648 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15. 



one or two skulls where such extra growth 

 has pierced the cranial cavity and entered the 

 brain — a case, of course, of unintentional sui- 

 cide. The rabbit and hare belong to the fam- 

 ily Leporidcc. These animals have four up- 

 per incisors instead of two. This, with their 

 looser structure and long legs, makes it easy 

 to distinguish them from other rodents. Both 

 hares and rabbits belong to the genus Lepus, 



FOUR I.ORD BRITAIN'S DOES, FIVE MONTHS OLD. 



which, like the family name, is derived from 

 the Latin for hare. This is the only extant 

 genus of the family. 



There are a great many species of this ge- 

 nus, and they are found in nearly all parts of 

 the world. Many of them have been domes- 

 ticated. My space forbids mention of more 

 than a few of these. Lepus iimidus is the 

 fine graceful English hare, which is so famous 

 in the sporting world. Lepus ca})ipestris\^\.\\& 

 common ribbit of America which whitens in 

 winter. Lepus caUotus is the jack-rabbit of 

 the United States. Lepus sylvaticus and Le- 

 pus Californicus are the 

 common cotton-tails, 

 which are somewhat 

 prized as game animals. 

 I hardly need say that 

 many of these rabbits are 

 serious pests to the hor- 

 ticulturist. The Califor- 

 nia rabbit is so fearless 

 here that he comes by 

 night close up by our 

 houses, and, unless pre- 

 vented, will girdle our 

 finest trees, or prune very 

 unscientifically our vines 

 and shrubs. They also 

 have a great fondness for 

 the clover lawns. Our 

 pet trees and shrubs are 

 at present either guarded 

 by a wire cylinder about 

 them, or wrapped with 

 gray carpet paper to fence 

 off this evil. Many readers of GLEANINGS 

 have read of the famous rabbit - drives of 

 California, where hundreds of hunters go 

 forth with horse and gun and drive the little 

 rodents into an inclosure where myriads are 

 killed. Hundreds of thousands of these lep- 



orines have been destroyed in a single drive 

 in the San Joaquin Valley. 



The common names, hare and rabbit, though 

 hardly scientific, have really distinct meanings. 

 Lepus tiniidus and Lepus callotus are really 

 hares. These are larger, never burrow, and 

 are usually less prolific than are the rabbits. 

 The first one mentioned above produces only 

 two in each lilter. The young, too, of hares 

 are active at birth, 



and can at once flee 



from danger. The 

 rabbits, on the other 

 hand, well illustrat- 

 ed in our cotton- 

 tails, form burrows 

 or warrens where 

 the young are born. 

 They are smaller 

 that the hares, the 

 meat is more juicy 

 and tender, and the 

 young born blind 

 and hairless, and, 

 like kittens (a name 

 which is often ap- 

 plied to young rab- 

 bits), are inactive 

 for some time after 

 birth. We would say, then, that the rabbits 

 are higher than the hares, as we always con- 

 sider it a mark of higher development where 

 the young are inactive at first, and must be 

 of necessity concealed and cared for by the 

 mother. We readily see that this is a higher 

 condition, as the young is guarded during 

 the time when it is least able to flee from or 

 ward off danger. 



From what I have just said it will be seen 

 that the lerm Belgian hare is a misnomer. 

 This is a burrowing animal, and so a rabbit. 

 It is probably d^^x\\^A\xoxn. L^epus caniculus. 



IMPORTED BUCK, DUKE OF AUKLAND; OWNED BY S. N. 

 LOS ANGEr.ES. 



KEMP, 



I have already stated that many species of 

 rabbits have been domesticated. The lup-ear- 

 ed rabbit is almost a monstrosity, as its ears 

 are oftentimes 22 inches long and 6 inches 

 wide. It has a large dew-lap, which is absent 

 in the well-bred Belgian. The colors of this 



