THE THIRST OF RABBITS 145 



Nothing keeps down rabbits more thoroughly than a 



soaking wet summer ; while heavy rains drown the 



partridge and pheasant broods above ground, 



The they also drown the little rabbits in their 



Thirst of . ~, . . ,. , 



Rabbits furry nests below. Yet in times of drought, 



when herbage is parched and sapless, the 

 keeper who supplies water for the rabbits to drink 

 in arid, sandy warrens does much for the prosperity 

 of the does and their young. Rabbits eat their 

 young when in want of water, and a dry summer puts 

 a check on the increase of rats, since the old ones 

 kill the young for their blood. With rabbits, a 

 favourite place is always a dry spot by the side of 

 water, although the ground is likely to be favoured by 

 stoats. Rabbits found in such places are always extra 

 fine and fat. 



* V v 



" Please drive cautiously. Hound puppies are at 

 walk in the village." We came upon this notice 



nailed to the trunk of an ash on the road 

 Puppies outside a village in Hampshire. The in- 

 Walk ference suggested itself that so long as those 



who might drive furiously through the 

 village touched no hair of a hound puppy's head 

 nothing else mattered. Usually, it is the old-fashioned 

 notices that bring a smile to the passer-by's face : 

 "Beware of Man-traps," "Spring Guns," "Dog- 

 spears set here." Walking along the River Stort 

 we have been startled by a notice beside some of the 



K 



