The Burgess Animal Book for Children | Page 5

Old Mother Nature waited patiently.
Finally Peter began rather timidly.
"Of course," said he, "the only way I know how I look is by the way the
other members of my family look, for I've never seen myself. I suppose
in a way I look like all the rest of the Rabbit family. I have long hind
legs and short front ones. I suppose this is so I can make long jumps
when I am in a hurry."
Old Mother Nature nodded, and Peter, taking courage, continued. "My
hind legs are stout and strong, but my front ones are rather weak. I
guess this is because I do not have a great deal of use for them, except

for running. My coat is a sort of mixture of brown and gray, more
brown in summer and more gray in winter. My ears are longer for my
size than are those of most animals, but really not very long after all,
not nearly as long for my size as my cousin Jumper's are for his size.
My tail doesn't amount to much because it is so short that it is hardly
worth calling a tail. It is so short I carry it straight up. It is white like a
little bunch of cotton, and I suppose that that is why I am called a
Cottontail Rabbit, though I have heard that some folks call me a Gray
Rabbit and others a Bush Rabbit. I guess I'm called Bush Rabbit
because I like bushy country in which to live."
"I live in the dear Old Briar-patch and just love it. It is a mass of bushes
and bramble-tangles and is the safest place I know of. I have cut little
paths all through it just big enough for Mrs. Peter and myself. None of
our enemies can get at us there, excepting Shadow the Weasel or Billy
Mink. I have a sort of nest there where I spend my time when I am not
running about. It is called a form and I sit in it a great deal."
"In summer I eat clover, grass and other green things, and I just love to
get over into Farmer Brown's garden. In winter I have to take what I
can get, and this is mostly bark from young trees, buds and tender twigs
of bushes, and any green plants I can find under the snow. I can run fast
for a short distance, but only for a short distance. That is why I like
thick brush and bramble- tangles. There I can dodge. I don't know any
one who can beat me at dodging. If Reddy Fox or Bowser the Hound
surprises me away from the dear Old Briar-patch I run for the nearest
hollow log or hole in the ground. Sometimes in summer I dig a hole for
myself, but not often. It is much easier to use a hole somebody else has
dug. When I want to signal my friends I thump the ground with my
hind feet. Jumper does the same thing. I forgot to say I don't like
water."
Old Mother Nature smiled. "You are thinking of that cousin of yours,
the Marsh Rabbit who lives way down in the Sunny South," said she.
Peter looked a wee bit foolish and admitted that he was. Jumper the
Hare was all interest at once. You see, he had never heard of this
cousin.

"That was a very good account of yourself, Peter," said Old Mother
Nature. "Now take a look at your cousin, Jumper the Hare, and tell me
how he differs from you."
Peter took a long look at Jumper, and then, as before, scratched one ear
with a long hind foot. "In the first place," said he, "Jumper is
considerably bigger than I. He has very long hind legs and his ears are
very long. In summer he wears a brown coat, but in winter he is all
white but the tips of those long ears, and those are black. Because his
coat changes so, he is called the varying Hare. He likes the Green
Forest where the trees grow close together, especially those places
where there are a great many young trees. He's the biggest member of
our family. I guess that's all I know about Cousin Jumper."
"That is very good, Peter, as far as it goes," said Old Mother Nature.
"You have made only one mistake. Jumper is not the biggest of his
family."
Both Peter and Jumper opened their eyes very wide with surprise.
"Also," continued Old Mother Nature, "you forgot to mention the fact
that Jumper never hides in hollow logs and holes in the ground as you
do. Why don't you, Jumper?"
"I wouldn't feel safe there," replied Jumper rather timidly. "I depend on