226 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



desirous that her other wild children should 

 have plenty of sport and good food, has decreed 

 that there should always be many young to re- 

 place the old ones who have fallen prey to the 

 gunners, rapacious birds and beasts. 



This long-eared rodent of our sketch is ex- 

 ceptionally easy to distinguish from other rab- 

 bits of his range by the black tail which he 

 carries compressed against his rump. His light 

 weight, thin body, and exceptionally long legs 

 are characters which separate him from the 

 short-bodied bunnies or cottontails. 



When he is hopping about feeding or travel- 

 ing at ordinary speeds, the long membraneous 

 ears are carried erect, but when the hare is 

 traveling at high speed the air pressure induced 

 forces them to lie back. The black-tailed rabbit 

 evidently realizes what conspicuous appendages 

 his jet-tipped ears are, and when trying to con- 

 ceal himself in the open he crouches low on the 

 sand and lays the ears well back. As soon as he 

 thinks it safe he gets into the brush, rises up 

 on his haunches, and without fear of detection 

 erects his ears and tests every wave of sound 

 that comes his way. 



