REPORT OF THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND MAMMALOGIST. 253 



destroy fruit and forest trees and ornamental slirubs by eating the 

 bark from the roots and trunk. The number of Meadow Mice present 

 over a given area is subject to periodical fluctuations, andthey some- 

 times become enormously abundant. At such_ times their runways 

 through the meadows and grain fields result in the loss of at least 

 one-fifth of the crop. 



The depredations of Ground Squirrels and Gophers in the prairie 

 regions of the Mississippi Valley and in the far West are well known, 

 and yet the extent of the damage they do is not generally recognized. 

 In a fertile part of the Sacramento Valley in California a few years ago 

 the sudden increase in a species of Ground Squirrel which fed upon 

 grain caused the land to depreciate one-half in value. To be more 

 explicit, land which previously brought $100 per acre conld not be 

 sold for $50, and the depreciation was due solely to the abundance 

 and ravages of the Squirrels. 



Special attention has been given the animals which occasionally or 

 habitually prey upon poultry, and the results will be made public at 

 as early a day as practicable. 



RABBITS. 



TJie Australian Rabbit. — There has been of late a good deal of 

 newspaper talk about the expected introduction into the United 

 States of a large colony of so-called '''Australian Rabbits," and vari- 

 ous opinions have been expressed as to the probable efliect of such all 

 importation upon our agricultural industries. Hence a feAv facts 

 concerning this Rabbit may prove of interest. 



At the outset it should be stated that, correctly speaking, there is 

 no "Australian Rabbit," no species being indigenous to Australia. 

 The Rabbit which has done so much harm in that country and in 

 New Zealand is an introduced species, namely, the common Rabbit of 

 Europe {Lepus cuniculus). 



A very good idea of the magnitude of the rabbit pest in Australia 

 may be had from perusal of the following report of Consul-General 

 Morgan, of Melbourne, Victoria: 



Tame Rabbits were brought to these colonies in very early years, but the common 

 gray variety of wild rabbit, that has so overrtm the country, was, so far as can be 

 authoritatively ascertained, introduced by a large landed jjroprietor in tlie western 

 district of Victoria about the year 1860 for the purpose of sport. From the western 

 district they spread to the stonj- rises between Colac and Camperdown, in which 

 place the splendid cover afforded them caused theii- rapid increase, and they multi- 

 plied with such astoundmg rapidity as to literally overrun all that portion of country. 



Some years after they were taken to other parts of the colony. The pest soon 

 after this was found in the neighborhood of Horsham, spreading thence into the 

 Mallee country, extending northeast to Swan Hill. 



The country west and north of Horsham bemg exceedingly favorable to them, 

 consisting of sand hills, pine ridges, and scrub, they increased there greatly, and 

 have done serious damage to crops during the past few years, principally since 1874. 



So great has been their fecundity, that there are now but fev*^ places in Victoria in 

 which they do not exist — from Point Nepean along the coast, from Queenscliff to 

 Geolong; in Gisborne, Ballan, Bacchus ]\Iarsh; awa^y nortliwest to Nhill and north 

 to Swan Hill; along the Murray River; on the New South Wales and the South 

 Australian borders — Gippsland and the surroundmg district being the only place m 

 Avhich they are conspicuous by their absence. In the rangy district of Mansfield 

 tliey have niade an appearance, and the Buffalo, Howqua, King, and other rivers 

 ill the neighborhood of Bright and Myrtleford, are now invaded by the pests in large 

 numbers. It is, however, noticeable that in places where the soil is hard, or the 

 climate cold or wet, the rabbit does not increase to anything like the extent observ- 

 able in countiy more suited to them, such as sand hills, pine ridges, &c. Tliere is also 

 another peculiarity observed, which will be borne out by all who have had any great 



