Chapter V: Part 5

In those districts where the over-zealous efforts of the gamekeeper have resulted in the partial extermination of the Weasel and the Owls, the increase of the Field Vole is so enormous and so rapid that they have at times become a plague. Crops are cleared from the fields, young trees in plantations destroyed by thousands, and even newly sown cornfields rendered unproductive by every seed being eaten. In the New Forest and the Forest of Dean great loss has been sustained at various times by their severing the roots of young trees that crossed their runs, and by their gnawing the bark of the young trunks. The most effective of the plans adopted for lessening their numbers was by sinking pits a foot and a half deep, wider at the bottom than at the mouth, into which vast numbers fell and from which they could not escape. More recently the South of Scotland suffered from a plague of "mice" that ate up everything in the fields, inflicting such serious loss to agriculture that a Government Committee was appointed to inquire into it, and it was found that the chief culprit was the Field Vole. Fortunately, when things were at their worst, a vast number of Short-eared Owls appeared upon the scene and feasted royally until there was scarcely a Vole to be found. It was found that the enormous increase in the numbers of the Voles was directly due to the warfare waged by keepers on Weasels and Owls. Matters are better, perhaps, to-day; but there are still too many keepers who destroy as vermin the very agents that keep down the real vermin. We still need a few landowners of the temper of Charles Waterton, who threatened to strangle his keeper if the latter molested a certain pair of Owls.

It was also shown at the Vole Committee of 1893, referred to above, that the Rook destroys great numbers of Field Voles--not only adults that chance to cross the fields where the Rooks are digging cockchafer grubs, but that they systematically search for the nests and eat the young.

As in the case of the Wood Mouse, there are several local races of the Field Vole that have arisen in the islands of the Orkneys and Hebrides, which have been elevated into distinct species by some recent authors. Thus, there are recognised the Hebridean Vole, the Orkney Vole, the Sanday Vole, and the Westray Vole. Mr. Barrett-Hamilton regards the true _agrestis_ of Linnæus as not occurring in this country, where it is represented by several sub-species. The Common Field Vole described above, he says, is a distinct species, the _M. hirtus_ of Bellamy. This, which he describes as "a newer, smaller form," he says "has replaced an older, larger _M. agrestis_, the latter now confined chiefly to northern regions, and with isolated southern colonies on the mountains." Seeing, however, that most modern authorities agree in retaining the Linnean name, we have considered it advisable to do so also.

The form that Barrett-Hamilton recognises as _M. agrestis_ and calls the Northern Grass Mouse, is, so far as Britain is concerned, represented only in Scotland and its western islands by five sub-species which he names as under:--

Macgillivray's Grass Mouse (_M. agrestis macgillivraii_), a rich buff coloured form with thin fur, restricted to Islay, where it is rare.

Hebridean Grass Mouse (_M. agrestis exsul_), common on several islands of the Hebrides. Distinguished from the Field Vole by its much larger size and duller brown colour.

Eigg Grass Mouse (_M. agrestis mial_) restricted to the island of Eigg. Differs from _M. a. exsul_ in its shaggy coat of abundant long hairs.

Highland Grass Mouse (_M. agrestis neglectus_) found on the summits of the highest Scottish mountains. It is larger than the Field Vole, with thicker fur and darker, browner upper side. It differs from _M. a. exsul_ in the simpler character of the first molar tooth.

Muck Grass Mouse (_M. agrestis luch_), of which only three specimens have been taken, all on the island of Muck. About the same size as the Field Vole, it has a buff underside.

*Orkney Vole* (_Microtus orcadensis_, Millais).

So far back as 1805 the Rev. George Barry, in his "History of the Orkney Islands," mentions a rodent that was known locally as the Vole Mouse, which he believed to be the same as the _agrestis_ of Linnæus. He says it "is very often found in marshy grounds that are covered with moss and short heath, in which it makes roads or tracks of about three inches in breadth, and sometimes miles in length, much worn by continual treading, and warped into a thousand different directions."

Towards the end of last century Mr. J. G. Millais obtained specimens, and on a critical examination found that they differed from the known forms in several details of skull structure and in the folds and angles of the teeth, sufficient in his opinion to constitute a new species, which he called _Microtus orcadensis_. It is larger than the Field Vole, with a longer and slightly broader head.

It was found subsequently that specimens from different islands in the Orkney group showed differences due to their segregation over a long period, and they have consequently been distinguished as five sub-species. These differences are minute, and it would be wearisome and out of place in a popular work such as the present to detail them. Generally speaking, they are much alike, and their habits are practically identical, so far as at present known.

The runs are a conspicuous feature of the islands, among the heather and the rough vegetation of the fields and hillsides, running along the surface and at intervals entering tunnels about two and a quarter inches in diameter--just sufficient to clear the spread of the Vole's whiskers. Their nesting places, like those of the Mole, are under small mounds connected with a network of runs. The nest itself is made of grass and roots in a rounded chamber, where at intervals during the spring and summer several litters, varying from three to six, are produced. Before they are three weeks old they are capable of independent existence, but for a time are still guarded by the mother.

