Page:Natural History (1848).djvu/235

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HARES.
225

The Hare is an animal of extreme vigilance; its senses are very acute, its fleetness, in proportion to its size, perhaps unrivalled. Were it otherwise it must be soon exterminated, for it has no power of defence, and no means of concealment,

THE HARE.
THE HARE.

THE HARE.

except that of lying close among the russet herbage; while it has many enemies. Birds of prey pounce upon it; dogs pursue it eagerly; foxes, stoats, polecats, and weasels, prey upon it; but its worst foe is man, who even from remote times has counted the chace of the Hare among the most exciting of rural amusements. "But, after all," observes Mr. Bell on this subject,

'Poor is the triumph o'er the timid Hare;'