OF RABBITS. 379 



'Ah," you say. " What a fool Wilkins 

 is ! How is anyone to know a buck rabbit 

 from a doe before it is killed ? " Well, I tell you 

 that I know, and I will explain how I know 

 and how I kill them down. 



I get up a tree in the middle of the wood, 

 and send my man to the end of the wood, 

 making him quietly drive the rabbits towards 

 me. I do not employ a dog, but only one 

 man, to walk across the wood towards me, or 

 at right angles to where I am facing, tapping 

 a stub here and there as he goes along, so as 

 to move the rabbits. The rabbits will come 

 under my tree, and sit up to listen for the man 

 behind them ; some will amuse themselves by 

 washing their faces. This should be done 

 in the month of March, when the does are in 

 young, or have laid down their young ; and 

 you should select a place where there is a big 

 bunch of briars for the rabbits to hide under. 

 Now, from your position up above them in the 

 tree, you should be able to pick out nine 

 bucks out of every ten, if you are any keeper 

 at all. 



