HARE KIND. 137 



one by being more intricate, at the bottom of 

 which she makes a more ample apartment. This 

 done, she pulls off from her belly a good quantity 

 of her hair, with which she makes a kind of bed 

 for her young. During the two first days she 

 never leaves them ; and does not stir out but to 

 procure nourishment, which she takes with the 

 utmost dispatch ; in this manner suckling her 

 young for near six weeks, until they are strong, 

 and able to go abroad themselves. During all 

 this time, the male seldom visits their separate 

 apartment ; but when they are grown up, so as 

 to come to the mouth of the hole, he then seems 

 to acknowledge them as his offspring, takes them 

 between his paws, smooths their skin, and licks 

 their eyes : all of them, one after the other, have 

 an equal share in his caresses. 



In this manner the rabbit, when wild, con- 

 sults its pleasure and its safety ; but those that 

 are bred up tame do not take the trouble of 

 digging a hole, conscious of being already pro- 

 tected. It has also been observed,* that when 

 people, to make a warren, stock it with tame 

 rabbits, these animals, having been unaccustomed 

 to the art of scraping a hole, continue exposed 

 to the weather, and every other accident, with- 

 out ever burrowing. Their immediate offspring, 

 also, are equally regardless of their safety ; and 

 it is not till after two or three generations, that 

 these animals begin to find the necessity and 

 convenience of an asylum, and practise an art 

 which they could only learn from nature. 



* Buflbn. 



