abbit. Now in the seven Porto Santo rabbits the upper surface of the tail
was reddish-brown, and the tips of the ears had no trace of the black
edging. But here we meet with a singular circumstance: in June, 1861, I
examined two of these rabbits recently sent to the Zoological Gardens, and
their tails and ears were coloured as just described; but when one of their
dead bodies was sent to me in February, 1865, the ears were plainly edged,
and the upper surface of the tail was covered, with blackish-grey fur, and
the whole body was much less red; so that under the English climate this
individual rabbit had recovered the proper colour of its fur in rather less
than four years!

The two little Porto Santo rabbits, whilst alive in the Zoological Gardens,
had a remarkably different appearance from the common kind. They were
extraordinarily wild and active, so that many persons exclaimed on seeing
them that they were more like large rats than rabbits. They were nocturnal
to an unusual degree in their habits, and their wildness was never in the
least subdued; so that the superintendent, Mr. Bartlett, assured me that he
had never had a wilder animal under his charge. This is a singular fact,
considering that they are descended from a domesticated breed; I was so
much surprised at it, that I requested Mr. Haywood to make inquiries on the
spot, {115} whether they were much hunted by the inhabitants, or persecuted
by hawks, or cats, or other animals; but this is not the case, and no cause
can be assigned for their wildness. They live on the central, higher rocky
land and near the sea-cliffs, and, being exceedingly shy and timid, seldom
appear in the lower and cultivated districts. They are said to produce from
four to six young at a birth, and their breeding season is in July and
August. Lastly, and this is a highly remarkable fact, Mr. Bartlett could
never succeed in getting these two rabbits, which were both males, to
associate or breed with the females of several breeds which were repeatedly
placed with them.

If the history of these Porto Santo rabbits had not been known, most
naturalists, on observing their much reduced size, their reddish colour
above and grey beneath, with neither tail nor ears tipped with black, would
have ranked them as a distinct species. They would have been strongly
confirmed in this view by seeing them alive in the Zoological Gardens, and
hearing that they refused to couple with other rabbits. Yet this