The Orkney Vole appears to be specially fond of the roots of Heath Rush (_Juncus squarrosus_), but also feeds on grass and the crops in cultivated fields to which they can gain access. Mr. Millais found that in cold weather his captive Voles became inactive. It has many enemies to hold its increase in check, for every bird and beast large enough to capture it will eat it readily.

*Bank Vole* (_Evotomys glareolus_, Schreber).

There can be little doubt that in many places the Bank Vole has been mistaken for a bright variation of the Field Vole. Its habits are much the same, except that it haunts the hedgerow and wooded country rather than the open fields. As to the differences between the two species, the Bank Vole's head and body measurement is only three and three-quarter inches against four inches in the Field Vole, but its tail is actually (not merely proportionately) longer, being nearly half the length of head and body, and ends in a pencil of hairs. The ears and feet are proportionately larger, the former also being more oval than round. It further differs from the other Voles in the fact that the molar teeth become rooted in the jaws of the adults. The fur of the upper parts is a bright chestnut-red or Vandyke brown, excepting the hairy tail, which is black above. The under parts, including the lower side of the tail, are whitish varying to yellowish or even buff. The redder tint causes this species frequently to be styled the Red Vole. It has pink lips, and grey feet. Whiskers about an inch long. Black and albino varieties have been recorded.

It was considered formerly to be a rare British species, but more discriminating attention to the smaller mammals in recent years, and the wider adoption of trapping by naturalists, have tended to modify that view. It is probably more local, but it appears to be widely distributed, and to occur as far north certainly as Moray and Elgin; but it is not recorded from Ireland, Man, Hebrides, or Shetland. A local race is found in Skomer Island, and has been named _E. skomerensis_. When Yarrell detected the Bank Vole as a distinct species in 1832, it was considered to be of very restricted range in this country. The discovery was made in Essex, but it was soon reported from Herefordshire, Middlesex, Berks, and Cambridge, and more recently from Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, the Lake District, Northumberland, Inverness, etc. It is restricted to Europe in its wider range. In this country it does not appear to occur at elevations of more than about 700 feet.

The Bank Vole is much more agile than the Field Vole, and not so much given to burrowing. It may be seen abroad in sunny situations at any time of the day, preferring warm, dry places, yet frequently to be found in wet places. It is a good swimmer and diver. It constructs shallow runs in the earth of a roadside bank or hedgebank. These have many entrances and exits above and below, as shown in our photograph; some of the passages connecting with the top of the bank, others enlarging into blind chambers. Its food includes herbage, roots, bulbs, fruits, and seeds; it appears to be particularly fond of turnips. In spring it has been observed climbing rose and hawthorn bushes in order to nibble the new leaves, and in autumn to obtain the hips and haws. It also seeks nuts, berries, the grain of wheat and barley, and the seeds of smaller grasses. Insects, snails, and even small birds are eaten by it, and the entrance to its burrows frequently gives evidence of the variety of its food. It has been known to eat the unpalatable Shrew that it has killed, and even to given way to cannibalism. In Scotland it is accused of eating the shoot-buds of young conifers, especially of larch, and gnawing the bark from branches.

In this country it is occasionally captured in the act of robbing household stores, but in more northern regions, as in Norway and the Yukon, it is a constant inhabitant of houses. It is not one of the hibernating species, therefore as a rule it does not lay up stores; but Mr. Douglas English records the digging up of five Bank Voles with a store of ninety-three sound cob-nuts.

There are several litters of three to six naked and blind young during the year, produced in nests of grass, moss and wool, or feathers, usually placed above ground, sometimes in a bird's nest at some height above it. The males are very quarrelsome, and when fighting or pairing are very vocal, indulging in grunting squeaks.

* * * * *

Three geographical races or sub-species have been recognised by Barrett-Hamilton as distinct species under distinct names. These are Skomer Bank Vole (_Evotomys skomerensis_) from Skomer Island, off Pembroke; Alston's Bank Vole (_E. alstoni_) from the Isle of Mull; and the Raasay Bank Vole (_E. erica_) from Raasay Island, Skye. Barrett-Hamilton regards these as descendants of a former "Boreal" group of Voles, which have been supplanted on the British mainland by the competition of the Bank Vole.

*Rabbit* (_Oryctolagus cuniculus_, Linn.).

The Rabbits and the Hares being comparatively large and familiar members of our native fauna do not appear to stand in need of much space being devoted to them. Familiar as the two common species may be they require to be distinguished not only one from the other, but also from the two other and less familiar species, and in addition there may be a few facts of organisation and habit that are not well-known to all our readers. All members of the family Leporidæ, there are certain structural features in which they all agree in a general way. They belong to the section of Rodents known as Duplicidentata, because in the upper jaw there are always two pairs of incisors. All the other Rodents have only one pair, and they form the division Simplicidentata. The dentition of the Rabbits and Hares is therefore as follows: _i 2/1, c 0/0, p 3/2, m 3/3 = 28_.

