The gentlemans academie. Or, The booke of S. Albans containing three most exact and excellent bookes: the first of hawking, the second of all the proper termes of hunting, and the last of armorie: all compiled by Iuliana Barnes, in the yere from the incarnation of Christ 1486. And now reduced into a better method, by G.M.

Of the Hare.

The Hare is the King of al the beasts of Venerie, and in hunting maketh best sport, breedeth the most delight of any other, and is a beast most strange by nature, for he often changeth his kinde, and is both

male and female. And this is a strange thing in the female, and onely peculiar to this beast of all other: after she hath taken the Bucke and commeth to kin∣dle shee bringeth foorth two leuerets rough and in perfite shape, and retaineth two other in her still, which shee bringeth foorth before the two first bee well able to releeue, and she is knotted for her third leueret, and all this at one time: we terme the place where she sitteth, her forme, the places through the which she goeth to releefe, her muset, and when we finde where she hath gone, we call it the pricking of the Hare: her deceits and shifts before the houndes we terme, her doubling: wee terme her feeding her releefe. The Hare beareth sewet and greace, shee fi∣masheth, crottises, and rounges, although amongst the Huntsmen of these latter times these termes bee worne out of vse, onely we say, she crotises: when the Hare is gone to her fourme, we say euer shee is gone to her seate: and we say the hare sitteth, where speaking of other beasts we say, they lie, & the rea∣son is, because she euer hucketh vpon her legges, as though nature had taught her to haue her feete euer in a readinesse, of all the other beasts beeing most watchfull. And shee naturally desireth to runne vp the hill, because her legges be shorter before than behinde: and her sewet and grease which she beareth lieth ouer the leine be∣tweene the chine and the taile.