the fol- 
lowing interesting circumstance : — “ A harbour of great 
extent on our southern coast has an island near the 
middle of considerable size, the nearest point of which 
is a mile distant from the mainland at high water, and 
with which point there is frequent communication by a 
ferry. Early one morning in spring, two hares w'ere 
observed to come down from the hills of the mainland 
towards the sea-side, one of which from time to time 
left its companion, and proceeding to the very edge of 
the water, stopped there a minute or two and then 
returned to its mate. The tide was rising, and, after 
waiting some time, one of them, exactly at high water, 
took to the sea, and swam rapidly over in a straight 
line to the opposite projecting point of land. The 
observer, on this occasion, who was near the spot, but 
remained miperceived by the hares, had no doubt they 
wei’e of different sexes, and that it was the male that 
swam across the water, as he had probably done many 
times before. It was remarkable that the hares remained 
on the shore near half an hour, one of them occasionally 
examining, as it would seem, the state of the current, 
and ultimatelj" taking to the sea at that precise period 
of the tide called slack-water, when the passage across 
coidd be effected without being carried by the force of 
the stream either above or below the desired point of 
landing. The other hare then cantered back to the 
liills.” The female generally produces two young at 
a litter, but frequently as many as three, four, and even 
five; the leverets having their sight at the time of birth, 
and being able to shift for themselves at the expiration 
of about a month. A full-grown hare weighs eight 
or nine pounds, but an instance has been given of one 
which weighed upwards of thirteen poimds. The flesh 
is usually considered good eating, but in some speci- 
mens we have found it decidedly coarse. In cold 
climates the fur becomes lighter during the winter 
months. Black varieties also occur in this country ; 
a fine specimen of this kind was shot a few years since 
on the grounds of Sir Edward Kerrison, of Broom Hall, 
in the coimty of Sufl'olk. 
THE ALPINE HARE {Lepus variahilis) is a native 
of the mountainous districts of Northern and Southern 
Europe. The Alpine hare is rather smaller than the 
common form, and has a light, fulvous-brown fur, 
which becomes white on the approach of winter. The 
ears, however, which are shorter than the head, remain 
black-coloured at the tips throughout the cold season. 
The head itself is small, as is also the tail, when com- 
pared with that of I^epus timidus ; the posterior pair 
of limbs being also shorter. 
THE IRISH HARE {Lepus Hihernicus). — From a 
careful examination of several specimens, Mr. Bell con- 
siders this hare as specifically distinct from the above. 
It differs from the common hare in the relative propor- 
tion of the ears and head, which are much smaller ; 
whilst it is distinguished from the Alpine species by the 
size and “form of the body, the tail, and the texture 
and colour of the fur,” the latter exhibiting a uniform 
rufous-bro\vn tint. 
THE AMERICAN HARE {Lepus Americanus) is 
tolerably abundant throughout the more wooded parts 
of the entire northern continent from which it derives 