The ears are remarkably long and out of all proportion to the size of the body when compared with other Mammals. If laid forward over the face they reach nearly to the tip of the nose. The eyes are large and prominent and placed well to the sides of the head. The hinder legs are longer than the forelegs, and so greatly developed as to be the main propelling power. Instead of pads on the soles to protect the foot and legs from the jars incidental to hard running, the Leporidæ have all the feet covered beneath with a thick coating of hair which gives a firm grip either on hard rock or slippery snow. The tail is very short and turned up. The fur is of triple formation: there is a dense, soft, woolly under-fur, through which push longer and stronger hairs and give the coat its colour, and a still longer but much less numerous set, scattered among the others. The two longer sorts of hair are more or less ringed. The coat becomes thicker in winter.

They are sexually mature at a very early age, and often begin to breed before they have attained to full size. The females are distinguished by the form of the head, which is longer and more delicately modelled than that of the male. The males (bucks), too, are restless and quarrelsome. They are promiscuous breeders, and the entire care of the family falls upon the mother (doe).

Litters of Rabbits succeed one another rapidly between February and September; less frequently in the autumn and winter months. The litters vary from two or three to eight, the higher numbers being those of the warmer months. Young Rabbits are but sparsely clothed and are blind and deaf, the ears being closed and having no power of movement until about the tenth day. The eyes open a day later. In a few days more they can run, and make short excursions from the underground nest. Before they are a month old they are capable of independent existence. Until then the mother will defend them against all-comers, including the Weasel and Stoat, using her powerful hind feet against her adversary, and to good purpose.

The Rabbit is a much smaller animal than the Hare, greyer in colour, with smaller ears and feet, and the black tips of the ears so noticeable in the Hare, are in the Rabbit much reduced or altogether wanting. Its average weight and measurements are: weight, 2-1/2 to 3 lbs.; length of head and body, 16-1/2 ins., tail, 3-3/4 ins., ear, 3 ins., hind foot with claws, 3-3/4 ins. It also differs from the Hare in the structure of its heavier skull, its smaller eyes, shorter ears, and lesser specialisation of the limbs for speed in running.

It is believed that originally the Rabbit was a native only of the western parts of the Mediterranean region--where it still teems--and to have spread northwards largely by human aid. It is known to have been introduced to Italy from Spain by the Romans, who are usually credited with having brought it to Britain. It is now thought, however, that we are indebted to the Normans for its presence. It was certainly here in the twelfth century. The name Rabbit is from the French, and originally indicated the suckling young; the adults being known as Conies.

Although so famous as a digger of extensive underground dwellings, Nature does not appear to have specially built the Rabbit for this purpose; but where the soil is light the efforts of many generations of associated workers have resulted in a system of burrows both extensive and complicated, with bolt-runs as emergency exits and stop-runs for nursery use. Although it prefers the light sand of the dunes covered with Marram-grass, or a sandy heath overgrown with furze and heather, it will on occasion drive its tunnels into firm loam or dry clay; it has been known even to burrow deeply into a surface seam of coal. The forepaws are the principal burrowing tools, the loosened earth being thrown far back by the kicking of the hinder feet. Where stones come in the way that cannot be loosened by the paws, they have been known to be removed by the teeth. These tunnels are about six inches in diameter, increased locally to a foot to provide passing places. The residental quarters are always blind chambers leading from the main passages. The adult Rabbits do not indulge in bedding materials but rest on the bare soil. The does, however, make beds for their young by denuding their own under parts of fur. These tunnels are frequently made use of by other animals, if necessary, by enlarging the passage to admit their larger bodies. When Rabbit-earths are ferreted they sometimes yield more than Rabbits: a Fox, a Cat, a Stoat, with several Rabbits and Rats, have been driven out of the same earth.

Where the Rabbit finds the ground too hard or too wet, it contrives to do without tunnelling underground, making runs under the heather, furze, or matted herbage. Such exceptions are known to sportsmen as Stub-Rabbits or Bush-Rabbits, in the belief that they are a separate species. Occasionally, too, the doe will follow the example of the Hare, and make a nursery "form" in fallow land or among the growing turnips.

The Rabbit is almost exclusively a vegetarian, its chief food being grass and the tender shoots of furze; but in the vicinity of cultivated land they devastate the crops and inflict serious loss upon the farmer. The exception to a vegetable diet is found in its occasional indulgence in snails. Wherever there is sufficient food and his enemies are not too oppressive the Rabbit has extended his range to the most out-of-the-way corners of these islands. A century ago it was a scarce beast in Scotland, but it is now to be found in abundance up to the extreme north. It is found also all over Ireland. Its chief enemies, in addition to man, are all the members of the Weasel family, the Owls, and the Hawks.

Every one who has come across a party of Rabbits feeding must have noticed how conspicuous the white underside of the upturned tail makes them in flight. Wallace suggested that like the white patch on the hind parts of deer and antelope it served as "a signal flag of danger," a guide to the young and feeble to escape from danger by following the most vigorous seniors. This view has been strongly criticised, even ridiculed; but the critics have not offered a better explanation of the upturned Rabbit's "scut." It must, however, be admitted that any explanation ought to fit the case of the Hare which often carries its tail with the white underside exposed, but is a solitary animal with no companions to follow it. On the sand dunes the Rabbit's coat renders it invisible through harmony with the sand.

