THE STUDY OF THE RABBIT. 49 



Breathing. Put your hand on your chest, and notice 

 how it moves when you breathe. When does the chest 

 move out or expand? When move in or contract? 

 How many times a minute ? Watch the breathing of 

 the rabbits, and compare it with your own. 



Burrowing. If possible, give the rabbit a chance to 

 burrow in the yard or in a box of earth, that pupils may 

 see how he does it. 



Disposition. Are the rabbits fond of one another? 

 Watch and see what they do to and for one another. 

 (Play and eat together, wash each other's faces, go to 

 sleep close together. Do they fight one another? Are 

 they gentle or rough ? Are they timid or easily fright- 

 ened? Are they trustful when we are kind to them? 

 Are rabbits all alike in disposition, or does each have 

 his own traits, just as boys and girls do ? Try to dis- 

 cover the distinctive traits of disposition of the rabbits 

 under observation. See also note by Cowper, referred 

 to under Helpful Literature. The confidence of a wild 

 rabbit in man is brought out in Bret Harte's " Battle 

 Bunny." 



LESSON I. 



Homes and Home Life. 



Special aim. To broaden the sympathy and knowl- 

 edge of the children by helping them to see some of the 

 points of similarity between the homes and home life of 

 the rabbits and of themselves, leading them from the 

 domesticated rabbits to the less familiar wild rabbits ; 

 to lay foundations for the study of habits. 



