Page:The Hare.djvu/24

in Europe the brown hare seems to be at home in all the more temperate countries. It shows a decided aversion to damp climates, thriving best in a moderately dry atmosphere. The high mountains and bleak plateaus of Central and Northern Europe are naturally ill adapted to the constitution of the brown hare. Accordingly this animal is replaced in elevated or inclement regions by the blue or variable hare, which contrives to pick up a living in the most desolate and forbidding districts. It is this animal which takes the place of the brown hare in Ireland. Some naturalists have separated the Irish variety of the variable hare from the typical form, but it is questionable whether such a step can be considered prudent. As for the brown hare, it must be said that considerable differences exist between examples obtained in Northern and Southern Europe. I have not been able to investigate this point personally. Mr. Oldfield Thomas tells me that no adequate material for study as yet exists at the Natural History Museum. In the absence of a fresh series, we are thrown back upon the conclusions of Blasius, who investigated the subject some years ago. The skins which he examined had been obtained from different parts of Europe. Their study induced him to believe that we should recognise three distinct races of the brown hare. Of these,