Rabbit

“ From these broad bases their bodies taper up in the oddest way, to narrow, sloping shoulders and small, deer-like heads. Their full bright eyes glance about, their rabbit-like ears stand erect, listening. ”

“ At the hour when man is at rest, the rabbits, silvered by the dew, bound over the mint of the furrow and hold their conventicles; the frogs croak in the marsh and make it ripple; the glowworms filter their soft and humid yellow light; the mole bores the meadow; the nightingale sobs like a fountain; the owl utters sad laughter as if it too, however timidly, were trying to have a share in the joy of God.
How I would like to be a creature of the night, a hare trembling in a hedge of hawthorn, a badger grazed by the leaves of the juicy green corn. ”

“ The rabbit, failing to find a cover, hides in the grass and dry rushes; but across the meadow, stealing along the furrow, comes the weasel; and, shift his place how he may, in the end, worn out and weary, bunny succumbs, and the sharp teeth meet in the neck behind the ear, severing the vein. ”

“ A white rabbit in his winter pelage drifted up the path toward them and leaped frightened into the junipers just as a snowy owl, tilting and banking in the pines overhead, darted down at him.
Up against the face of the heavens they heard a bird's call ”

“ Whoever has seen at the Zoological Gardens a rabbit, fascinated by a serpent, cowering in a corner, may form some idea of the anguish which the dog exhibited. Finding all efforts to soothe the animal in vain, and fearing that his bite might be as venomous in that state as in the madness of hydrophobia, I left him alone, placed my weapons on the table beside the fire, seated myself, and recommenced my Macaulay. ”

“ O my mother and father, I see that the snow has fallen, whereby easily rabbits are tracked, and the young men who went out this morning returned long before evening heavily laden with strings of this game. Behold, in the other rooms of our house are many rabbit-sticks, and there hang on the walls stone axes, and with these I might perchance strike down a rabbit on his trail, or, if he run into a log, split the log and dig him out. ”

“ I do not accept the decision that ranks the little gray rabbit as a hare, simply because he has a slit in his lip; at all events I shall call him a rabbit for convenience, to distinguish him from his longlegged cousin, who turns white in winter, never takes to a hole and can keep ahead of hounds nearly all day, affording a game, musical chase that is seldom out of hearing. ”

“ Rough’s restless movements on the left sent a big rabbit leaping right across our front. Moving at speed, a rabbit presents much of the poetry of motion. How regularly its limbs curve and straighten, and its lithe body298 bounds in response to muscles hard as steel hidden beneath the soft gray-and-white fur. Yet this one, though blessed with abundant energy, did not get to cover before the principal’s gun spoke. ”

“ A soft rabbit under the wide paw of a California lion, or a sparrow in the talons of a hawk, is not more utterly helpless than was the poor dominie in her terrible clutch. His position was anything but an enviable one. ”

“ The wild rabbit lives in the fields and meadows and woods, and eats the young buds of the bushes and young trees; it likes especially the tender roots of the furze bushes, and it nibbles the soft bark of the trees, and spoils a great number of them. ”

“ Long ago Wild Rabbit of the Northland wore a brown fur coat, throughout the year. Today, when the long winter months come, Wild Rabbit changes his coat of brown to one that is the colour of the snow. And this is how the change happened.
Wild Rabbit could not defend himself from his many foes. Almost all the animals,—foxes of all kinds, wildcats, wolves, wolverines, weasels, and ermine hunted Wild Rabbit for food. Then there were the fierce birds,—the eagles, hawks, and owls—that were always on the lookout for rabbits, young or old. ”

“ So deep are the old ones, in fact, that the quiet watcher in the woods will occasionally see two large, upright ears—unmistakably those of a rabbit, seemingly sticking out of a hole in the ground—yet moving at a rapid pace, and all the while no rabbit in view. ”

