494 



RODENTIA 



(as in Fig. 218), with the exception of the tips of the ears, which 

 remain black. In Ireland no winter change of colour takes place. 



The Rabbit (L. cunicuhs), speaking of the wild race only, is 

 distinguished from the Hare externally by its smaller size, shorter 

 ears and feet, the absence or reduction of the black patch at 

 the tip of the ears so characteristic of the Hare, and by its grayer 

 colour. The skull is smaller and lighter, with a slenderer muzzle 

 and a longer and narrower palate. Besides these characters, how- 

 ever, the Rabbit is sharply separated from the Hare by the fact that 

 it brings forth its young naked, blind, and helpless ; to compensate 



Fig. 210. — The Rabbit (Lepus cuniculus). 



for this, it digs a deep burrow in the earth in which they are born 

 and reared, while the young of the Hare are born fully clothed with 

 fur, and able to take care of themselves in the " form " in which they 

 are born. The weight of the Rabbit is from 2 h to 3 lbs., although 

 individuals perfectly wild have been recorded up to more than 5 lbs. 

 Its general habits are too well known to need a detailed description 

 here. It breeds from four to eight times a year, bringing forth 

 each time from three to eight young. Its period of gestation is 

 about thirty days, and it begins to breed when six months old. 

 It attains to an age of about seven or eight years. 



The geographical distribution of the Rabbit presents many most 

 interesting peculiarities. It is believed to be originally a native of 

 the western half of the Mediterranean basin only, and still abounds 

 in Spain, Sardinia, Southern Italy, Sicily, Greece, Tunis, and Algeria ; 

 and many of the Islands adjoining these countries are quite overrun 



