THE RABBIT. 483 



little coquetries and such absurd airs of assumed dignity, that they sorely try the gravity of 

 the concealed observer, and sometimes cause him to burst into irrepressible laughter, to their 

 profound dismay. 



At one time they are gravely pattering about the doors of their subterranean homes, occa- 

 sionally sitting upright and gazing in every direction, as if fearful of a surprise, and all behav- 

 ing with the supremest gravity. Next moment, some one gets angry, and stamps his feet 

 fiercely on the ground as a preliminary observation before engaging in a regular fight. Sud- 

 denly a whole party rush off at full speed, scampering over the ground as if they meant to 

 run for a mile at least, but unexpectedly stop short at an inviting tuft of herbage, and nibble 

 it composedly as if they had not run a yard. Then a sudden panic will flash through the whole 

 party, and with a rush and a scurry every rabbit leaps into its burrow and vanishes from sight 

 like magic. The spot that was so full of life but a moment since is now deserted and silent as 

 if it had been uninhabited for ages ; but in a few minutes one little nose is seen cautiously 

 poked out of a burrow, the head and ears follow, and in a very few minutes the frightened Rab- 

 bits have come again into the light of day, and have recommenced their interrupted pastimes. 



Few animals are so easily startled as the Rabbit, and with perfect good reason. For their 

 enemies are found in so many directions and under such insidious guises, that they are well 

 justified in taking every possible precaution for their safety. Sundry rapacious birds are very 

 fond of young Rabbits, and sweep down unexpectedly from some unknown aerial region before 

 the doomed creature can even comprehend its danger. Stoats and weasels make dreadful havoc 

 in a warren, and even the domestic cat is sadly apt to turn poacher if a well-stocked warren 

 should happen to be within easy distance of her home. Foxes are very crafty in the pursuit 

 of young Rabbits, and dig them out of the ground in a very ingenious and expeditious man- 

 ner ; while the common hedgehog is but too apt to indulge its carnivorous appetite with an 

 occasional Rabbit. 



The buiTows in which the Rabbit lives are extremely irregular in their construction, and 

 often communicate with each other to a remarkable extent. 



From many of its foes the Rabbit escapes by diving suddenly into its burrow ; but there 

 are some animals, such as the stoat, weasel, and ferret, which follow it into its subterranean 

 abode, and slay it within the precincts of its own home. Dogs, especially those of the small 

 terrier breeds, will often force their way into the Rabbit burrows, and have sometimes paid 

 the penalty of their lives for their boldness. The Rabbit has been seen to watch a terrier dog 

 safely into one of the burrows, and then to fill up the entrance so effectually that the invader 

 has not been able to retrace his steps, and has perished miserably beneath the surface of the 

 ground. 



When the female Rabbit is about to become a mother, she quits the ordinary burrows, 

 and digs a special tunnel for the purpose of sheltering her young family during their first few 

 weeks of life. At the extremity of the burrow she places a large quantity of dried herbage, 

 intermixed with down which she plucks from her own body, so as to make a soft and warm 

 bed for the expected occupants. The young Rabbits are about seven or eight in number, and 

 are born without hair and with their eyes closed. Not until they have attained the age of ten 

 or twelve days are they able to open their eyelids and to see the world into which they have 

 been brought. 



When domesticated, the female Rabbit is sometimes apt to eat her own young, a practice 

 which has been considered as incurable. It seems, however, that the Rabbit acts in this 

 apparently unnatural manner from very natural causes. It has long been the custom to 

 deprive Rabbits of water, on the plea that in a wild state they never drink, but obtain the 

 needful moisture from the green herbage on which they feed. But in the open country they 

 always feed while the dew lies heavily upon every blade, which is never the case with the green 

 food with which the Rabbits are supplied. 



Rabbits are fed very largely on bran, oats, and other dry nourishment which they do 

 not obtain in their normal state of freedom. The mother Rabbit instinctively licks her young 

 when they are born, and is evidently liable to an exceeding desire for liquid nourishment 

 which prompts her to eat anything that may assuage her burning thirst. A Rabbit, which 



