NATURAL HISTORY OF THE RABBIT 27 



purpose of obtaining accurate pictures of the various 

 modes in which wild animals swim, he had live speci- 

 mens caught and placed in the water, and then rowed 

 alongside them for some distance, until he had made 

 correct outline sketches. 



Although rabbits are strictly speaking terrestrial 

 rodents, they occasionally show a tendency to arboreal 

 habits. Strange as it may appear, they will ascend 

 the sloping trunks of trees, not only when pursued by 

 a dog and no burrow is near, but also from choice. 

 Naturally they climb best on a tree which has rough 

 bark or ivy on it, and which has been blown or is 

 leaning out of the perpendicular. Sometimes they 

 will occupy the hollow of a decayed tree, at other 

 times the crown of a pollard. Instances are on 

 record of rabbits being found in such situations, at 

 heights varying from seven to ten or twelve feet from 

 the ground.' Colonel Hawker, in his ' Instructions to 

 Young Sportsmen ' (p. 256), mentions a case of a 

 rabbit being found sitting in a tree ; and a friend of 

 the present writer claims to have accomplished the 

 unique feat of shooting ' a rocketting rabbit,' which, 

 on being dislodged from a tree, sprang into the air 



' See The Field of December 20 and 27, 1879; Janu- 

 ary 10, 1880 ; July 7, 1888; March 14, 1896, and February 20 

 and 27, 1897. 



