THE COMMON RABBIT 185 



thinks it can retreat unseen it will take good 

 care its tail does not give it away. It is a treat 

 to see a rabbit stealing quietly off, its tail 

 tucked down between its legs, so that only the 

 dark upper portion of it is visible ; it slips 

 through the bushes like a shadow, and is almost 

 at once lost to view. Very different is the 

 behaviour of that same rabbit when alarmed 

 in the open and when it knows that concealment 

 is hopeless. Then it gallops headlong away, 

 its white tail being displayed as visibly as a 

 beacon on a hill-top. 



Certain authorities say the object of displaying 

 the white tail is for the purpose of leading home 

 to the burrows the young and inexperienced 

 members of the community, 1 but I cannot help 

 thinking that if the "fluff-button" is really 

 any use it is as a danger signal. Of course it 

 may serve both purposes, but if you watch 

 rabbits coming out to feed in an evening, the 

 way they hop and frisk about, nibbling the 

 grass here and there, scampering and playing, 

 and then the change that comes over the scene 

 at the sound of a whistle, you will hardly 

 think the young ones want showing the way 

 home ! They all, young and old, big and little, 

 thump their heels on the ground and gallop 

 off as hard as they are able; there is no waiting 

 for old ones to give the lead, but all flee pell- 

 mell for shelter. 



1 Professor Poulton, The Colours of Animals, p. 211, and A. R. 

 Wallace in Darwinism, pp. 217-27. 



