Not only is the flesh and the hair of the Rabbit utilized, but its skin is also employed in the manufacture of gelatine.
The domestic Rabbit is, therefore, a valuable animal. Not so the wild Rabbit, for, by its rapid multiplication, its burrowing habits, and its herbivorous tastes, it is to the agriculturist a veritable scourge. For this reason it is hunted with perseverance, ferrets being frequently employed in some countries to drive it from the depths of its warren.
THE PICAS AND THE CALLING HARES.
These Rodents differ from the Hares and Rabbits in having ears of moderate length, and in the nearly equal development of all their limbs. They are principally inhabitants of Siberia and the north of Europe; their voice is sharp and piercing, and they are destitute of any tail; they are all of small size, none of them exceeding the dimensions of a large Rat.
The Pica is about the size of a Guinea Pig, and covered with yellowish-red hair. It inhabits the loftiest summits of mountains, and employs itself, during the summer, in collecting and drying a supply of herbage for winter use. The heaps of hay thus accumulated are of extraordinary dimensions, sometimes measuring as much as six or seven feet in height, and are invaluable to the hunters of Sables, affording fodder for their Horses at a period when no other provender is obtainable.
The Calling Hare inhabits the southeastern parts of Russia, and the slopes of the Ural mountains, and also the western side of the Atlantic chain. The head is long; the ears large, short, and rounded; there is no tail. There are twenty molar teeth, five on either side of each jaw. The body is only six inches in length. The fur is of a greenish-brown color, hoary underneath.
MARSUPIALIA—POUCHED QUADRUPEDS.
A CURIOUS pouch, or fur bag, in which they carry their babies while they are still too young to run about by themselves is the distinguishing feature of the members of this group of animals. The name of the order, Marsupialia, comes from the Latin, marsupium, meaning a pouch or bag.
When these babies are born they are the most helpless of all young animals, as they are not fully developed, and the mother places them in this pouch where they remain, like Birds in a nest, until they are strong enough to run about by themselves; and for a long time after that, they make use of this pouch, by hiding in it in times of danger or when the mother is escaping from an enemy; and the little ones could not keep up with her unless carried in this pouch.
There are several different animals that belong to this family of Pouched Quadrupeds, like the Wombats, Bandicoots, Phalangers, Dasyures, etc., but the most important are the Kangaroos and the Opossums.