THE RABBIT . 
17 
THE RABBIT WARREN. 
One of the most familiar of the British burrowing rodents, 
is the common Rabbit ( Lepus cuniculus ), an animal notable for 
‘ sporting/ as gardeners would say, into a vast number of varie- 
ties, some of which are so unlike the original stock, that they 
seem to be species and not varieties, and indeed might have 
taken rank as species, did they not invariably display a ten- 
dency to recede to the ancestral short brown fur and upright 
ears of the wild Rabbit. 
The animal lives, as we all know, in burrows, and is mostly 
of a social nature, a considerable number of burrows being 
gathered together and known by the name of a Warren. When- 
ever the Rabbits find an undisturbed spot, which combines the 
advantages of a sandy situation with the vicinity of food, they 
c 