In the ordinary way of life the Rabbit is a silent animal, except that he gives vent to low growls and grunts to express anger or pleasure; but when terrorised by the imminence of attack by a Stoat the Rabbit finds its voice and gives utterance to a loud scream of agony. This has been referred to in the account of the Stoat (_ante_, p. 68).

*Brown Hare* (_Lepus europæus_, Pallas).

Although in general form and structure the Hare is similar to the closely related Rabbit, there are differences so great as to have induced recent systematists to put them into different genera; and, even superficially, they are sufficiently unlike to enable country folk to keep them distinct under different names. These differences are evident in the longer body, the great length of the hind limbs, the longer ears with their invariable black tips, and the tawny colour of the fur of the upper parts. To these distinctions they can add the patent facts that whilst the Rabbit is a sociable beast, associating in large communities, the Hare is as solitary and retired as a hermit.

There has never been any suggestion that the Hare's title to rank as a real native of Britain is open to doubt, for its name is Anglo-Saxon, and identical with that in use in Denmark and Sweden. It is widely distributed in England, Wales and Scotland up to about 2000 feet elevation; but in Ireland (which has a separate species of its own) the Brown Hare is not a native. It has been a favourite animal of the chase from the earliest times of which we have records; and our ancient sportsmen had age-names for it as for Deer. Thus, in its first year it was a Leveret, in the second year a Hare, and in the third a Great Hare. The male is distinguished as Jack-Hare, and the female as Doe.

The total length of the Hare is about twenty-four inches, to which the tail contributes three inches and two-thirds, and the head nearly four inches. The ears fall short of five inches. The weight averages about eight pounds. The tawny fur of the upper side is harsher than that of the Rabbit, which is due to a predominance of the strong hairs of medium length described under Rabbit. The shoulders, neck, and flanks are of a ruddier hue than the back, and a ruddy band crosses the loins. The sides of the face, and the outer surfaces of the limbs, incline to a yellow tint. The underside is pure white except at the breast and loins where the ruddy tint is continued from above. There is a profusion of black and white whiskers, of which the white are the longer and as much as three and a half inches in length. The tail, which is carried curved up over the back or straight behind, is black above and white on the sides and below. The large, prominent eyes have a horizontal pupil. As it is almost impossible to come upon a Hare asleep, it was formerly believed that they have no eyelids and are compelled, therefore, to sleep with their eyes open. This, of course, was an "inexactitude" comparable to the belief in the Mole's lack of eyes and ears. The prominence of the dark eyes of the Hare, and their situation well to the sides of the head give him a wide field of vision. As regards sexual distinctions, the Jack-Hare has a smaller body, shorter head and redder shoulders than the Doe.

The Hare is not a burrowing animal, and does not seek refuge underground from his enemies, unless hard pressed, when he may enter a Rabbit-burrow temporarily. He relies upon his russet coat harmonising generally with his surroundings; and content with a slight depression among the grass known as a "form," he sits all day and surveys the landscape, ever ready to use his powerful limbs when his keen senses tell him there is danger near. At dusk he goes abroad to feed, and returns to the form at dawn. To break the continuity of scent, when he is leaving his form, and again when returning to it, he will suddenly turn at right angles to his former course and make a prodigious leap--fifteen feet or more--to the top of a bank, then take another long bound, perhaps into marshy ground where the scent will not lie, and repairing to the feeding-ground feel safe from being tracked by Fox or Polecat. He always adopts this leaping trick, also the plan of doubling on his track, which has been the admiration and vexation of the hunter from old times. Shakespeare has told at some length

"How he outruns the winds, and with what care
He cranks and crosses with a thousand doubles:
The many musets through the which he goes
Are like a labyrinth to amaze his foes."

As he courses across the fields you get the impression that he is longer than the measurement given above; the impression is due to the length of the hind legs extended in running, and from which he especially gets the advantage over pursuers when the course lies uphill. He is a good swimmer, and often crosses rivers in order to reach a better feeding-ground, to avoid pursuit, or to seek a mate. Hares have been known to cross the Trent in numbers, where it was two hundred yards wide, in order to reach a field of carrots on the further side; and Yarrel saw one cross an arm of the sea a mile broad.

The "form" is made in rank grass among thickets of gorse and briar, or in the open field where the ground is dry beneath it. It takes and retains the shape of the animal's body, and may be used for a long period. Here the doe brings forth her litter of two, three, or four young--occasionally more. There is much variation in this respect. These are born with their eyes open, and a short furry coat, which however lacks the ruddiness of the adult. They are capable of using their limbs, and are so well advanced in development before birth, that soon each makes its own little form beside the mother's, and when a month old they are quite independent. When left alone on the form, whilst the mother goes off to feed, and anything alarms them, they cry "leek, leek." The adults pair promiscuously; and there appear to be three or four litters a year.

The Hare appears to moult twice a year--in early autumn and early spring; the former being the principal. Like the Rabbit, it is exclusively vegetarian in its feeding, including bark, grain, and roots as well as herbaceous plants in its bill of fare. It is very destructive to young trees in plantations, and the farmer and market-gardener suffer severely from its depredations among the crops of carrot, lettuce, turnip, etc. In the open country it prefers grasses of the genera _Poa_, _Festuca_, and _Molinia_, clover, sow-thistle, and chicory. When it gets into gardens it shows distinct preference for dahlias, carnations, pinks, nasturtiums, parsley, and thyme. In shrubberies it is very destructive to bark and boughs, especially of coniferous trees.

