Rahhits at Work. 191 



but spaniels now and then steal awaj- privately, and 

 so frequentl}' make for a hole like this that when 

 their absence is discovered it is the first place visited 

 in search of them. The mingled jjatience and excite- 

 ment, the vast labor they will undergo, the quantity 

 of sand the}' will throw out, the whine — it is not a 

 bark — expressing intense desii-e, prove how deep is 

 the hunting instinct in the dog. 



Even if the burrows be ferreted, in a few weeks 

 this great hole shows signs of fresh inhabitants ; and 

 such a specially enlarged entrance may be found 

 somewhere in most of the banks frequented by 

 rabbits. Why do they make an aperture so many 

 times larger than they can possibly require ? It may 

 be a kind of ancestral hall, the favorite cave of the 

 first settlers here, clung to by their descendants. 

 Within, perhaps three, or even more, tunnels branch 

 off from it. So busy are the}', and so occupied when 

 excavating a fresh passage, that sometimes when 

 waiting quietl}' on a bank you maj' see the miner at 

 work. The sand pours out as he casts it behind him 

 with his hinder paws ; his back is turned, so that he 

 does not notice any one. 



Along the banks evidence may be found of attempts 

 at boring holes, abandoned after a few inches of prog- 

 ress had been made : sometimes a root, or a stone 

 perhaps, interferes ; sometimes, and apparently more 

 often, caprice seems the only cause why the tunnel 

 was discontinued. The grass in this corner is sweeter 

 to their taste than elsewhere : their runs are every- 

 where — crossing and winding about. 



In the evening, as the shadows deepen and a hush 

 falls upon the meads, the}' come out and chase and 



