MAMMALS. 85 



is of considerable value for the manufacture of black 

 felt hats. Varieties of the Rabbit are numerous even in 

 the wild state. Black ones have been shot at Westbury, 

 Boreatton, and on Rudge Heath, and Eyton speaks of 

 some very pretty buff, or yellowish ones at Longford, 

 near Newport. At Betton, near Shrewsbury, there are 

 large numbers of white Rabbits, and the keeper states 

 that they have all sprung from a single white buck 

 which he turned loose there about 18 months previously. 

 The fecundity of the Rabbit is extraordinary, and its 

 introduction into Australia where it had no natural 

 enemies to keep it in check, led to disastrous results. In 

 England this can never be the case as besides the 

 large numbers shot and trapped for the table Foxes, 

 Hawks, Weasels, and, above all, Stoats destroy very 

 many annually. We have already, when speaking of 

 the Stoat, described the peculiar paralysis of terror 

 which seizes upon the Rabbit when it is pursued by 

 that animal : it appears, however, from incidents re- 

 corded in the Field (May yth, 1892, and Aug. lyth, 1897), 

 and in the " Transactions of the Woolhope Club " (1896, 

 p. 120), that the maternal instinct is so strong in the 

 Rabbit that it will even overcome its fear of the Stoat. 

 The account last mentioned states that a young Rabbit 

 was seen by two anglers, running along, pursued closely 

 by a Stoat, when suddenly a large Rabbit appeared 

 upon the scene, charged furiously at the Stoat and 

 completely bowled him over, to his great bewilderment. 

 Upon recovering from his astonishment, the Stoat again 

 started on the track, when the whole scene was repeated. 

 One of the anglers, unable to contain his enthusiasm 

 jumped up, waving his arms, and shouting, " Bravo 