The proverbial expression, "Mad as a March Hare," has reference to the insane antics of the Jack-Hare during the rutting season. He grunts and kicks, bucks like a broncho, and has stand-up boxing-matches with his rivals. In bucking he leaps over his opponent and kicks him vigorously with the hind feet. Though usually harmless, these encounters have been known to have fatal terminations. Though regarded generally as a mute animal, this is not the fact. The Hare has a low but clear cry, which has been described as "don't," "[=o]nt" or "aunt," with varying inflections denoting different moods. When wounded or badly frightened it utters a scream like that of a child in pain, and sportsmen have declared that the pitifulness of it caused them to give up shooting Hares. They have also a warning sound made by grinding the teeth, and it is passed on from Hare to Hare, having the same result as the stamping of feet by the Rabbit. The amorous notes of buck and doe are different, and their imitation by poachers and gamekeepers is known as Hare-sucking.

The doe is a model mother for a time, and will fight desperately in defence of her young; but as soon as they are capable of looking after themselves she casts them off or deserts them.

*Alpine Hare* (_Lepus timidus_, Linn.).

Alternatively known as the Scottish or Variable Hare, the present species is intermediate in size between the Brown Hare and the Rabbit. The first name has reference to the fact that it is indigenous only in Scotland and the neighbouring isles. It has been introduced into England and Wales, but except in the northern counties and some of the Welsh mountains has not established itself. The name Variable Hare denotes its change of hue at the beginning of winter after the manner of the Stoat. In Cheshire it is known as White Hare. Respecting this winter whitening of the fur, fierce controversies raged for many years; one school contending that it was due to a complete moulting of the summer fur, as a new growth without colour was produced. The opposition claimed that there was only one moult--in spring--to get rid of the too conspicuous white coat as the snow with which it harmonised melted away. They contended that the old hairs became altered individually by the abstraction of pigment, or by the development of air-bubbles. Evidence which was considered conclusive was brought forward by both sides, and opponents remained unconvinced. In the early days of the twentieth century, however, Metchnikoff showed that the senile whitening of human hair was due to the activity of certain motile cells, which he termed chromophages or colour-eaters, which remove the pigment granules and consume them. At a later date he showed that the same process caused the whitening of the hairs in the Scottish Hare, and of the feathers of the Ptarmigan--which undergoes a similar change of colour. It is noteworthy that the black tips of the ears, like the black tip of the tail in the Stoat, never change colour.

As already stated, the Alpine Hare is smaller than the Brown Hare, the combined length of head and body being about twenty inches, but the head is proportionately larger, the ears and tail shorter, and the legs longer. The fur is more woolly and of a duskier tint in summer, the whiskers shorter and finer, the eyes rounder, and the hair on the underside of the foot softer. Behind the breast the under parts are white, and the tail wholly so. Another name--Blue Hare--is suggested by its appearance in autumn and spring, when the summer and winter tints are mingled in its fur. The coat becomes closer and longer in winter than it is in summer. Sometimes the winter coat is retained longer than usual, through some unexplained retarding of the spring moult. Black and buff variations have been recorded. The average weight is between five and six pounds.

The habits of the Alpine Hare are very similar to those of the Brown Hare; but it is less timid, and when alarmed clears off in a more leisurely and less excited manner. As contrasted with the nervous terror of the Brown Hare and Rabbit, the Alpine Hare may be said to be comparatively tame. Instead of making a form it hides in rock crevices and among stones where it may be sheltered from the sight of birds of prey overhead. Occasionally, and especially where there are no rocks, they excavate burrows a few feet in length in the hillside or into the peat-bank. In general its food is similar to that of the Brown Hare; but it is said to add lichens to its bill of fare in winter, and to grind up fir-cones in order to obtain the seeds.

Precise observation is still needed respecting the breeding habits of the Alpine Hare, but they do not appear to differ greatly from those of the Brown Hare, two or three litters being produced in the year, and the leverets varying in number up to eight.

*Irish Hare* (_Lepus hibernicus_, Bell).

The abundance of Hares in Ireland has been noticed in literature for more than a thousand years, but it was not until 1833 that it was suggested that the Irish Hare was anything more than a variation of the Brown Hare. Even so, until quite recently it has been accepted by most of the high authorities as, at best, a variety or sub-species of the Alpine Hare. It occurs naturally all over Ireland, and is not found elsewhere except where distinct attempts have been made to introduce it. Even in places where this introduction has succeeded in establishing colonies--as in the Island of Mull, where it runs with the Alpine Hare--it refuses to breed with other kinds. Barrett-Hamilton is satisfied that it is distinct, and probably a direct descendant of the extinct _Lepus anglicus_ whose remains are found in late Pleistocene rocks.

It is a larger beast than the Alpine Hare. The head and body average about twenty-three inches in length, and the tail about three inches. The ears slightly exceed the tail. The average weight is about seven pounds; but exceptionally exceeds nine, and in one case ten pounds has been recorded. It has russet fur, not smoky brown or "blue" as in the Alpine Hare; its winter whitening is not regular as in that species, and is frequently patchy, russet "islands" being left surrounded by white.

