THE GREY-"RABBIT." 31 



obtain. In the spring and summer it is not unusual to see 

 them out early in the morning, or at sunset. 



Great havoc is caused among their numbers by their 

 natural enemy, the lynx, which subsists almost entirely 

 upon them. As the runs or paths that they make 

 through the woods are even more marked and permanent 

 than those of our own hare, they are also very exten- 

 sively snared in the remoter districts by the Indians, 

 who make use of the skins in the manufacture of their 

 winter clothing, and are also taken by means of a trap 

 of thick pieces of bark, which, being saturated with salt, 

 the animal attempting to gnaw, brings down on itself. 



A friend in Canada informs me, that " among the 

 country people it is not considered fit for food till after 

 the first frost, but that the flesh is, at the best, in 

 poor repute in the cuisine, being hard and dry, and 

 is looked upon with disdain as a dish, except in a 

 potage with plenty of other ingredients." 



The " Grey-Rabbit" (L. sylvaticus), which Desmarest, 

 Harlan, Audubon, Thompson, and Bachman call L. 

 Americanus, in general appearance very much resembles 

 our common rabbit. Its back is a yellowish -brown, mixed 

 with grey and black ; the sides being much greyer, as 

 well as the loins and thighs. The under parts are white, 

 and the sides of the head reddish grey. The fur is full 

 and close, and especially so on the under parts of the feet. 



