THE RABBIT OR CONY 



THE RABBIT OR CONY. 



Lepus ciiniculus, 

 Plate 36. 



Compared with the Common Hare, the Rabbit is considerably smaller, 

 the head and body are relatively of stouter build and the ears and legs 

 shorter. The fur is also of a softer texture. The total length from 

 nose to root of tail is about 17 inches, the ears 3^ inches. 



The predominating colour of the fur is a grizzled greyish brown, the 

 nape of the neck reddish buff, the under parts of the body and tail 

 pure white. The margins of the ears are dark, and show no black tips 

 as in those of the Hare. 



Blaine, in his Encyclopcedia of Rural Sports (1875), appears to have 

 been the first to draw attention to the more massive head of the buck 

 Rabbit, compared with the slimmer one of the doe. 

 The weight of a full grown animal is about 3 lbs. 

 In history the earliest accounts of this species refer to its abundance 

 in Spain and Portugal, as well as in Corsica and the Balearic Islands, 

 where we are told ferrets were used for its capture much as they are 

 to-day. It is also found in the Azores, Madeira, and the Canaries, 

 where it is said to be indigenous. 



From the Iberian Peninsula it appears to have spread to France and 

 other parts of the continent of Europe. 



According to Barrett-Hamilton {A History of "British Mammals^ 

 p. 184) the supposition that the Rabbit was introduced into Britain by 

 the Romans is without foundation, "as it had no native name in any 

 part of these Kingdoms until the Normans came over and named it." 



35 



