was lying on the ground at the time. Mr. J. G. Cornish volunteered his experience that many leverets of the size of full-grown rabbits are to be seen in Dorsetshire in the middle of April. 'Even in exposed down-country,' he says, 'they are frequently born before March 1. The second week in March is the time when we generally expect to find them; but in mild winters I have known of does in young at the beginning of January. With regard to the number of leverets in a litter, there is a curious belief among the countrymen in Berks and Wilts. If a leveret has a white star on its forehead, it is certain to be one of a litter of four, they say.'[1] Another correspondent (T. W. P.) wrote to express his belief that 'the white spot on the forehead of a leveret indicates a buck. I have examined many hares and leverets with regard to this small spot, and have never found one on a doe, and have never seen a buck without one. I have only once known a litter of five leverets. They were a very fine litter, and could be seen almost every evening about the same spot following the doe, and by the first week in May they were nearly as large as she was. My opinion is that (in Lincolnshire) most of the early leverets breed in July and August, but these late
- ↑ Field, May 14, 1892.
