18 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



establish themselves forthwith, and sink tlieir multitudinous 

 tunnels into the ground. The favourite locality for the Rabbit 

 is a loose, sandy, or gravelly soil, covered with patches of furze 

 bushes ; for the soil is easily excavated, and is very dry, and 

 the young shoots of the furze yield a food equally grateful and 

 nutritious. Moreover, the tangled roots of the furze afford an 

 excellent protection to the burrows, and the overhanging 

 branches, with their prickly verdure, serve admirably to shelter 

 the entrances. 



As is the case with most animals, the Rabbit seeks a quiet 

 and retired spot for her little nursery. She does not produce 

 her young in any of the burrows to which the general Rabbit 

 colony has access, but prepares an isolated tunnel, at the end 

 of which she forms her nest. The bed on which the young 

 recline is beautifully soft and fine, being composed chiefly of 

 the downy fur which grows on the mother's breast, and which 

 she plucks off with her teeth in tufts of considerable size. Any 

 one who keeps tame Rabbits may see the female preparing hei 

 cradle with this soft fur, and note how perseveringly she denudes 

 Her breast of its covering. 



North America is peculiarly rich in burrowing animals be- 

 longing to this order — so rich, indeed, that many curious species 

 must, be omitted for lack of space. 



Among these burrowers, the Chipping Squirrel, or Hackee, 

 or Chipmuck (Tamias Lysieri)^ is peculiarly conspicuous. It is 

 a very pretty little creature, brownish grey in colour, with five 

 stripes of black and two ol pale yellow drawn along the back; 

 so that it cannot be mistaken for any other animal. Below, 

 and on the throat, it is a pure snowy white. These are the 

 normal hues of the fur ; but it is somewhat variable in point of 

 colour, the grey and yellow being sometimes quite superseded 

 by the black. 



The burrow of the Chipping Squirrel is rather compHcated in 

 structure, and is always made under the shelter of a wall, an 

 old tree, or a bank. The hole descends almost perpendicularly 

 for nearly a yard, and then makes several devious windings in 



