•466 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
FAMILIARITY ON SHORT ACQUAINTANCE. 
Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist 
religiously, simultaneously, tenaciously, unintentionally, 
nnobjeclionably, unequivocally, nndiscoverably, vexa- 
tiously, and unquestionably many others. 
IVSnking' llinisclT at Home. 
Of all animal pels there is none that boys and girls 
like better than rabbits, especially the white ones. Men 
who raise rabbits generally like other kinds, such as 
the monstrous fellows with lop-ears, -which make one 
think that the starch was left out when they were wash- 
ed, or those from Madagascar or some other far-off coun- 
try, very expensive, but very ugly. Rabbits are not very 
intelligent, but they are so tame and so little trouble that 
all young folks like them. By so little trouble is meant 
that they arc easily taken care of, but if the rabbits happen 
to get out into the garden, where they can have a frolic 
of a moonlight night, there will be " trouble" enough in 
the morning. Many like rabbits that are black, or brown, 
or of other colors, but none look so nice and clean as the 
white ones. How long and pretty their cars are; you 
perhaps think they arc only intended as handles by which 
to lift the animal, but that is not the caso ; the rabbit has 
neither claws nor teeth that will do much in fighting, so 
the animal for its safety depends upon running, and it 
has its cars so long, for the reason that the wolf in the 
story told Little Red Ridinghood, " all the better to hear, 
my dear." Your little pet rabbits can show yon one of 
the many ways in which the Creator has made animals 
fitted for the conditions in which they live, and if He 
did not give the rabbit the power to fight its enemies, He 
gave it very swift legs, and quick-hearing cars to tell it 
when to use them. Just look at the beautiful thin ears 
as the sunlight shines through them, and see the veins 
and arteries. How funny the little fellows nibble, and 
how they seem to enjoy eating— indeed that is about all 
the fun they seem to have. Perhaps you think that the 
little brown rabbit, that every one of you who has been 
much in the country knows, is just the same as your 
pet-, only wild ; we have no proper rabbit in this coun- 
try ; all those wild ones that are called rabbits, are hares. 
You would like to know the difference, well, there is not 
a very great one, the main thing is that, hares never make 
burrows, while the rabbits do. In Europe, where they 
are wild, they make regular underground villages, or 
warrens as they are called. Perhaps you do not know 
that the white rabbits, pink-eyed, you admire so much, 
are in their wild state gray or some other color, and that 
your white ones are albinoes. You will have to go to the 
dictionary for that word, unless it is explained here. It 
often happens that animals that are naturally dark color- 
ed, have now and then young that have white hair and 
pink eyes. White mice, which arc sometimes kept aB 
pets, are albinocs, and so are white rats; blackbirds, 
Bometimes have albinocs, and so do crows, and other 
birds that arc nsually dark colored; men and wo- 
men, even Africans, arc Bometinics albinoes, and have 
white silky hair and weak pink eyes. We have said 
so much about the real rabbits, that the picture is 
almost forgotten, but there is one curious thing we must 
tell about one of our wild rabbits, or rather hares: We 
said that the rabbit was given long ears for its safety; 
this hare lives far north, where the winters are long and 
the snow is on the ground for many months. In summer 
its modest brown coat is so much like the ground, that a 
prowling wolf or fox could not see it a great way off, but 
if the animal should run upon the snow, its brown color 
could be seen at a great distance. Now what do you 
suppose this hare docs? Just as you would do if you 
wished to hide on the snow, it dresses from top to toe in 
pure white. It is not right though to say that the hare 
does it, for the auinial could not help itself, but the good 
Father who cares for even the hares away upon the 
arctic snows, so made this animal that its coat will 
change with the season. Isn't that quite as strange as 
some of the wonder stories? But the picture. We have 
had a good laugh over it, for the artist has given so mncb 
expression to these usually rather stupid animals. Evi- 
dently the central dark rabbit is a new comer ; when he 
was put with the rest he Beemed to be very bashful, but 
now he is making himself quite at home, and is getting 
on the best of terms with the white one. The father oj 
the family is astonished at the impudence of the new 
comer, and evidently thinks, "Well, this chap is making 
himself at home." And the fellow at the left, how 
jealous he looks at the familiar new comer! 
