Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/271

Rh {| style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"


 * Dates ||1452 1b.|||Marrows ||45½ doz.
 * Carrots ||87½ cwt. |||Melons ||26
 * Oranges ||204 hundreds |||Bananas ||1273 doz.
 * Potatoes ||71 cwt. |||Turnips ||3½ cwt.
 * Cherries ||19 baskets
 * }
 * Potatoes ||71 cwt. |||Turnips ||3½ cwt.
 * Cherries ||19 baskets
 * }
 * }

" on the Introduction of the Brown Hare into Ireland" is the title of a paper contributed by Mr. G.E.H. Barrett-Hamilton to the 'Irish Naturalist' for last March. It has been prompted by the publication of Dr. Scharff's paper "On the Origin of the European Fauna" (Proc. R.I. Acad. ser. hi. vol. iv. July, 1897). To summarize in the words of the author:—"In the memoir alluded to above, Dr. Scharff remarks that 'the difficulty of establishing the English Hare permanently' in Ireland 'is altogether unconnected with climate or food,' and that he believes that the distribution of the two species in Europe generally seems to indicate that they will not live together (op. cit. i. pp. 435 and 471). If this be so, and if, as Dr. Scharff believes, the English Hare is probably the stronger of the two species, then, all other things being equal, we should expect introductions of the English Hare into Ireland to be extremely successful, since in that country not only is the native Hare a presumably weaker species, but whole tracts of country are quite without Hares at all. On analysis of the twelve instances of the introduction of Brown Hares into Ireland, of which I have been able to give some particulars, this is found to be the case. Of these introductions ten may, I think, be regarded as authenticated — viz. those which took place at Copeland Island, Trabulgan, Powerscourt, Cleenish Island, Strabane, Castle Hyde, Fermanagh, Baronscourt, Castlemartyr, and Lurgan. On further examination, however, it is at once evident that in several instances the imported animals were never really given a fair chance of establishing themselves in their new homes, and particularly in the case of Copeland and Cleenish Islands, where the Hares were confined to a narrow space, and probably also artificially fed. At Trabulgan the Hares were imported expressly to be killed by coursing; at Powerscourt they were either injured in the transit to Ireland, or were killed as soon as they left the protection of the demesne, and similarly in most of the remaining instances their extermination was only brought about by man himself. Yet, in spite of the efforts of their enemies, whether legal or illegal, to destroy them, we have evidence—in many of the cases which I have cited—of their power to become permanently established when given a fair chance, and the success of the Strabane introduction is alone a sufficient proof of this."

"The refusal of the English Hares to associate with the Irish species, as reported in more than one instance, is of interest, and tends to support Dr. Scharff's views that the two species are antagonistic, and that the Brown