214 Wild Life in a Southern County. 
It must measure eighteen inches or nearly in 
diameter at the mouth ; nor does it diminish abruptly, 
but continues almost as large a yard or more inside 
the bank. Spaniels will get right into such a ‘bury,’ 
till nothing but the tail can be seen, and, if permit- 
ted, stay there and dig and scratch frantically. They 
would sometimes, perhaps, succeed in reaching the 
prey were it not for the roots of thorn bushes or trees 
which cross the holes here and there like bars; these 
they cannot scratch ‘through, but will bite and tear 
with their teeth—coming out now and then to breathe 
and shake the sand from their muzzles, then back 
again with a whine of eager excitement, till presently, 
in sheer exhaustion, they lie down at the mouth of 
the cave and pant. This is not allowed if itis known; 
but spaniels now and then steal away privately, and 
so frequently make for a hole like this that when 
their absence is discovered it is the first place visited 
in search of them. The mingled patience and ex- 
citement, the vast labour they will undergo, the 
quantity of sand they will throw out, the whine—it is 
not a bark—expressing intense desire, 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 
