7. When dogs chase a hare, it runs very fast until the dogs are close to it, when it stops suddenly. This it can do, as it runs by leaping with its long hind legs. 8. The dogs can not stop so quickly, and run past. The hare then starts off in another direction, or _doubles_, as we say, and so gains upon the dog. In this way it often escapes, and then it goes back to its form. 9. The hare is sometimes tamed, and it soon learns to know its friends; but it is a troublesome pet, as it gnaws the legs of the chairs and tables, and destroys the trees in the yard by gnawing off the bark near the roots. _ALICE'S BUNNY._ Would you hear about my bunny, All his little ways so funny? First of all, then, you must know, He has coat as white as snow, Staring eyes of pink so pale, And a tiny, dumpy tail. Once, he had a pretty mate, But she met a cruel fate. Now quite by himself he stays, And contented spends his days. He runs about the nursery floor, The chairs and table clambers o'er, And nestles down upon my lap Beside the cat, to take a nap; And once, when I was in disgrace, He licked the tear-drops from my face. Now, don't you think my little bunny Must be kind as well as funny? LESSON XXXVII. _SOMETHING ABOUT SQUIRRELS._ [Illustration] 1. Here comes the squirrel--the little fellow that frisks and gambols so prettily over trees and hedges, and that chatters to us as we take a walk in the woods or fields. He is afraid to let us touch him; but he will let us come quite near, as he knows he can easily get away. 2. As we see him scampering along on the fences or trees, the first thing that we notice is his long bushy tail, which he coils up over his back. 3. But we will find one in a cage, and then we will take a closer look. We find that he has chisel-teeth, like the rat and rabbit, and then we know that Mr. Squirrel eats something that he must gnaw. 4. His toes are not strong, like those of the rat or rabbit, but they are long and slender, and we know that he does not dig holes in the ground. The nails are not strong enough to catch prey, but are long, thin, sharp, and bent at their tips. 5. Then we find that the squirrel can turn all his toes around so that the nails point backward, and we see that he is made for running up and down trees, where he has his home. 6. Now we see what he does with his sharp cutting-teeth. He lives upon nuts, and his teeth are for gnawing through the hard shell, to get at the kernel inside. 7. The ears of the squirrel are of moderate size. The rabbit and hare live upon the ground, and, if they did not have large ears and sharp hearing, they would be killed by dogs and other enemies. But the squirrel has his home in trees, out of reach of animals that can not climb; so it does not need such sharp hearing to save itself.