As compared with the Brown Hare, the Irish Hare is smaller and of more graceful build, but the head is relatively longer and broader, the eyes rounder, the ears shorter and the limbs longer.

Though it does not dig burrows of its own, it has been known frequently when coursed to take refuge in a Rabbit-burrow. Though, like the other Hares, solitary, the Irish Hare shows a tendency to gregariousness at times. They have been seen in the North of Ireland moving in droves of two or three hundred, like Deer.

It has several litters during the year, averaging three leverets a litter. They seldom remain long together, either moving apart of their own accord or being separated by the old doe. They are able to run when only an hour or two old.

HOOFED ANIMALS: RED DEER, FALLOW DEER, AND ROE DEER

*Red Deer* (_Cervus elaphus_, Linn.).

The largest and noblest surviving member of the ancient British fauna, the Red Deer to-day has a very limited range--the mountain glens of Scotland and Westmorland, in the north, and the wide Devon and Somerset moors and the New Forest in Hampshire. Even in the New Forest, where only a few score remain, it is extinct officially, for an Act of Parliament passed in the year 1851 decreed the extermination of the Deer, the reason being that they destroyed a vast quantity of what was then become of far greater national value than venison--the growing timber--and demoralised the inhabitants by creating a race of deer-stealers.

A full-grown Stag, as the male Red Deer is called, stands about four feet in height at the shoulders; the Hind, or female, somewhat less. The summer coat is reddish-brown, sometimes golden-red, which changes to a brownish-grey in winter by the new growth of grey hairs. On the under parts the colour is white, and a patch of white around the short tail furnishes a "recognition mark," common to most of the Deer family, which serves to guide the herd when they are in flight before an enemy. A hind bears her first calf when she is about three years old.

All the species of Deer belong to what naturalists know as the even-toed ungulates (animals with divided hoofs). As distinguished from the Horse, for example, which walks on a single hoof in the middle line of the foot, the Deer are supported on two smaller symmetrical hoofs and the axis of the foot passes between them. If you come across the footprints of the Red Deer--"slot" the hunter calls them--in soft ground you will find that fact well-marked. Let me say parenthetically that when observing wild animals, footprints or "spoor" should be eagerly watched for. In the deeper slot of the Deer there may also be slight impressions of two other toes, one on each side behind and above the hoofs.

If you should come across a no longer needed skull of the Deer, take the opportunity for examining its dental arrangements. You are, of course, more likely to meet with it in a museum than in your rambles. You will find the teeth and their disposition do not differ materially from what are found in the jaws of the ox and the sheep; for like those the Deer is a ruminant, living on vegetable food and having a four-chambered stomach. There are no teeth in the forepart of the upper jaw, the three premolars and three molars of each side being placed well back in the cheek. On each side of the lower jaw we find right in front three incisors or cutting teeth, which bite against hardened gum in the upper jaw. The Stag alone has a single canine tooth a little behind these, but the Hind is denied this possession. Three premolars and three molars correspond with, and bite against, those of the upper jaw. Dental formula: _i 0/3, c 0/1, p 3/3, m 3/3 = 32_.

The food of the Deer is herbage and the young shoots of trees and shrubs. It is this fact that led to their nominal extermination in the New Forest and other places. By nature they are woodland animals--although their greater prevalence to-day in the Highlands might give us a different impression--and in the winter especially do great damage to the plantations of young trees. Agricultural lands in their vicinity also suffer greatly, a whole field of turnips being ruined in a night by a visit from a herd of Deer. They also destroy wheat, potatoes, and cabbages; and in the woods consume many toadstools, acorns, and chestnuts.

In spring and summer whilst his horns are growing the Stag lives apart from his kind, but in the early autumn when these are well-developed and hard, we may in suitable localities hear his "belling" call to the Hinds, or in defiance to some rival.

"The wild buck bells from ferny brake,"

as Sir Walter Scott puts it. There is a good deal of furious fighting when two jealous Stags of similar age and strength meet in the vicinity of the hinds. He is then in the prime of condition, his neck and shoulders clad in a thick mantle of long brown hair, and his head adorned with the noble pair of antlers that reveals his age. Those that decorated and armed him last autumn and winter were shed bodily about March, and a new growth started soon after from the burred frontal knobs that were left. It is important to notice the difference between these solid though temporary growths and the mere shells that permanently decorate the heads of oxen, sheep, and goats. In the Deer they are what biologists term secondary sexual characters; they are possessed by the males only, and cast in their entirety at the end of each breeding season with its frequent contests between the Stags. The history of these antlers is strangely like that of a tall perennial herb whose stems and branches die down to the rootstock each winter--that is, after the plant's breeding season--and start into more vigorous growth each spring. The "rootstock" of the Stag's horns makes its appearance at an early age, and its annual growth is more numerously branched each succeeding year. The growth of the Stag's horns is said to keep pace with the growth of the bracken among which he rests.

