Food of rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus on upland grasslands in Connemara

The diet of rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus was investigated by analysis of faeces collected each month over one year from three warrens on upland grassland. Three-quarters of the diet was grass, with the remainder made up of approximately equal quantities of sedges, rushes and forbs-the last comprising mainly relatively minute amounts of a variety of species-together with small quantities of moss. Although Agrostis capillaris was the dominant sass, at two of the warrens several other genera of grasses were as well or better represented in the faeces, indicating that A. capillaris is not the preferred species. The genera Anthoxanthum, Deschampsia, Holcus, Cynosurus, Molinia, Dactylic, Poa and especially Festuca were also Important food species, and locally Anthoxanthum, Danthonia and Lolium. In winter the rabbits grazed more Deschampsia flexuosa, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Poa annua and moss, the last three utilised probably because they continue to grow through the winter and thus provide fresh tissue. Agrostis, Nardus stricta and Molinia caerulea were eaten more often in summer, the last two almost certainly because they provide particularly poor grazing later in the year.