44 THE RABBIT 



kittens were found alive under a heap of scrap iron, 

 but the rabbit was not found until some time later, in 

 a different part of the building ; but, when discovered, 

 was unfortunately dead. The men left the rabbit with 

 the cat, I suppose to convince her of its decease ; 

 but, sad to relate, on returning a short time later, 

 found she had made a meal of it. I regret the cat 

 had not been removed to a quiet spot ; but the fact 

 that she herself carried a former lot of kittens to the 

 place where these were born, led the men to suppose 

 she would rest quietly where she was.' 



So much for the ' furred enemies ' of rabbits. 

 Amongst their ' feathered foes ' may be named the 

 golden and white-tailed eagles, both of which prey on 

 them habitually (as they do also upon hares), sweep- 

 ing round a hillside, and carrying them off unawares 

 before they can get to ground. Only last autumn a 

 friend of the writer witnessed the capture of a rabbit 

 by a golden eagle in Scotland, and as the great bird 

 sailed away with its booty, which was held by the head 

 in one foot, the body of the rabbit was seen swinging 

 like a pendulum, as long as its captor remained in 

 sight. The common buzzard, as well as the rough- 

 legged buzzard, are both partial to rabbits, but take 

 them in a different manner. They will sit on the 

 limb of a tree at the edge of a covert, and wait till the 



