WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 251 



Most holes have sand round the mouth, and may 

 therefore be seen even in the dusk ; but there are 

 others also used which have no sand at the mouth, 

 the grass growing at the very edge. Those that have 

 sand have been excavated from without, from above ; 

 those that have not, have been opened from below. 

 The rabbit has pushed his way up from an old bury, 

 so that the sand he dug fell down behind him 'into 

 the larger hole. 



The same thing may be seen in banks, though then 

 the holes worked from within are not so much con- 

 cealed by grass. These holes are always very much 

 smaller than the others, .some so small that one 

 might doubt how a rabbit could force his body through 

 them. The reason why the other tunnels appear so 

 much larger is because the rabbit has no means of 

 " shoring " up his excavation with planks and tim- 

 bers, and no " cage " with which to haul up the sand 

 he has moved ; so that he must make the mouth wider 

 than is required for the passage of his body, in order 

 to get the stuff out behind him. He can really creep 

 through a much smaller aperture. At night especially, 

 when walking near a bury situate in the open field, 

 beware of putting your foot into one of these holes, 

 which will cause an awkward fall, if nothing worse. 

 Some of the older holes, now almost deserted, are, 

 too, so hidden by nettles and coarse grass as to be 

 equally dangerous. 



The hereditary attachment of wild animals for 

 certain places is very noticeable at the warren. Though 



