' 
ORDER OF RODENTIA. 
495 
It has also, like the Hare, many enemies, and to escape them it 
takes refuge in its subterranean dwelling. As it has not the 
speed of its congener, it would be rapidly overtaken by Dogs 
if it trusted to its powers of flight. Its fear or anger is ex- 
pressed in a singular fashion, namely, by striking the ground with 
its hind foot ; some say it does this to warn its fellows of danger. 
The fecundity of the Hare, though great, cannot be com- 
pared with that of the Rabbit, for one female of the latter may 
Kg. 215. — Wild Rabbits (Lepus cuniculus). 
have seven or eight litters a year, with from four to eight in 
each. Some days before bringing forth the Rabbit excavates a 
chamber, which is specially destined for its progeny. 
This burrow, which is straight or crooked, as the case may be, 
invariably terminates in a circular apartment, furnished with 
a bed of dry herbage, which again is covered with a layer 
of down, that the mother has torn from the lower portion of 
h$r body. On this bed the young are deposited. As soon as 
