i 82 
NATURE NOTES. 
when he performs his ablutions, an operation continually taking 
place, as he keeps himself even cleaner than a cat, whom he 
much resembles when washing, only using his fore feet in a 
much more hand-like manner than they do, sitting up and 
washing his face with both feet at once ; I have sometimes 
noticed him draw his long moustaches between his “ hands ” 
with great care to clean them, and when he is eating bread, and 
a crumb is escaping from his mouth, he puts a “hand” up in 
quite a human manner, and pushes it back. 
His idea of bliss is to sit with us after dinner until ten 
o’clock. He has a great idea of time, and is generally waiting 
for the door of the hutch to be opened, when he jumps out, and 
after inspecting everything of interest in the kitchen region of 
the house, bounds up three flights of stairs, four or six steps at 
a time, into the drawing-room, where, after investigating all his 
acquaintances in the shape of chair and table legs, he begins 
his gambols, which consist of tearing about at top speed, and 
doubling all across the rooms in a marvellous manner, never 
running into an}hhing ; he finishes with leaps and bounds, and 
then comes for bread, of which he is very fond. He is much 
interested in his own reflection, continually jumping on a chair 
to look in a looking-glass, and then looking about with a 
puzzled expression for an imaginary hare, the non-appearance 
of which is the insolvable problem of his life. 
In his cage he lives on oats, bran, and cabbage leaves, and 
has a remarkably large appetite ; for a treat he has bread, 
apples, cherries, and carraway comfits ; the last is a peculiar 
taste, as he will touch nothing sweet, nor yet eat plain carraway 
seeds, so it must be the crunching he enjoys. He has a marked 
preference for white. If I happen to be wearing a white dress, 
he will generally jump on my knee, instead of sitting on the 
floor, which he usuall}" does. After his games he lies down to 
rest, stretching out his great hind legs until they are as long as 
his body. At five minutes to ten he gets up and retires to the 
middle of the room, where he can see all ways, and, at the least 
movement on my part, is off" into hiding, and then we have a 
regular scramble, which he seems to enjo}’, until caught, when 
he swears and kicks, and often gets away again ; he has to be 
carried downstairs because, his front legs being so short com- 
pared with his hind ones, he cannot manage the steps. I think 
he excels all animals in cunningness ; if he finds a ruse answer 
during the catching process one night, he does not forget to do 
the same trick the next evening. 
One curious fact about Poppet is that he never drank any- 
thing from the time he came in ^lay until some time in January, 
and as I was told water was bad for rabbits, I concluded it 
might be so for hares, so I gave up putting it in his cage, as he 
never touched it. But one afternoon in the frosty weather, I 
found him drinking the water that had run down inside the 
window, so I offered him some and found he was ver}^ thirsty. 
