108 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS 



These birds in April habitually construct two, three, 

 or more nests before finally laying- in the last. It some- 

 times happens that one of these "false nests" comes in 

 useful as a supplementary nursery in July. 



Waterhens breed twice ; and apparently pair afresh, 

 preparatory to entry en secondes noces — at least the males 

 go through a bout of furious fighting- in the early days 

 of June. 



July 1 6.- — This evening- at 8 p.m., while sitting by 

 the river-side at Gold-Island stream, waiting" for that 

 "psychological moment," the precise stage of twilight 

 when salmon are most apt to regard a "Jock Scott" 

 in the proper and desired light, my terrier Van made a 

 sudden dash into the thick willows, and out sprang an 

 otter within a few yards. The water here shoals to the 

 shore, and, knowing this, the otter cleared a good io feet, 

 taking a beautiful "header" into the deeper pool beyond. 

 During the same week the hounds hunted this water, 

 and my friend — a dog-otter of 22 lbs. — lost his life 



One seldom sees otters by day, though webbed foot- 

 prints on the sand betray their presence. Evidence of 

 their handiwork is most frequent in early spring, when 

 they kill a good many salmon-kelts. They often eat a 

 bit out of the back of the neck, and leave the rest of the 

 fish lying on the gravel, or on a rock in mid-stream. 



July 18. — Watched a kingfisher on the burn take 

 three trout in consecutive plunges, each capture being- 

 carried to a stone in mid-stream. The fourth attempt 

 failed, when he changed his stance, and then caught two 

 more. Shortly afterwards he retired to a crevice among 

 some rocks and went to sleep. A kingfisher's favourite 

 perch is on some dead twig a couple of feet above the 

 water, and always shaded above by an overhanging 