“ He saw her, and, halting in the shade, he waited for her to come up, and as she drew near he cried out, "Helloa, young rabbit."
She wrinkled her Greek nose at him, but she liked his banter, and with assumed offense she replied: "Frog."
"None of that, my lady."
"Well, then, what made you call me a young rabbit?"
"Because your ears stick out."
"I don't care if they do."
"Neither does a young rabbit." ”

“ At least the rabbit seemed real, for his ears slowly moved backward and forward, his head turned from side to side, and, every now and then, he would rise on his hind legs and then crouch down again.
"What's the matter with you?" ”

“ It was the White Rabbit, trotting slowly back again, and looking anxiously about as it went, as if it had lost something; and she heard it muttering to itself ‘The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh my fur and whiskers! She’ll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are ferrets! ”

“ I should so like something for a pet. Do, mama, buy me something—a Guinea pig, or a couple of pigeons, or a rabbit. Oh! I saw such a beautiful white rabbit yesterday.
“Ay, my dear,” said his mama, “I am afraid you would soon grow tired of your rabbit, as you did of your gun, and bow and arrow, and ship, and rocking-horse.”
[Pg 7]
“Oh! but a rabbit is quite different, mama; you can love a rabbit, you know, and coax it, and feed it, and make it happy. I should go out early in the morning, and pick some nice clover for it, and some thistle, and dandelion, and marsh mallows. ”

“ The rabbit which tempts your stones will come and smell at your toes, the birds will hop on you and sing as you lie in the grass, even the alleged ferocious animals, such as bears, will come and take bread from your hands—if they feel you are near to them. ”

“ The rabbit is a noble animal and one that will perform in wonderful fashion for any lover of them. And because of this very fact, advantage is taken of them to "bleed the suckers," as the expression goes. ”

“ The Night of the Nightingale In the Forest. Evening. Huge trees with thick gnarled roots. At the base of one of the trees, Time or a lightning stroke has hollowed a sort of chamber. Rising slopes carpeted with heather. Rabbit holes. Mosses. Toadstools. Stretched between two ferns, a great cobweb, spangled with water-drops. At the rise of the curtain, Rabbits are discovered on every side among the underbrush, peacefully inhaling the evening air. A time of serene silence and coolness.
Scene First
A Rabbit in front of his burrow, Choir of Unseen Birds. ”

“ In hunting any outlying place, if by chance there was a white rabbit, I used to stop Wolf from hunting it up to my gun, and by observation the dog convinced himself that a rabbit so coloured was on no account to be molested. ”

“ I like this little rabbit. See how it can jump. Rabbit, run to me. Jump, rabbit. Let me see how you can jump. I like to play with you. I like to see you hop and jump. Do you like milk, little rabbit? Can you drink like my dogs? Do you have a pretty bed like the doll? My dogs will not catch you, rabbit. ”

“ Away they scuttled in every direction—hundreds of rabbits, old and half-grown young. Going a little further we noticed our small spaniel sniffing at a burrow. "He's a clever little dog," said my companion; "he always lets me know when a rabbit is not too far down." ”

“ They are as wings compared with the deformities that bear up the ordinary rabbit hound. With winged legs, protecting color, a clear map of the country in his head,—its stumps, rail-piles, cat-brier tangles, and narrow rabbit-roads,—with all this as a handicap, Bunny may well run his usual cool and winning race. ”

“ The rabbit is about the size of a cat, and has a short tail. The wild gray rabbit is not so large as the tame rabbit which we have about the house.
3. The rabbit has sharp gnawing-teeth like the rat and mouse, and it gets its food and eats it in the same way.
4. It eats the leaves and stalks of plants, and is very fond of cabbage, lettuce, and the tender leaves of beets and turnips. It sometimes does much damage by gnawing the bark of young fruit-trees. ”

“ Several rabbits darted past, to their great amusement, especially one very large rabbit—brown, not gray—which dodged them in and out, and once nearly threw Gardener down, pail and all, by running across his feet; which set them all laughing, till they came where Dolly, the cow, lay chewing the cud under a large oak-tree. ”

