THE RABBIT. 



17 



THE RABBIT WARREN. 



One of the most familiar of the British burrowing rodents, 

 is the common Rabbit [Lepus cu?iiculus), an animal notable for 

 'sporting,' as gardeners would say, into a vast number of varie- 

 ties, some of which are so unlike the original stock, that they 

 seem to be species and not varieties, and indeed might have 

 taken rank as species, did they not invariably display a ten- 

 dency to recede to the ancestral short brown fur and upright 

 ears of the wild Rabbit. 



The animal lives, as we all know, in burrows, and is mostly 

 of a social nature, a considerable number of burrows being 

 gathered together and known by the name of a Warren. When- 

 ever the Rabbits find an undisturbed spot, which combines the 

 advantages of a sandy situation with the vicinity of food, they 



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