Part 18

STORIES ABOUT THE RAT.

1. Rats are very fond of eggs; but they do not like to be disturbed while eating, and so they contrive to carry the eggs to their nests, where they can enjoy their feast in safety.

2. In carrying off eggs, several rats will often go together. A rat will curl his tail around an egg, and roll it along. Coming to a staircase, they will hand the egg one to another so carefully as not to break it.

3. A lady once watched the rats, which were at work at her egg-basket. One rat lay down on his back, and took an egg in his arms. The other rats then seized him by the head, and dragged him off, egg and all.

4. Rats can easily be tamed, and even a dog can scarcely love its master better than a rat does when it is treated kindly. Mr. Wood tells this story of some tame rats:

5. "Some young friends of mine have a couple of rats which they have tamed. One, quite white, with pink eyes, is called 'Snow,' and the other, which is white, with a brown head and breast, is named 'Brownie.'

6. "The rats know their names as well as any dog could do, and answer to them quite as readily.

7. "They are not kept shut up in a cage, but are as free to run about the house as if they were dogs or cats.

8. "They have been taught a great number of pretty tricks. They play with their young master and mistress, and run about with them in the garden.

9. "They sit on the table at meal-times, and take anything that is offered to them, holding the food in their fore paws and nibbling it; but never stealing from the plates.

10. "They are very fond of butter, and they will allow themselves to be hung up by the hind feet and lick a piece of butter from a plate, or a finger.

11. "Sometimes these rats play a funny game. They are placed on the hat-stand in the hall, or put into a hat and left there until their owners go up-stairs.

12. "They wait until they are called, when they scramble down to the floor, gallop across the hall and up the stairs as fast as they can go.

13. "They then hunt until they find their master, climb to his shoulder, and search every pocket for a piece of bread and butter, which they know is there for them.

14. "They are very clean in their ways, and they are always washing their faces and brushing their mouths and fur with their paws, just as cats do.

15. "It is very amusing to see them search the pockets of those they know: diving into them, sniffing at every portion, and climbing out in search of another.

16. "They will not come at the call of a stranger, nor play any of their tricks with him; but they will allow themselves to be stroked and patted, and they never try to bite."

LESSON XXXIV.

ABOUT RABBITS.

1. We here come to the rabbit, one of our innocent and harmless friends that is a great pet with children. It is very timid and easily scared, but when treated kindly it becomes tame.

2. 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.

5. 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.

9. The burrows have two or more doors, so that if a weasel or some other enemy goes in at one door, the rabbit runs out at the other. In a warren, many burrows open into one another, forming quite a village under ground.