When the male Deer-calf is a few months old he becomes distinct from the female by the appearance of two knobs ("bossets") on the front of the head; he is then a _knobber_. Next year these become longer and pointed ("dags") and he becomes known as a _brocket_. The third year a branch appears forward--the brow antler--and he becomes a _spayad_. The fourth year a second forward antler--the bez tine or bay--is produced at about a third from the summit of the now long horn; and he is known as a _staggard_. The tray (_très_) or royal antler appears near the summit in the fifth year, and this entitles the young Deer to the title of _Stag_: he has come of age. From the sixth year, when the crown of antlers begins to form at the summit by the production of tines in several directions at the same height, he becomes a _Hart_ or _Stag of Ten_; and in former days he could advance beyond that dignity by escaping with his life after being hunted by the King, thereby earning the rank of a _Stag Royal_. If he lives long enough he may wear a pair of antlers each having as many as forty-eight points. He is considered, by the way, to live for forty years.

The antler has a core of solid bone covered by a continuation of the soft skin of the head, which bears a close pile of short hair and is known as the velvet. When the core has attained to its proper solidity and hardness, the growth of the rough burr at its base, pressing on the blood vessels and stopping their further supply to the velvet above, causes the death of the latter; and the Deer by rubbing the new structure against tree trunks and branches, tears off the velvet in strips, and is then able to do battle with his peers. The ensuing period of sexual unrest having been passed through safely, the whole structure down to the burrs is parted with, and a finer set of antlers begun. The whole process of antler growth occupies about ten weeks, and during this period the Stag is always in poor condition, and seeks solitude. What becomes of the dropped antlers is somewhat of a mystery, as few of them are found, and these usually odd ones.

If one were seeking to judge the habits of the Red Deer from a finely stuffed specimen in, say, the Natural History Museum, standing erect with fully developed antlers, one would feel justified in saying, as many have said--"This is a creature of the open mountain-side and the moorland, where there are no trees whose branches could entangle these branching horns. No adornment could be better fitted for keeping the noble beast out of the woods." Yet the Deer can actually run through dense woods with ease, and we know from its habitats in other countries where it is still plentiful, that it is a true woodland animal. The explanation is evident if, during a Stag hunt, we see the hunted seek refuge in a wood. The Stag throws his head back so that his antlers lie along each side and protect his body from many a bruise that might otherwise be inflicted by the branches as he rushes through the undergrowth. The antlers may be used with deadly effect in self-defence, and many a hound is killed by a Stag at bay. Their function appears to be mainly protective against carnivorous beasts; they are seldom if ever effective against those of their own kind.

The mating of the Red Deer, as we have indicated, takes place in the autumn; and in the spring the Hinds separate, each retiring to a lonely spot among the bracken where her single calf (rarely two) is born about the end of May. The little deer is already covered with fur, and its back and sides are dappled with white after the manner of the Fallow Deer, though unlike the livery of that species the spotting of the Red Deer is not retained beyond calfhood. The calf is born with some intelligence also. Mr. St. John tells how, one day in the Highlands, he "was watching a Red Deer hind with my glass, whose proceedings I did not understand, till I saw that she was licking a new-born calf. I walked up to the place, and as soon as the old deer saw me she gave her young one a slight tap with her hoof. The little creature immediately laid itself down; and when I came up I found it lying with its head flat on the ground, its ears closely laid back, and with all the attempts at concealment that one sees in animals which have passed an apprenticeship to danger of some years, whereas it had evidently not known the world for more than an hour, being unable to run or escape. I lifted up the little creature, being half inclined to carry it home in order to rear it. The mother stood at the distance of two hundred yards, stamping with her foot, exactly as a sheep would have done in a similar situation. I, however, remembering the distance I had to carry it, and fearing that it might get hurt on the way, laid it down again, and went on my way, to the great delight of its mother, who almost immediately trotted up, and examined her progeny all over, appearing, like most other wild animals, to be confident that her young and helpless offspring would be a safeguard to herself against the attacks of her otherwise worst enemy."

It is in the localities described by the author just quoted that we have still the best chance of studying the Red Deer under natural conditions, though there have naturally been some changes since his classic "Wild Sports of the Highlands" was first published in 1845. But the southerner, as we have hinted, has still a prospect of meeting with the noble beast on Exmoor and in Hampshire, to say nothing of the tamer herds in parks. To get a good view of these, they should be approached with a pretence of unconcern: they can often be well observed from a road at a few yards' distance without arousing their suspicions, whereas a few steps towards them on the greensward will cause them to bolt.

Respecting the large numbers of Deer that formerly existed in the south, there is an illuminating reminiscence mentioned by Gilbert White. He says that an old keeper assured him on information from his father, head-keeper of Wolmer Forest, "that Queen Anne, as she was journeying on the Portsmouth road, did not think the forest of Wolmer beneath her royal regard. For she came out of the great road at Lippock, which is just by, and, reposing herself on a bank smoothed for that purpose, lying about half a mile to the east of Wolmer Pond and still called Queen's Bank, saw with great complacency and satisfaction the whole herd of Red Deer brought by the keepers along the vale before her, consisting then of about five hundred head. A sight this worthy the attention of the greatest sovereign!" Even more striking is the confession of a notorious deer-stealer in the New Forest, who assured the Rev. William Gilpin, author of "Forest Scenery," that in five years he had killed on an average "not fewer than a hundred bucks a year."

