WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 187 



there the hedge is composed of hazel bushes, and even 

 when the nuts are gone from the branches they still 

 find some which have dropped upon the bank and are 

 hidden in the dry grass and brown leaves. 



In this corner too, the bank being dry and sandy, 

 there is a large settlement of rabbits, and now and 

 then some of these find their way to the orchard and 

 garden along the hedge. Rabbits have their own 

 social laws and customs, adapted to the special con- 

 ditions of their way of life. At the breeding season 

 there seems to be a tendency to migrate on the part 

 of the younger rabbits from the great " bury " hitherto 

 their home. Many solitary holes at some distance are 

 then occupied, and the fresh sand thrown out shows 

 that a tenant has entered in possession. In this way 

 one or two take up their residence more than half- 

 way down the hedge towards the orchard. Then the 

 doe seems to have a desire to separate herself at a 

 certain period from the rest. She goes out into the 

 mowing-grass perhaps thirty yards from the " bury," 

 and there the young are born in a short hole excavated 

 for the purpose. The young rabbits naturally remain 

 close to their birthplace ; they are conducted to the 

 hedge as soon as they are old enough to run about, 

 and so a fresh colony is formed. As they get larger, 

 or, say, soon after midsummer, they appear to show 

 a tendency to roam ; and by the autumn, if left un- 

 disturbed, descendants from the original settlement 

 will have pushed outposts to a considerable distance. 

 These, having been bred near, have little fear of enter- 



