76 THE RABBIT 



A rough-coated dog, called a lurcher, smaller and 

 shorter than a greyhound, but somewhat of the same 

 build, was often used to drive the rabbits towards the 

 nets, and with the warrener's training was rendered 

 extremely useful, for he was taught to watch the 

 rabbits out at feed, when he would dart on them 

 without the least noise, and carry them one by one to 

 his master, who would wait in some convenient spot 

 to receive them. 



The ' spring net ' was generally laid round a hay- 

 stack or other object likely to attract rabbits in 

 numbers. 



The ' tipe,' or tip-trap, was a kind of cistern, with 

 a lid nicely balanced on a pin through its centre, 

 over which the rabbits were led through a narrow 

 meuse. The lid was at first bolted so as not to tip 

 up, and the rabbits were allowed to go through the 

 meuse, and pass over it for some nights until they 

 got accustomed to the run. The bolt was then with- 

 drawn, and one after another they would be tipped 

 into the cistern, from which, in due time, they were 

 ' culled ' by the warrener, who killed the fat ones, and 

 turned the others out to improve. By this means, at 

 the end of the season, the bucks and does were sorted, 

 one of the former being considered sufficient for six 

 or seven of the latter, and the nearer they could be 



