198 



RODENTS. 



their favourite resorts ; but in damp situations rabbits sometimes content them- 

 selves with forming a series of runs among the thickly-matted gorse or heather. 

 Occasionally, it is stated, they will take possession of a hollow tree, and ascend 

 the stem for a considerable height. Although mainly nocturnal, rabbits when 

 undisturbed may be seen abroad at all hours; but their favourite feeding- 

 times are in the evening and early morning. The prolific nature of the rabbit 



RABBIT ( nat size). 



is proverbial ; several litters being produced in the course of a year, both during the 

 summer and the winter, and the number of young in each litter usually varying 

 from five to eight. The young are born in a blind and nearly naked condition : 

 and at the age of six months are themselves able to breed. The ordinary burrow 

 usually has two entrances, but the young are born in a special excavation to which 

 there is but a single approach. In this breeding-burrow the mother forms a soft 

 nest from her own fur ; and during her absence in the day she covers over the 

 entrance with earth. It does not appear to be generally known that these animals 

 can swim ; but a rabbit startled by a dog belonging to the present writer, from a 

 tuft of grass on the margin of a river, at once plunged into the water and reached 



