A LITTLE RABBIT HISTORY 15 



Lop-eared rabbits are most commonly con- 

 sidered as English creations. There is, how- 

 ever, a French lop-eared rabbit also, but it is 

 smaller both in body and in the size of its ears. 

 The English lop-eared rabbit seems to be all 

 English, and distinctly a manufactured breed. 



Angora rabbits came probably from Persia, 

 where lonjg-haired creatures seem to have been 

 more common than in most places, the Persian 

 cat being another example. Angoras are often 

 used for food in parts of Europe, but in this 

 country it is difficult to get people to eat them. 



In the New Zealand Red, a rabbit the pop- 

 ularity of which is carrying it all over the 

 country, we have a puzzle. The claim is made 

 that it was introduced from New Zealand 

 some years ago, a few specimens being taken 

 to California by sailors. No real verification 

 of this claim has been made, or seems likely 

 to be. As no better way of accounting for 

 the New Zealand Red can be thought of, how- 

 ever, we may as well consider it to be properly 

 named. At least, attempts to drop the word, 

 New Zealand, have been failures. At any 

 rate, it has taken the Pacific coast almost by 

 storm. 



