Pikas, Hares, and Rabbits.
The last two families of the Rodents have a small pair of rudimentary incisor teeth behind the large ones in the upper jaw. The Pikas, or Calling-hares, resemble the marmot tribe in general appearance. Their heads are short, their ears rounded, and, being tailless, they still less resemble the common hare; but their dentition marks them as allied. One species, about 9 inches long, is found in Siberia; and another, only 7 inches long, in the Rocky Mountains. The former has a habit of cutting grass and storing it in small stacks outside its hole for winter use; the Rocky Mountain species carries its hay into its burrows.
The Hares are a widely distributed group. They are found from the north of Scotland (where the grey mountain species turns white in winter) to the south of India, in South Africa, and across the continent of Asia to Japan. The Mountain-hare takes the place of the brown species in Scandinavia, Northern Russia, and Ireland; it is rather smaller, and has shorter ears and hind legs.
By permission of Professor Bumpus] [New York.
WOOD-HARE.
This is one of the forms intermediate between the hares and rabbits.
As early as 54 B.C., Cæsar, in his account of Britain, writes that the Common Hare was kept by the ancient Britons as a pet, but not eaten by them. It was protected by the Normans in the second list, or schedule, of animals reserved for sport. The first list included the Beasts of the Forest, the second the Beasts of the Chase, of which the hare was one of the first. The word "chase" has here a technical meaning, by which was understood an open park, or preserved area, midway in dignity between a forest and an enclosed park. "Hare parks" were also made, perhaps the most recent being that made at Bushey for the amusement of the sovereign when at Hampton Court Palace. The name is often found surviving elsewhere. At Hokham, the Earl of Leicester's seat in Norfolk, a walled park of 1,500 acres holds almost all the hares on the estate. If these parks and forest laws had not existed at an early date, it is probable that the hare would have become very scarce in this country.
Hares produce their leverets about the middle of April, though in mild seasons they are born much earlier. The number of the litter is from two to five. They are placed in a small hollow scraped out by the doe hare, but not in a burrow of any kind.
The instinct of concealment by remaining still is very highly developed in the hares and rabbits. They will often "squat" on the ground until picked up rather than take to flight. This seems almost a perverted instinct; yet hares often exhibit considerable courage and resource when escaping from their enemies. The following is an instance:—A hare was coursed by two young greyhounds on some marshes intersected by wide ditches of water. It first ran to the side of one of these ditches, and doubled at right angles on the brink. This caused the outer dog to lose its balance and to fall heavily into the deep and cold water. The hare then made straight for the line of walkers, and passed through them, with the other greyhound close behind it. The dog reached out and seized the hare by the fur of the back, throwing it down. The hare escaped, leaving a large patch of fur in the dog's jaws, doubled twice, and was again seized by the second dog, which had come up. It escaped from the jaws of the second pursuer, leapt two ditches 12 feet wide, and then sat for a moment behind a gate on a small bridge. This use of the only cover near caused the dogs to lose sight of it; they refused to jump the second drain, and the hare escaped.