RABBIT, Lepus cuniculus,' an animal of the same genus with the hare, but of smaller size, and with shorter limbs, the hind-legs shorter in proportion. It is not adapted, like hares, to seek safety by rapid and continuous running, hut by retreat ing to burrows, which it excavates with great dexterity. Except in some varieties, which result from domestication, the ears are only about as long its the head. The wild rabbit is of a grayish-brown color, paler or whitish on the under parts; the ears not tipped with black, like those of the common hare; the tail rather larger and more conspicu ous—brown above, white beneath. The rabbit exhibits a remarkable difference from the hare in its gregarious habits; and another in the comparatively imperfect state of the young at their birth, which are blind for some days, and are almost destitute of hair. It delights in sandy heaths, dry grounds covered with scattered furze or juniper, and other Ruth situations; to which, however, it is by no means restricted, and is often very troublesome by its depredations on crops in the finest fields, having its abode in some neighboring wood, but it never makes its burrow in a wet soil. Although now very abandaut in most parts of Britain, and generally throughout Europe, the'rabbit is said to have been introduced into Britain from Spain, and even to have been originally brought to Europe from the n. of Africa. In a wild state the rabbit is monogamous, and the attachment of a pair is said to continue during life; but in a state of domestica tion, it ceases to pair. The fertility of rabbits is proverbial; they begin to breed when six mouths old, Kud are capable of producing several litters in a year, of 4 to 12 or more in a litter; so that, in favorable circumstances, they multiply with prodigious rapidity; and although they have many natural enemies, would in many places become au intoler able pest to farmers, were not means adopted to reduce their numbers. Rabbits often inflict great injury on plantations by barking young trees, seeming to take pleasure in tearing off far more than they can eat. An infusion of tobacco repels them front trees. The flesh of rabbits is in high esteem, and the fur being used for various purposes, rab bit-warrens are found profitable in lands not suited for agriculture. See RABBIT-SKINS.
Instances have occurred of the rabbit and hare breeding together, but they are very rare, and the creatures seem rather to regard one another with antipathy.
Tame rabbits exhibit great variety of colors—gray, brown, reddish-black, more or less mixed with white, and often white with all the characters of albinism. Peculiarities of
other kinds also appear in some of the varieties, among which excessively long and drooping ears are one of the most remarkable. Fancy rabbits are prized and tended like fancy pigeons. But when rabbits are kept for economical purposes, those which differ less widely from -the original type are preferred. Rabbits eat almost any kind of vegetable food; the coarser blades of cabbages, turnip-leaves, celery-tops, carrot-tops, and other produce of the garden, not suitable for human use, are readily consumed by them, as well as chick-weed, sow-thistle, dandelion, and many other weeds. With very little trouble, and still less expense, a man can easily secure one or two rabbits a week for his family from the produce of his stock. When the rabhit-inclosure contains a plot of grass and clover, it affords them an important part of their food. Great care is requisite to keep their boxes dry, neglect of which, and a too exclusive feeding with green and succulent food, cause diseases, often fatal, particularly to the young. Dry food, such as corn, ought to be frequently given; and aromatic herbs—such as parsley, thyme, milfoil, etc.—not only tends to preserve the health of rabbits, but to improve the flavor of their flesh. It is usual to give no water to tame rabbits; but it is better to supply them regularly with it, and the females particularly need it after producing young.
The Angora rabbit is a remarkable variety, with very long silky hair, which is easily stripped off in summer, and is of considerable value. The rearing of this kind of rab bit is extensively practiced, in some parts of France, In order to the manufacture of gloves, etc.
An old English npme for the rabbit is cony, and its name in many other languages is similar to this, as bat. cunicinus. Ital. coniglio, Ger. kaninclien, Welsh czoningen; but the rabbit is not the cony (q.v.) of Scripture.
The gray rabbit (lepus sylraticps) of North America is the most plentiful species of the genus ?epos in New Jersey', Pennsylvania, and the more southern states; but although it somewhat resembles the common rabbit in color, and is rather inferior to it in size, its habits are intermediate between those of the rabbit and of the hare. It does not burrow, although, when hard pressed by a pursuer, it retreats into any accessible hole, and sometimes digs, in order to escape from or enter an inclostire