THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



139 



RABBITS CLIMBING TREES. 



By F. E. Prescott Decie, 



On Thursday, March 13th, I walked from 

 Oxford to Blenheim with a friend, and we 

 were much amused by the behaviour of the 

 rabbits in the park at the latter place. 

 Neither of us had ever before seen rabbits 

 gifted with such extraordinary powers of 

 climbing. Many instances of their arboreal 

 tendencies came under our notice, but I will 

 confine myself to the first and most striking 

 one. 



We had not been in the park long, when 

 we observed three rabbits feeding under an 

 oak. The oak was a fine old tree, but had 

 seen its best days, and the trunk was a mere 

 shell at the bottom, and was more or less 

 hollow all the way up. It grew to a height 

 of about nine feet, at an angle of from 45 0 

 to 50 0 , and turning perpendicularly upwards 

 for some three feet or more it forked out 

 into wide branches, two or three of which 

 spread out horizontally for some ten feet 

 before they inclined upwards. When we 

 were at a distance of about fifty yards from 

 the rabbits one of them saw us and immedi- 

 ately made for the tree. Up he went with 

 the greatest ease, unchecked even by the 

 perpendicular portion, and running across 

 the broad top bolted into a hole about 18 

 inches down the other side. In the mean- 

 time, the other rabbits had taken fright and 

 went up the tree too, they however, went up 

 inside and not outside as the first had done. 

 My friend on seeing the rabbits behave in 

 this cnrious fashion, promptly threw away 

 his stick and went up the tree after them. 

 We then set to work to examine the tree 

 carefully, and made out that the rabbits 

 must have run up and down the outside of 

 it frequently, for the bark had in places 

 been worn quite smooth by their feet. This, 

 however, was not all, but a more extraordi- 

 nary fact still remains to be mentioned. 

 They evidently ran out several feet on the 



broad horizontal boughs, for here again 

 they had worn the bark smooth, and, more- 

 over, they had nibbled the young twigs off 

 quite short with their sharp teeth. Whether 

 the rabbits lived in the hollow part of the 

 tree, or whether they merely used it as an 

 occasional hiding-place, we could not be 

 sure ; but we inclined to the latter opinion, 

 for there were several burrows at the foot 

 of the tree, and the position in which we 

 found one of the rabbits, at a height of 

 about five feet from the ground, appeared 

 extremely uncomfortable. I have heard 

 tales at various times of rabbits living in, or 

 running up, trees ; but the stories have been 

 so vague and indefinite that I am inclined 

 to think that such a well-marked case as 

 this does not often occur. 



MY LIBRARY. 



III. 



BRITISH AND GARDEN BOTANY, BY 

 LEO. H. GRINDON. 



When these papers were begun we intend- 

 ed to give at frequent intervals, an account 

 of the most useful books for beginners, and 

 those most interesting to the general reader. 

 Other things intervened and our purpose 

 was lost sight of. We resume the papers 

 now and will continue them occasionally. 



Grindon's Botany is not one of the 

 standard manuals for students, nor do we 

 recommend it as superior, or indeed equal 

 to such books as Hooker's Students Flora, or 

 Bdbington's Manual. But it is a pleasant 

 useful book for a beginner, and contains all 

 that he can require. A previous knowledge of 

 the rudiments of botany is needed before such 

 books as those we name above can be under- 

 stood. This is intended for the use of those 

 " who take an interest in plants and flowers, 

 whether wild or growing in gardens, and 

 who are wishful to acquire a knowledge of 



