NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 23 



extinction an irreparable mischief would be done to our rivers, our lakes and 

 tarns, and to the tens of thousands of anglers who derive pleasure and profit upon 

 their banks. The otter is one of the fisherman's best friends ; and, reckless as 

 some may think this assertion, we repeat it, and have reason for so doing 

 Whilst we write, we have in our mind a little river in our own neighbourhood 

 than which, for its size, there is not a better in the kingdom as a trout stream ; 

 and yet this river, figuratively speaking, actually swarms with otters. Depend 

 upon it, the otter lends respectability to a river, for where he is found, there will 

 the fish be found also. Perhaps his presence may not be desirable in the rearing 

 pond ; but were we on the look out for fresh fishing ground, the known haunt 

 of the 'water-dog' would decidedly have preference over a stream which knew 



him not Nowiihstanding the evil character given this animal as a 



river poacher, we have every reason for knowing that fish forms only one course, 

 and that not always a considerable one, of its daily meals. The young of water- 

 hens, coots, and other birds breeding by the waterside, and at times rabbits, and 

 even large worms, are common changes in the otter's diet ; while frogs, eels, and 

 the crustaceous crayfish are probably thought as great a dainty as the brightest of 

 silvery salmon. These facts are easily proved by an examination of the animal's 

 ' foil ' ; while we have over and over again had ocular demonstration of the 

 avidity with whic'.r vegetable food is consumed. It is not intended to assert that 

 the otter does not relish a salmon cutlet or toothsome trout ; but that he is the 

 wanton destroyer of fish to the extent often imputed to him, those best acquainted 

 with his habits firmly deny. Cunning and quick in his actions as the otter may 

 be, a salmon is more so ; and this fact alone should weigh in the otter's favour, 

 when charges are made about the depopulation of our fishing streams. It is more 

 likely that he acts the part of a river scavenger ^ destroying, as a rule, only such fish as 

 are diseased, and which from their -weakness are iinahle to escape his clutches." 



Rough-legged Buzzard {Archibuteo lagopus') at Little Baddow.— Mr. 



C. Smoothy, of Little Baddow, writes : " I saw a tine specimen of the Rough- 

 legged Buzzard on March 5th. It was seen again on the 7th. The bird is 

 very rare in Essex, I may sa}- almost extinct. This specimen was not shy. I 

 might easily have shot it, but trust it will share a better fate. It was sailing 

 over one of my fields some time. It caused several partridges to scuttle off to the 

 fence. At the same time I do not think this bird is destructive to game, being 

 very slow of flight. I have not seen any for several years. I have two good 

 specimens, one killed in Norfolk and one in Cambridgeshire." 



[Many records of the occurrence of the bird in Essex are given in the "Birds 

 of Essex." Mr. Hope writes, "Common on the coast, first arriving at the end 

 of September, but coming in flocks in very cold weather." The occurrence of a 

 fine female specimen at Patching Hall, near Chelmsford, in 1879, is recorded b\' 

 Mr. Miller Christy in "Trans. Essex Field Club," vol. i., p. 63.'— El).] 



Waxwing {^Ampelis garrulus') at Oakley and Stock. — The " Essex County 

 Chronicle," for February 8th, records that " on Monday, Mr. Keeble, the carrier, 

 shot a pair of Waxwings, a bird very rarely seen in this country. The 

 ' Chronicle ' of March 30th, 1883, records the shooting of one by Mr. B. Watson, 

 jun., at Dedham, about that date. Mr. T. W. Offin shot one at Rayleigh about 

 ten years ago, while Mr. Charles Smoothy saw one at Danbury on several occa- 

 sions during January, 1890. Further back, Turrell records that his friend Mr- 

 Joseph Clarke killed one out of a flock in 1835, at Saffron Walden. Like most 

 of the winter visitors to this country, the Waxwing comes to us from the north. 



