THE BABBIT. 



the chartujter of a tender and devoted parent. If within three 

 or four weeks of the visit from the buck something should un- 

 luckily happen to blight your prospects of a litter, nutritious 

 and stimulating food should be given to the doe — parsley, 

 fennel, thyme, &c., with unlimited supply of oats, pollard, and 

 fresh hay; in a few days she will be again well enough to 

 receive company. 



Assuming that you know to within a day or so when the 

 " little strangers " wiU arrive, you will, a few days before the 

 auspicious event, provide the doe with a good handful of sweet 

 hay. Never fear that she will not know what to do with it. 

 If you peep in in the course of a day or so you will find that 

 she has constructed a snug bed ; the outside being of the hay 

 with which you provided her, and the inside of the delicate 

 down of her breast and belly, and of which she has generously 

 stripped herself that her babies may not he cold. By the bye, 

 I should have remarked that before you provide her with ma- 

 terials for bedding, you should clean her hutch out thoroughly, 

 because you will not be able to do her this kind office again for 

 a considerable time. Even after her bed is made she will be 

 much vexed at any disturbance, and of course after the young 

 are born to meddle with them is out of the question. Of course 

 there wiU occur cases in which their removal at once is the 

 only chance of saving their hves. If the hutch were swamped 

 in a thunder-storm, for instance. Then you must move them 

 not one at a time, but taking their whole numbers together 

 with the nest in your two hands, having taken care to provide 

 a snug berth for their reception. Even if there should happen 

 to be a very damp corner in the hutch, and the doe should 

 select it as her bedding-place, you will be justified in moving 

 it. Says Mr. Delamer, " One httle act of disturbance may be 

 ventured upon with due precaution. A few days after the 

 birth of the rabbits, it will be advisable to ascertain whether 

 their mother has deposited them in a dry spot ; for if their 

 nest is at all damp, they wiU infallibly perish. In such a case, 

 the nest must be cautiously moved, in a lump, and shifted to 

 the driest corner of the hutch. Experience has proved that 

 this operation, if judiciously executed, caused no injury what- 

 ever to the young, and also gave no offence to the mother ; 

 but, after all, the expedient must be used with caution. The 

 inconvenience which compels the rabbit-keeper to have recourse 

 to it ought to be avoided by cleaning the hutches at regular 

 periods, so that there shall be no necessity to intrude upon th© 



