198 RODENTS. 
their favourite resorts; but in damp situations rabbits sometimes content them- 
selves with forming a series of runs among the thickly-matted gorse or heather. 
Occasionally, it is stated, they will take possession of a hollow tree, and ascend 
the stem for a considerable height. Although mainly nocturnal, rabbits when 
undisturbed may be seen abroad at all hours; but their favourite feeding- 
times are in the evening and early morning. The prolific nature of the rabbit 
h 
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RABBIT (4 nat size). 
is proverbial; several litters being produced in the course of a year, both during the 
summer and the winter, and the number of young in each litter usually varying 
from five to eight. The young are born ina blind and nearly naked condition ; 
and at the age of six months are themselves able to breed. The ordinary burrow 
usually has two entrances, but the young are born in a special excavation to which 
there is but a single approach. In this breeding-burrow the mother forms a soft 
nest from her own fur; and during her absence in the day she covers over the 
entrance with earth. It does not appear to be generally known that these animals 
can swim; but a rabbit startled by a dog belonging to the present writer, from a 
tuft of grass on the margin of a river, at once plunged into the water and reached 
