36 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



useless) accomplishment that, on the other hand, upon the 

 thoroughness of our knowledge of animal life not only 

 depends the health of man, but that, besides, a fair proportion 

 of his wealth, represented by the health of his stock and of 

 his crops and by the preservation of his stores and property, 

 lies in the keeping of the science of nature-study. 



James Ritchie. 



Albino Otter. On i6th February 1 9 1 9 my keeper, Mr Charles 

 Aitken, trapped a bitch Otter in a young plantation here ; two days 

 later in the same wood he caught a young one alive. He heard it 

 calling, and traced it to a patch of bracken where he captured it. 

 On 19th February he was on the shore below the wood and saw 

 something of a light colour moving among the rocks. He got to 

 within about fifteen yards of it before it took any notice of him, then 

 it heard his feet on the shingle, looked up and ran towards him, and 

 he was able to catch it. It turned out to be a young Otter about 

 the size of the first, i.e., about 18 inches long, but it has pink eyes 

 and is the colour of a yellow white ferret, or perhaps I should say 

 its colour resembles a light sandy cairn terrier. At present both are 

 feeding and doing well. I don't know whether this is common or 

 not, but I have not heard of one before. John H. P. Leschallas, 

 Glenfinart, Ardentinny. 



A Creche of House-mice. We have just heard of a curious 

 occurrence in the economy of House-mice (Mus musculus). A 

 rick of wheat was being thrashed out in February 191 9, and in it 

 was discovered a regular creche of House-mice. In a space among 

 the straw, about 7 ins. in diameter, were no fewer than sixty-one 

 young mice, a good many just a day or two old, and others slightly 

 larger, all huddled together in this small space probably for the 

 sake of warmth. 



It would be interesting to know whether other readers of the 

 Scottish Naturalist have had parallel experiences. Evelyn V. 

 Baxter and Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul. 



