THE RABBIT OR CONY 
THE RABBIT OR CONY. 
Lepus cuniculus. 
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 Encyclopedia 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." 
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