224 THE RABBIT 



lottery. Every intelligent man knows that when he 

 buys a ' Norfolk hare,' it has more probably been 

 imported from Central Germany, nor is it any the 

 worse for that. In short, each ' piece ' of game 

 begins to be taken on its merits, and when the rabbit 

 has fair play with furred and feathered competitors, 

 we are assured he must come to the front with the 

 leaps and bounds which carry him out of the coverts 

 into the sprouting wheat. 



What is certain is that we shall always have him, 

 not only in a sufficiency but in superabundance, and 

 out of sheer charity to the farmers we are bound 

 to consume him. Fortunately it is a case where 

 philanthropy should coincide with inclination. The 

 coop-bred pheasant is an artificial product, and might 

 disappear with a change in sporting fashions. Sir 

 William Harcourt has shown us that a caprice of the 

 Legislature may well nigh exterminate the aboriginal 

 hare. But we defy the most drastic Act of Parlia- 

 ment to set limits to the amazing fertility of the 

 rabbit. He is as industrious in multiplying himself as 

 the rat or the guinea-pig, and has resources in render- 

 ing himself a nuisance which challenge competition. 

 He swarms everywhere in sandy or light soil, and 

 even when he seeks his settlements in the stiffest 

 clay, he scoops out sanctuaries in labyrinths of 



