THE HARE KIND. 91 



In the warren, always brings forth in a hole feparate from the male, 

 more intricare and more ample than ordinary ; fiie piilis off" h^r belly a 

 good quantity of hair, with which fhe makes a bed. The tv/o nrft days 

 Ihe does not ftir out butfor nourifnaicnt ; fuckles her young near five 

 weeks J the male feldom vifits them, but when grown up, he feems to 

 acknowledge them as his offspring, takes them between his paws, 

 fmooths their fkin, and licks their eyes, beftowing on each alternately 

 an equal ftiare of carefTes. 



When a frefli warren is flocked with tame rabbits, unaccuftomed to 

 the art of fcraping a hole, they continue expofed to the weather and ac- 

 cidents without burrowing; and not till after two or three generations 

 begin to find the necefTity and convenience of an afylum. 



Rabbits are of various colours ; v;hite, brown, black, and moufe-co- 

 lour. The black are the fcarceft. Moil wild rabbit:* are brown ; in 

 every neft of rabbits, whether the parents be black or white, are feme 

 brown. 



A gentleman who bred rabbits for amufement, fays, " the defcendant$ 

 were furprifingly obedient and lubmifTive to their commiOn parent, v^ho 

 was eafily diftinguiihed by his fuperior whitenefs ; when they quarrelled 

 among each other, he ran direcflly up, and all was inftantly reduced to 

 peace. If he caught any of them in the faft, he puniflied them. Hav- 

 ing accuftomed them to come to me with the call of a whiflle, when 

 this fignal wr.s given, I faw him m.arfhalling them, leading them fore- 

 moft, then fuffcring them all to file off before him." The rabbit, though 

 lefs than the hare, generally lives longer. Are generally fatter than the 

 hare, but their flefh much lefs delicate. 



The rabbit is native of the warmer climates^ and originally imported 

 from Spain. In that country, and its iflands in the Mediterranean, they 

 once multiplied to the greatefl nuifance. At firll military aid was de- 

 manded to deftroy them i foon after they called in the ferret from Africa, 

 which, with much more eafe and expedition, lefTencd the calamity. 

 Rabbits love a warm climate j are incapable of bearing the cold of the 

 north ; in tropical climates ftldom burrow. 



The Syrian rabbit, like other animals of that country, is remarkable 

 for its length of hair, which falls along the fides in wavy wreaths, in 

 fome places curled like wool ; is Ihcd yearly in large malfes,- the rabbit 

 often dragging a part of its robe on the ground. No rabbits naturally 

 in America ; thofe carried from Europe multiply in liie Weft-India 

 iflands in gTCd,t abundance. 

 ■ No. 23. ' |l THE 



