[1] Julius Hare's co-worker in this book was his brother Augustus
William Hare (1792-1834), who, after a distinguished career at
Oxford, was appointed rector of Alton Barnes, Wiltshire. He died
prematurely at Rome in 1834. He was the author of _Sermons to a
Country Congregation_, published in 1837.
HARE, the name of the well-known English rodent now designated _Lepus
europaeus_ (although formerly termed, incorrectly, _L. timidus_). In a
wider sense the name includes all the numerous allied species which do
not come under the designation of rabbits (see RABBIT). Over the greater
part of Europe, where the ordinary species (fig. 1) does not occur, its
place is taken by the closely allied Alpine, or mountain hare (fig. 2),
the true _L. timidus_ of Linnaeus, and the type of the genus _Lepus_ and
the family _Leporidae_ (see RODENTIA). The second is a smaller animal
than the first, with a more rounded and relatively smaller head, and the
ears, hind-legs and tail shorter. In Ireland and the southern districts
of Sweden it is permanently of a light fulvous grey colour, with black
tips to the ears, but in more northerly districts the fur--except the
black ear-tips--changes to white in winter, and still farther north the
animal appears to be white at all seasons of the year. The range of the
common or brown hare, inclusive of its local races, extends from England
across southern and central Europe to the Caucasus; while that of the
blue or mountain species, likewise inclusive of local races, reaches
from Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia through northern Europe and Asia
to Japan and Kamchatka, and thence to Alaska.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--The Hare (_Lepus europaeus_).]
The brown hare is a night-feeding animal, remaining during the day on
its "form," as the slight depression is called which it makes in the
open field, usually among grass. This it leaves at nightfall to seek
fields of young wheat and other cereals whose tender herbage forms its
favourite food. It is also fond of gnawing the bark of young trees, and
thus often does great damage to plantations. In the morning it returns
to its form, where it finds protection in the close approach which the
colour of its fur makes to that of its surroundings; should it thus
fail, however, to elude observation it depends for safety on its
extraordinary fleetness. On the first alarm of danger it sits erect to
reconnoitre, when it either seeks concealment by clapping close to the
ground, or takes to flight. In the latter case its great speed, and the
cunning endeavours it makes to outwit its canine pursuers, form the
chief attractions of coursing. The hare takes readily to the water,
where it swims well; an instance having been recorded in which one was
observed crossing an arm of the sea about a mile in width. Hares are
remarkably prolific, pairing when scarcely a year old, and the female
bringing forth several broods in the year, each consisting of from two
to five leverets (from the Fr. _lievre_), as the young are called. These
are born covered with hair and with the eyes open, and after being
suckled for a month are able to look after themselves. In Europe this
species has seldom bred in confinement, although an instance has
recently been recorded. It will interbreed with the blue hare. Hares
(and rabbits) have a cosmopolitan distribution with the exception of
Madagascar and Australasia; and are now divided into numerous genera and
subgenera, mentioned in the article RODENTIA. Reference may here be made
to a few species. Asia is the home of numerous species, of which the
Common Indian _L. ruficaudatus_ and the black-necked hare _L.
nigricollis_, are inhabitants of the plains of India; the latter taking
its name from a black patch on the neck. In Assam there is a small spiny
hare (_Caprolagus hispidus_), with the habits of a rabbit; and an allied
species (_Nesolagus nitscheri_) inhabits Sumatra, and a third
(_Pentalagus furnessi_) the Liu-kiu Islands. The plateau of Tibet is
very rich in species, among which _L. hypsibius_ is very common.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--The Blue or Mountain Hare (_Lepus timidus_) in
winter dress.]
Of African species, the Egyptian Hare (_L. aegyptius_) is a small
animal, with long ears and pale fur; and in the south there are the Cape
hare (_L. capensis_), the long-eared rock-hare (_L. saxatilis_) and the
diminutive _Pronolagus crassicaudatus_, characterized by its thick red
tail.
North America is the home of numerous hares, some of which are locally
known as "cotton-tails" and others as "jack-rabbits." The most northern
are the Polar hare (_L. arcticus_), the Greenland hare (_L.
groenlandicus_) and the Alaska hare (_L. timidus tschuktschorum_), all
allied to the blue hare. Of the others, two, namely the large
prairie-hare (_L. campestris_) and the smaller varying hare (_L.
[Poecilolagus] americanus_), turn white in winter; the former having
long ears and the whole tail white, whereas in the latter the ears are
shorter and the upper surface of the tail is dark. Of those which do not
change colour, the wood-hare, grey-rabbit or cotton-tail, _Sylvilagus
floridanus_, is a southern form, with numerous allied kinds. Distantly
allied to the prairie-hare or white-tailed jack-rabbit, are several
forms distinguished by having a more or less distinct black stripe on
the upper surface of the tail. These include a buff-bellied species
found in California, N. Mexico and S.W. Oregon (_L. [Macrotolagus]
californicus_), a large, long-legged form from S. Arizona and Sonora
(_L. M alleni_), the Texan jack-rabbit (_L. M texanus_) and the
black-eared hare (_L. M melanotis_) of the Great Plains, which differs
from the third only by its shorter ears and richer coloration. In S.
America, the small tapiti or Brazilian hare (_Sylvilagus brasiliensis_)
is nearly allied to the wood-hare, but has a yellowish brown under
surface to the tail.