ther ! But animal children, as a rule, behave 

 better than human children, so we may not mea- 

 sure the task of Mother Molly by any standard 

 of our own. It is task enough, however, since 

 you can scarcely count the creatures that eat 

 young rabbits, nor the enemies that unwittingly 

 destroy them. A heavy rain may drown them, 

 cattle may crush them, mowing-machines may 

 cut them to pieces, and boys who are starting 

 menageries may carry them away to starve. 



Molly's mother-wit and craft are sufficient for 

 most of these things. She picks out a sunny 

 hillside among high grasses and bushes for the 

 nest, so that the rain will flow off and not flood 

 it, and because that here the cows are not so 

 likely to trample, nor the plow and mowing- 

 machine to come. She must also have ready and 

 hidden access to the nest, which the grass and 

 bushes afford. 



She digs a little hollow in the sand about a foot 

 deep and as big around as a duck's nest, lines it 

 first with coarse grasses and leaves, then with a 

 layer of finer grass, and fills the whole with 

 warm, downy fur plucked from her own sides 

 and breast. This nest, not being situated at the 

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