208 LEPORID^— ORYCTOLAGUS 



a third larger one at G, which would serve excellently the 

 purpose of enabling the inhabitants to avoid the pursuit of a 

 stoat or ferret. At I is shown an uncompleted circular gallery, 

 the termination of which lies above another deeper gallery J. 

 A second deep gallery (K, K) is shown by shaded lines ; its 

 mouth (L) opened on the floor of one of the main tunnels. A 

 tunnel ending blindly at M was not traced so as to connect 

 with the main burrow, but its probable course is indicated by 

 the broken lines at E. 



The appearance of the galleries was cold and uncomfortable, 

 and it is believed that they are not much used in winter. 



In Fig. 39 is shown a plan of a second rabbit-burrow, 

 which, having been constructed in ordinary soil, descended to a 

 greater depth than that shown in Fig. 38, and was more difficult 

 to excavate. Although the diameter was on the average 

 broader than that of No. 2>&> it was in places, as at Z, even 

 smaller than the latter. There was only one sleeping place 

 (N), but the excavation was, for lack of time, not completed, 

 and the burrow may possibly have communicated by U with 

 the partially excavated tunnel Y. 



Sandy heaths covered with furze are favourite resorts of 

 rabbits. The soil is easily penetrated, and the furze affords 

 at once a secure cover for retreat, and a wholesome and never- 

 failing supply of food ; the young tops of the plants are 

 constantly eaten down, and the bushes present the appearance 

 of a solid mass, with the surface rounded off evenly as high 

 as the animals can reach when standing on their hind leg's. 

 On moors, where the soil is very wet, they often refrain from 

 burrowing, and content themselves with runs and galleries 

 formed in the long, matted heather and herbage. 1 In such 

 localities they lie like hares in "forms," and it is no doubt this 

 propensity, which is always very evident in fine weather when 

 cover is abundant, that has given rise to the popular belief 

 amongst sportsmen that there are two distinct varieties. One, 

 the ordinary or " burrow rabbit," is known in Hertfordshire and 



1 As in heather and crowberry on Boar Flat moor, at the head of Swineshaw 

 Valley (Cheshire), near Oldham ; and on a large scale on the Peak hills of Kinder 

 Scout, Derbyshire, F. J. Stubbs, Report Oldham Microscop. Soc. and Field Club, 

 1905-6-7, 30, 1908, and in //'/. This is the normal habit of the Mexican Pygmy Rabbit 

 Ro?nerolagus nelsoni; see E. W. Nelson, North Amer. Fauna, No. 29, 280. 



