i 3 ;o THE RODENTS 



their favorite resorts; but in damp situations rabbits sometimes content themselves 

 with forming a series of runs along the thickly-matted gorse or heather. Occasion- 

 ally, it is stated, they will take possession of a hollow tree, and ascend the stem for 

 a considerable height. Although mainly nocturnal, rabbits when undisturbed may 

 be seen abroad at all hours; but their favorite feeding times are in the evening and 

 early morning. The prolific nature of the rabbit is proverbial; several litters being 

 produced in the course of a year, both during the summer and the winter, and the 

 number of young in each litter usually varying from five to eight. The young are 

 born in a blind and nearly naked condition, and at the age of six months are them- 

 selves able to breed. The ordinary burrow usually has two entrances, but the 

 young are born in a special excavation to which there is but a single approach. In 

 this breeding burrow the mother forms a soft nest from her own fur, and during 

 her absence in the day she covers over the entrance with earth. It does not appear 

 to be generally known that these animals can swim, but a rabbit startled by a dog 

 belonging to the present writer, from a tuft of grass on the margin of a river, at 

 once plunged into the water and reached the opposite bank in safety. Rabbits, 

 from their numbers, do even more damage to young plantations than is inflicted by 

 hares. The chief foes of these animals are weasels, stoats, and polecats, which 

 either hunt them in the open, or attack them within the recesses of their subterra- 

 nean haunts; the curious kind of paralysis which seems to seize the rabbit when 

 pursued by one of these Carnivores has been already mentioned under the heading 

 of the stoat. 



Although now widely distributed, it is believed that the original 

 home of the rabbit was in the countries on both sides of the western 

 portion of the Mediterranean, where it is still abundant at the present day. Thence 

 it is considered to have spread northward, and to have reached England and Ireland 

 by human agency. In Scotland it has increased and spread enormously of late 

 years, having been formerly but sparsely distributed, and unknown in the more 

 northern parts of the country. On the Continent its distribution is somewhat local, 

 and it is unknown in the more northern and eastern parts of Europe. It should be 

 observed that remains of rabbits occur in the caves of England in company with 

 those of the mammoth and other extinct Mammals, which would seem at first sight 

 to disprove the view that these Rodents are emigrants from the south. It is, how- 

 ever, quite probable that the association of the remains of the rabbit with those of 

 extinct Mammals may be due to its burrowing habits. 



The rabbit has been introduced by human agency into several coun- 

 tries beyond Europe, where it has flourished and multiplied to a de- 

 gree beyond conception; so much so, indeed, that in Australia and New Zealand 

 these animals have become a perfect pest and a serious hindrance to agriculture. 

 Rabbits were first introduced at the period of the highest prosperity of Australia 

 and New South Wales by a patriotic gentleman who thought it would be a good 

 thing to import a few rabbits into the colony, as they would serve for food and for 

 sport. He accordingly imported three couples of rabbits, and they were turned loose. 

 It was not long before it was found that the district in question had been trans- 

 formed into a gigantic rabbit warren. Indeed it was discovered that a single pair 



