RABBIT. 



RODENT! A. 



343 



LEPORID^E. 



RABBIT. 



Lepus cuniculus (Linn.). 



Specific Character. Colour brownish -grey mixed with tawny ; belly, white ; 

 tail blackish above, white below ; ears about as long as the head. 

 Cuniculus, PLINY, Hist. Nat. VIII. 



Lepus cuniculus, LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat. I. 72. 



THE Rabbit, so well known in England as one of the 

 worst pests of the farmer, is believed to be only a natural- 

 ized inhabitant of Western and Central Europe, its native 

 land being the cis-alpine countries of the Mediterranean 

 basin. It is plentiful in Spain, in parts of Italy and 

 Greece, and in the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, 

 and it is said to inhabit the Barbary coast. North of the 

 Alps it is very locally distributed, being' unknown in a 

 wild state in many parts of Western Europe and very 

 abundant in others, while it is not found in the eastern 

 and northern countries. 



In our own country the Rabbit is abundant in almost 



