103 



two or three months old they make a heavy demand 

 on the vixen and it is then there is generally a good 

 supply of yomig rabbits. She cannot spare the time 

 away from her yomig family to go long distances 

 hunting for food, and young rabbits are easy to catch. 

 The mother rabbit's custom of making a shallow hole 

 in the open affords the vixen a ready opportunity of 

 getting food, as she smells out the exact spot where the 

 youngsters are Ij^ng and easily comes down on them. 



The vixen is not always a faithful wife, unless her 

 mat« is a truculent individual and can fight oS all 

 aspirants to the lady's favour. There is, however, 

 generally one husband who constitutes himself as the 

 responsible parent of the family, and he it is who 

 remains in the neighbourhood to assist the vixen in 

 getting an abundant supply of food. It occasionally 

 happens that he may get killed before the hunting 

 season is over, and then the poor mother has a hard 

 task to provide for the wants of a growing family. 



When this occurs she is forced to raid neighbouring 

 hen-roosts, and young lambs are sometimes sacrificed 

 to fill her larder. 



At about tliree months old the cubs will venture to 

 the mouth of the earth and the vixen will then generally 

 move them to a covert if there is one conveniently 

 near. An earth in which a Utter has been bred becomes 

 rather foul in the course of time, and when there is no 

 covert handy another earth will be found or perhaps 

 a field of standing corn. The latter is a good place 

 for the cubs, as there is plenty of room for exercise 

 without venturing into the open and it is good practice 

 for them hunting young rabbits. 



When there is no sandy or gravel soil in which to 

 make earths, the vixen will often have her family on 



