HEDGE-RABBITS AND WOOD-RABBITS 37 



such an authority, but I am very much inclined to 

 doubt the assertion, for that hedge-rabbits burrow 

 freely is indisputable. Where the undergrowth is 

 thick and affords suitable covert, they are more 

 in the habit of sitting out than other rabbits, and 

 that they should do so is hardly to be wondered 

 at. The drier and softer the lying in hedgerows, 

 the more frequently they will ' form.' Wherever 

 long, soft grass exists beneath the shelter of a 

 holly or gorse-bush the * form ' of a hedge-rabbit 

 may generally be found. The condition of the 

 bank of any old hedgerow which has been tenanted 

 by rabbits, when cleared for the purpose of 

 4 pleaching ' or * laying ' the fence, as it is termed, 

 reveals the extent to which hedge-rabbits are 

 capable of burrowing. 



In those woodlands where rabbits are abundant, 

 it becomes necessary, in order to destroy them, 

 to have recourse to the use of ferrets ; for 

 with the fall of the leaf they take to their 

 burrows, and but comparatively few of them 

 show themselves during the day-time. Should 

 a fall of snow intervene it is easy to form a pretty 

 accurate estimate of the stock, the numerous 

 tracks plainly indicating where the merry conies 

 disported themselves in the moonlight during the 

 previous night. 



It is most amusing to watch rabbits at play in 

 the summer evenings, from the concealment 

 afforded by some neighbouring bush. At the 

 least sign of danger they sit up on their hind-legs, 