“ Their food consists entirely of grass, which they nibble much after the fashion of our common rabbit. They never burrow or dig holes in the ground, but pass their lives among the loose stones. Who can fail to trace the evidence of Divine care in colouring the fur of this defenceless creature in a garb exactly resembling the grey lichen-covered fragments amongst which he is destined to pass his life? ”

“ The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. ‘Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?’ he asked.
‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’
These were the verses the White Rabbit read:—
‘They told me you had been to her, And mentioned me to him: She gave me a good character, But said I could not swim. ”

“ We have heard of people offering strenuous objections to poultry, but we have yet to hear of any one objecting to the rabbit.
It is a noiseless animal. It never has anything to say and it makes no racket whatever, except to stamp its hind legs on the floor of the hutch once in a while when it thinks a stranger is near. ”

“ When the rabbit runs his head through the noose, he pulls the slip-knot and is quickly carried up by the spring of the young tree. This is a good plan, for the rabbit is out of harm's way as he swings high in the air. ”

“ They will take a rabbit out of a trap, turn it inside out, and eat all the meat, leaving the skin behind, turned neatly with the fur inside. They are also fond of very young rabbits, and will dig a shaft through several feet of solid earth direct on to the nest. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The rabbit mostly feeds during moonlight nights, or soon after sunset. The white upturned tails of alarmed rabbits serve as signals and guides to the feeble and young, and also to those at a more remote distance. ”

“ Of this slender, graceful creature, there are several species. The animal which passes by the name of rabbit, in America, and is common in our woods, is a hare. The pursuit of this animal is a favorite sport in England, and some other countries of Europe. ”

“ In practically every rabbit show you attend now-a-days you will see an exhibition of furs made from the pelts of the domesticated rabbit. The American Blue rabbit makes a wonderful set of furs, and muffs that cannot be equalled. ”

“ A rabbit scurried across the road from one gate to another, its white breast shining silver, and some other small furry creature, of a species undetected, created a brief pandemonium in a neighbouring ditch. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It has whiskers like the cat, so that it can crawl into holes without making a noise.
6. Its fore feet are armed with strong, blunt claws. It can not climb, but it is able to dig holes in the earth.
7. Our wild rabbit lives in the grass, 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. ”

“ A small terrier used to start a rabbit nearly every morning, at the end of the shrubbery next the house, and hunt him through the whole length of it to the other end, where the rabbit escaped into an old drain. ”

“ One or two illustrations of recognition marks in creatures will be sufficient. A rabbit when alarmed and fleeing to its burrow displays a conspicuous, upturned white tail. The rest of the body is protectively colored. ”

“ Besides these characters, the rabbit is separated from the hare by the fact that it brings forth its young naked, blind, and helpless; to compensate for this, it digs a deep burrow in the earth in which they are born and reared, while the young of the hare are born fully clothed with fur, and able to take care of themselves, in the shallow depression or “form” in which they are produced. The weight of the rabbit is from 21⁄2 to 3 ℔, although wild individuals have been recorded up to more than 5 ℔. ”

“ THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were— Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter. ”

“ The rabbit indeed at a distance looks like a small hare; but when taken in the hand, it is found to be widely different both in appearance and in the taste of its flesh; and it also lives generally underground. ”

“ Snow-shoe rabbits were plentiful and wherever their runways led in and out of the scrub-spruce and fir covers, there those furred assassins of the forest, the fox and the lynx, the fisher and the marten, were sure to make their hunting-grounds. ”

“ Wild or semi-wild rabbits are distinguished as "warreners," who burrow underneath the earth, and live in communities; "parkers," whose favourite resort is the park or pleasure ground of an estate, where they usually breed in great numbers, and frequently drive away the hares; and the "hedgehog," of roaming habits.
1356.—RABBIT, BARBECUE OF. (Fr.—Lapin Grillé.)
Ingredients.—1 very young rabbit, salad-oil or oiled butter, salt and pepper. For the sauce: 2 tablespoonfuls of good gravy, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful of French mustard. ”