[ 10 ] 
ffaofe they have an opportunity of fele&ing a pro- 
per place for their concealment. 
The ground, however, in a warren, is eaten fo very 
bare by Rabbits, that it is impofiible for them to 
hide them (elves if they make a form in any part of 
it, and they therefore very judicioufly choofe to bur- 
row under ground. 
Another reafon, perhaps, for the Rabbit’s burrow- 
ing arifes from the animal’s being not only born, 
but continuing the firft fix weeks of its life, under 
ground ; they therefore only pradtife what they have 
feen and learned in their earliefl infancy, as birds 
from the fame circumftance always build their neft 
in the fame form, and with the fame materials. 
I therefore cannot allow entirely of the diftinc- 
tion arifing from the fuperior fagacity of the Rab- 
bit, becau(e it burrows ; and Monf. de Buffon him- 
ielf informs us, that tame Rabbits turned into a 
warren do not burrow for many generations [/]. 
Having thus endeavoured to fhew that no proper 
criteria have hitherto been fixed upon to diftinguifh 
the Rabbit from the Hare, I fhall now venture to 
fugged the two following, which, I flatter myfelf,, 
will be found lefs liable to the fame exceptions* 
If the hind legs of an European Hare are mea-- 
fured from the uppermoA joint to the toe, the num- 
ber of inches will turn out to be jufl half of the 
length of the back, from the rump to the mouth 
(the tail not being included). 
The hind legs of the Rabbit being meafured in 
the lame manner, and compared with the back 
are not much more than one third 3 from which' 
[/] Hift. Nat. T. 5. p. 306. 
IS 
