8 THE RABBIT 



the attention of others, and all speedily make for 

 their burrows. 



One of the most important differences between 

 the rabbit and hare is the condition of the young 

 at birth. In the case of the former, the young are 

 born underground, and are blind at birth ; ' in the 

 case of the latter they are deposited in a 'form ' on 

 the surface of the ground, and are born with the eyes 

 open. This difference is correlated, no doubt, with 

 the divergent habits of the two species ; for the very 

 young leverets are so soon able to move away from the 

 place of their birth that they do not stand in need of 

 the same protection and concealment as the blind and 

 helpless young of the coney. 



The wild rabbit will begin to breed at the age of 

 six months, and may have half a dozen litters in a 

 year. Early rabbits will breed the same year. The 

 period of gestation is twenty-eight days, and the 

 number of young in a litter is generally from five to 

 seven. 



' In the case of a rabbit in captivity it was observed that 

 the doe went 29 days with young, which were not only born 

 blind but with their ears closed ; nor could they move them 

 until the tenth day. On the eleventh day they began to see ; 

 on the twelfth their ears were quite open, and on the thirteenth 

 day they could erect their ears. They shed their first coat 

 when about three months old. 



