To the Editor of the "Nowrt-Cunxa Darcy News"
Sim—The recent correspondence about the Hare struck me as being most amusing: Mr. Sowensy's was typical of his great care in dealing with all natural history subjects, and Min. Ricianosox''s erudite contribuli proving that everybody wrong, was well worthy of the cause. T hate to enter into controversy with such experts, but think it will be as well to point out a few facts which may help to avoid further argument bout small points arising in the "Country Diary." I will make them short as possible.
T do not publish the "Country Diary" under my own name, and the stories told are not supposed to be any way authoritative. I record only what I see without any truly scientific background, (2) Each diary entry is limited to about 350 words, so T cannot use space for matters of intricate detail when describing the general attitude of the Hare under discussion T used about twenty words, but could have described his detailed movements over half a column: the whole general attitude of the animal boiled down to what I said—as a general I know that Me. Sowrnny! knows far more than I do about hares She is a hunter and shooting man of wide and long experience: but T am willing to lay odds that Mu. Sowenpy does not know all about Hares and that there are many exceptions to the rules he has learnt by experience. 1 will go further and suggest that nobody knows all about Hares which are among the most tricksy animals extant, (Tam convinced that Mr. Ricitanssox does not realize the many differences between the Brown Hares which he claims to have studied in Scotland and the small Hares of China: I have never seen any of the Iaiter behave in the manner he describes.
An interesting sidelight on this subject has come to my notice: in March last T mentioned the old country be-Vet that Hares put each of their leverets in a separate form; a little time after I wrote this I saw a photograph in an English paper showing five leverets in one form: I explained this to myself by assuming that the mother hare, having dropped her leverets in one form. would subsequently divide them. And now for the sequel, In the June number of *Game_and Gun" (London) there is article on The Brown Hare which Says, "there is a lot to learn about hare" and states among other things, "ut is now generally agreed that the number of levere's is usually five, and the doe disposes of her progeny in two or three separate breeding forms which she visits regularly... this distribution of the young woul appear to account for the divergence of opinion and seems to me to bring a number of writers into agree ment." All of which goes to show that wide divergence of opinion has always existed even' among those having the most expert knowledge of hares.
Anyhow, it's all very good fun and the general position about my Hare appears. to be as follows: Mu. Sowenny says that Mr, WILKINSON is wrong; Mr. RICHARDSON says that both Me. Sowenny and Mu. WLKTHSON fare wrong: Mf. WILKINSON says that A, Ricianosox and Mu. Sowenoy are wrong. Probably the Editor thinks cares? that we are all wrong. But who Weihaiwei, July 6.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.