Page:The Hare.djvu/60

38 or below the desired point of landing. The other hare then cantered back to the hills.'

Mr. G. H. Kinahan mentions an instance, which came under his own personal knowledge, of an Irish hare voluntarily choosing to rear her three leverets upon an island in a lake in Galway. The islet was only thirty yards in diameter, and distant about 100 yards from the shore. The hare apparently passed the day on the hill and swam the ford at night to revisit her progeny. 'E. H.,' a correspondent of Nature, furnishes a brief note showing how much at home in the water a hare may be:—'I was by the little river Arun below the old mill at Pulborough one day, when I saw a hare quietly cantering down the opposite field towards the river. A bank hid the actual crossing from me; but when the hare emerged from the water into the field in which I was standing, I was amused to see the dog-like fashion in which it stood and shook off the moisture, scattering the spray far and wide before resuming its leisurely canter. The act had the air of being habitual.' Mr. G. Plarr reported to the same periodical how he saw a hare take to the water to elude its pursuers, which it did with perfect success, continuing its hurried flight as soon as it gained the