It should be stated that the British examples of the Red Deer are considered to constitute a geographical race known as _scoticus_. The European range of the species extends from the Mediterranean to central Sweden and central Norway.

*Fallow Deer* (_Cervus dama_, Linn.).

The Fallow Deer is recognisable at a glance as distinct from the Red Deer by the entirely different character of the antlers. Those of the Fallow Deer are flattened and expanded in all the branches of the upper part, though the main stem or "beam" is rounded as in the Red Deer. With the exception of the equivalents of the brow antler and the bez tine the antler forms a broad curved plate whose margins run out in a number of flat points. It is known as a palmate antler, comparable to the palm of the hand with its finger prolongations. These horns are shed annually, like those of the Red Deer, but slightly later. There are no canine teeth in either sex.

The Fallow Deer is smaller than the Red Deer, the Buck standing only a little more than three feet at the shoulders, and the Hind somewhat less. It differs in colour, too, from the Red Deer, being a paler red or reddish-yellow above spotted with white, and yellowish-white on the under parts. The tail is longer than that of the Red Deer, and is kept in constant motion from side to side. The vertical white stripe on either side of the rump shows up strongly when the animal is in retreat. In winter the fur darkens; and some of the tame herds in parks show this dark coloration at all seasons. This has been explained by the statement that they are descended from a darker, hardier race introduced from Norway by James I.; but Harting says this variety was in Windsor Park as far back as the year 1465. It is this dark form that is met with in Epping Forest. It may also be seen in Richmond Park, where, however, the lighter form is in the majority.

In this connection it should be mentioned that it is believed the Fallow Deer was introduced to Britain by the Romans, though fossil remains found here show that it was a true native originally. One is inclined to be somewhat suspicious of these introductions attributed to the Romans. It is quite possible that in their desire to enjoy all their continental luxuries they may have brought with them much that was indigenous to the soil. It is possible, too, that they were more proficient as conquerors than as observers of Nature. Cæsar, for example, has left it on record that, when he hewed his way through the dense forests between the south coast and London, there were no beech trees growing, whereas every botanist who has devoted attention to the origin and distribution of our flora is convinced that the invasion of southern England by the beechwoods of the Continent took place ages before great Cæsar was born, and before the separating English Channel was more than a river valley. Men who could overlook so majestic and plentiful a tree as the beech on our chalklands, were capable of not seeing the shy Fallow Deer, which has a wonderful power of vanishing silently among the bracken. However, modern authorities are of opinion that the Fallow Deer is native only in the Mediterranean region of Europe and Asia Minor; elsewhere it has been introduced by man.

In addition to the marked difference in the form of the horns in these two species of Deer, there is also a distinction in the development of these ornaments. During its first year the Fallow fawn gives no sign of such a growth, but in its second it produces a pair of short unbranched prongs, which gives the fawn its name of _pricket_. The next year there is a great advance, for each simple prong is succeeded by a horn that bears two forward tines, and the extremity of the beam is slightly expanded and flattened, and its margin indented. In the fourth year the form is similar but more developed, the flat portion of the beam being much larger and its outer margin more regularly toothed or snagged. The fifth year shows further advance along the same lines, and the animal becomes known as a _buck of the first head_. In later years the additions are merely an increase in the number of spillers or snags to the flattened beam.

During the breeding season and throughout the winter Fallow Deer may be encountered in mixed herds of both sexes; at other times in parties of Bucks _or_ Does. Like the Red Deer it is a great enemy to the forester, and in winter time is not content with browsing on the young shoots of the trees, but utterly kills many by destroying their bark. They also eat acorns, chestnuts and horse-chestnuts. By reason of their feeding more in the lowland woods, where the diet is more liberal, the venison of the Fallow Deer is considered more tender and of finer flavour.

The Fallow fawns are born in May or June in a close retreat far in among the bracken. Though mostly there is only one at a birth, there are frequently two, and rarely three. The fawn is capable of taking care of itself when only a few hours old. As illustrating this point, we may quote an incident narrated by Mr. John Watson, who has written intimately of the wild life of Westmorland. He says: "Once we came suddenly upon a pretty little soft-eyed creature, evidently only a few hours old. It squatted closely as we stood over it, but when aware that it was observed, feigned death in the most amusing manner, only with the softest and most wide-open eyes imaginable. As we stooped towards it, with half a dozen bounds it cleared the brake, and as a rapid stream stopped its further progress, jumped in, and, after swimming about twenty yards, came quickly ashore. It then trotted back to its bed among the fern; and yet it is probable that this fawn had not previously used its legs, and had certainly never seen water."

The name Fallow is the Anglo-Saxon _fealewe_, and indicates the gilvous colour of the lighter race. Gray in 1843 separated the species from the Linnean genus _Cervus_ under its species name of _Dama_. The modern effort to get back to original species names under the rules of priority has caused this Deer to be dubbed _Dama dama_ in the newest catalogues. We have preferred to retain the Linnean _Cervus dama_, but our readers can say _Dama dama_ if they like it better.

*Roe Deer* (_Capreolus capraea_, Gray).