RABBET. 05 



the hare, comes out chiefly by night and during 

 the early part of the morning to feed. Its colour, 

 in the wild state, is a dusky brown, paler or whit- 

 ish on the under parts, and the tail is black above 

 and white below. In a domestic state the animal 

 varies into black, black-and-white, silver-grey, 

 perfectly white, &c. &c. 



The Rabbet is a native of most of the tem- 

 perate and warmer parts of the old continent, but 

 is not found in the northern regions, and is not 

 originally a native of Britain, but was introduced 

 from other countries. Its general residence is in 

 dry, chalky, or gravelly soils, in which it can 

 conveniently burrow. It is so prolific an animal 

 that it has been known to breed seven times in a 

 year, and to produce no less than eight young 

 each time. It is, therefore, not surprising that 

 in some countries it has been considered as a kind 

 of calamity, and that various arts of extirpation 

 have been practised against it. 



The difference between the Rabbet and the 

 Hare, though known from daily habit and in- 

 spection, is yet by no means easily described in 

 words ; and it is a curious fact, that the attempts 

 at a specific character by Linnsus, in the earlier 

 editions of the Systema Nature, are remarkable 

 for their want of precision. In the second edi- 

 tion of that, work he thus distinguishes the Rab- 

 bet : Lepus cauda abrupta, pupil/is rubris. Hare 

 nith abrupt tail, and red pupils. Red eyes are, 

 however, only seen occasionally in domestic rab- 

 bets of a perfectly white colour. In the twelfth 



