HOW BUNNY WRITES HIS AUTOGRAPH 



December 22d 



HERE are few country boys who do 

 not know those footprints about the 

 box-traps in the woods, and all 

 through the thickets everywhere 

 four in a set. Yes ; we all know 

 them ; they are the unmistakable 

 seal or signature of the little gray 

 rabbit, or, more properly, hare. And yet I have never 

 met an individual who knew just how bunny writes his 

 autograph. Even though we see him in the act, he 

 writes it so fast that we cannot follow him. It is only 

 by examining it very closely that we can get at the 

 secret. 



These footprints are always four in a set ; the two 

 front impressions being about six inches apart, and the 

 other pair quite close together, or even united occasion- 

 ally, or placed one directly in front of the other; the 

 direction of the hare's course being plainly seen by the 

 prints of the toes. But it will be a surprise to most 

 people to find on examination that the widely-separated 

 pair in front are really made by the hind- feet of the 

 animal, certain impressions showing plainly the full im- 



