BADGERS OTTERS SWISS BIRDS 179 



not very well get a look at it, but know that he 

 is now, according to my order, taking his pleasure 

 at liberty in the Lynch. Add to this the 

 discovery that we have a brood of young otters 

 in the long drain that runs from the small aviary- 

 pond to the river, and you will readily under- 

 stand that my mammalogical satisfaction is 

 great ! ' 



To the same. 



' Lilford : March 22 1894. 



* . . . The Swiss hills were good in my time 

 there (1850) for certain species of birds, and 

 ought to be better now, as I understand that 

 there is a rigid bird-protection law. I used 

 often to see Ospreys about Ouchy in the Spring^ 

 but never heard of their nesting thereabouts, 

 though there are many likely localities on both 

 sides of the Lake. It would be early for an 

 Osprey, but if your bird was not of that species 

 it was very probably the Serpent Eagle, " Jean le 

 Blanc " (Circaetus gallicus). Both this bird and 

 Osprey would look nearly pure white from 

 below, at a height in the air. But the Osprey's 

 wings are long and comparatively narrow, with 



