NATURAL HISTORY OF THE RABBIT 13 



brought up by hand, was reported to be alive and 

 well in its eleventh year.* 



The average weight of a wild rabbit may be set 

 down at from 3 lb. to 3^ lb., or about the same 

 weight as a good wild mallard, or a cock pheasant ; 

 but, as in the case of pheasants, much depends upon 

 the abundance or otherwise of food, and the differ- 

 ence in weight between rabbits on a light soil, 

 with nothing but innutritious grass to feed upon, 

 and those from highly cultivated farm-lands, growing 

 plenty of roots and clover, is very noticeable. In 

 The Field of December 3, 1892, it was noted that a 

 rabbit, shot in Lincolnshire, weighed 41b. 10 oz., and 

 several have been recorded which weighed consider- 

 ably over 4 Ib.^ An old buck, killed in the snow just 

 before Christmas, weighed 4 lb. 13 oz. before being 

 paunched, and this was in a district where no fresh 

 stock had been introduced to increase the size. 

 Under similar conditions, at Newport Pagnell, in 

 January, 1890, one which attracted attention from 

 its size was found to turn the scales at 4 lb. 14 oz. 



Rabbits weighing 5 lb. and upwards, although of 

 course not common, have several times been reported. 

 One such, killed at Hambleton, South Buckingham- 



' The Zoologist, 1883, p. 173. 



2 See The Field of September 30, 1893; October 17 and 

 November 21, 1896. 



