66 BEACH GRASS 



When at ease the tail is down, the white patch 

 does not show. A rabbit on a cart path two hun- 

 dred yards away trotted about at ease, although 

 he apparently looked at me at times, but I doubt 

 if he saw me for his tail was down. Later I came 

 upon him suddenly, the tail went up and all the 

 white hairs there and on his stern seemed to stand 

 on end as in the case of the deer, and flashed out 

 a most prominent signal. 



It was maintained by the late Abbott Thayer 

 that this white signal, instead of advertising 

 served to obliterate the rabbit by matching the 

 white sky, as seen by the pursuing animal with 

 his eyes close to the ground. One April day, as I 

 was lying on the ground in an orchard, I heard 

 the yapping of some dogs, and a rabbit ran across 

 the field within fifty yards, prominent by reason of 

 his white tail. I could not for a moment imagine 

 this to be obliterative, although I had a dog's view 

 of him. A minute later two terriers came along, 

 following the trail by nose as is their wont and 

 not by eye. There have been other occasions 

 when the tail of the rabbit has been at the height 

 of my eye, as on a side hill, but never did it ap- 



