Friends in Feathers and Fur, and Other Neighbors: For Young Folks Part 13

7. Our wild rabbit lives in the gra.s.s, or in holes which it finds in stumps and hollow trees, and among stones; but the English rabbit digs a hole in the soft ground for its home.

8. The holes that the rabbits dig are called _burrows_; and where a great many rabbits have burrows close together, the place where they live is called a _warren_.

9. The burrows have two or more doors, so that if a weasel or some other enemy goes in at one door, the rabbit runs out at the other. In a warren, many burrows open into one another, forming quite a village under ground.

10. The rabbits choose a sandy place for a warren, near a bank, where they can dig easily, and where the water will run off. In these homes they sleep most of the time during the day, and come out by night to feed on such plants as they can find. When wild, the dew gives them drink enough; but when fed with dry grain food, they need water.

LESSON x.x.xV.

_MORE ABOUT RABBITS._

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1. The rabbit has large ears, and can hear the slightest sound. When feeding or listening, the ears stand up or lean forward; but when running, the ears lie back on its neck.

2. When the rabbit hears any sound to alarm it, it never stops to see what is the matter, but scuds away to its hole, plunges in, and waits there until it thinks the danger has pa.s.sed away.

3. Then it comes to the mouth of the burrow, and puts out its long ears. If it does not hear anything, it raises its head a little more, and peeps out. Then, if it does not see anything out of the way, it comes out again and begins to feed.

4. Rabbits increase so fast that if they were not kept down they would soon eat up all the plants of our gardens and fields. So a great many animals and birds feed upon them, and a great many are killed for their meat and fur.

5. When first born, the little rabbits are blind, like puppies and kittens, and their bodies are naked. The mother rabbit makes a warm nest for them of dried leaves, and she lines it with fur from her own body.

6. In about ten or twelve days the little rabbits are able to see, and in a few weeks more they are quite able to take care of themselves.

7. The rabbits that we have for pets are of various colors, but mostly white or black, or part white and part black. They do not dig into the earth as the wild ones do, but they love to have their homes in snug little places, like holes.

8. The hind legs of the rabbit are longer than its fore ones, and, instead of walking, it hops along. When it runs, it springs forward with great leaps, and gets over the ground very fast.

9. Pet rabbits that have large ears sell most readily. One of the rabbits, in the picture, looks very curious with one long ear lopped down over his eye, and the other standing up straight.

10. When they live out in the woods and fields, rabbits have many cruel foes. One of the worst of these is the owl, who, prowling about in the dark, springs upon the poor rabbit, and breaks its neck with one fierce stroke of its sharp bill.

11. As a rabbit can not defend itself by fighting, it has long ears to detect danger, and swift feet to get away from an enemy. When alarmed, away it goes, with a hop, skip, and jump, and like a flash pa.s.ses out of sight.

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LESSON x.x.xVI.

_HOW THE HARE LIVES._

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1. The hare looks very much like a large rabbit. It has the same kind of teeth, and eats the same kind of food. Its legs are longer than those of the rabbit, and it runs in the same way, only faster.

2. It does not burrow in the ground nor crawl into holes, but it makes its home in tufts of long gra.s.s. As it lies in the same place for a long time, it makes a little hollow, which is called its _form_.

3. It has larger ears than the rabbit, and seems always listening. It is very timid, and, when it hears any strange sound, away it goes like the wind, running with long leaps.

4. When at rest in its form, it folds its legs under its body, lays its ears back flat on its neck; and, as it is of the color of dried gra.s.s, a person may pa.s.s by within a few feet of it and not see it.

5. Its upper lip is divided in the middle, as is also that of the rabbit. It sometimes will fight, and then it hits hard blows with its fore feet, and strikes so fast that its blows sound like the roll of a drum.

6. When the snow falls, the hare sits in its form, and is covered up.

But its fur keeps it warm, and the heat of its body melts the snow next to its skin, so that it sits in a kind of snow-cave, the snow keeping off the cold wind.

7. When dogs chase a hare, it runs very fast until the dogs are close to it, when it stops suddenly. This it can do, as it runs by leaping with its long hind legs.

8. The dogs can not stop so quickly, and run past. The hare then starts off in another direction, or _doubles_, as we say, and so gains upon the dog. In this way it often escapes, and then it goes back to its form.

9. The hare is sometimes tamed, and it soon learns to know its friends; but it is a troublesome pet, as it gnaws the legs of the chairs and tables, and destroys the trees in the yard by gnawing off the bark near the roots.

_ALICE'S BUNNY._

Would you hear about my bunny, All his little ways so funny?

First of all, then, you must know, He has coat as white as snow, Staring eyes of pink so pale, And a tiny, dumpy tail.

Once, he had a pretty mate, But she met a cruel fate.

Now quite by himself he stays, And contented spends his days.

He runs about the nursery floor, The chairs and table clambers o'er, And nestles down upon my lap Beside the cat, to take a nap;

And once, when I was in disgrace, He licked the tear-drops from my face.

Now, don't you think my little bunny Must be kind as well as funny?

LESSON x.x.xVII.

_SOMETHING ABOUT SQUIRRELS._

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