ii6 LETTERS TO MARCO xvm 



engaged being very characteristic of these 

 lively birds. 



About a week ago my nephew, Clayton 

 Leslie, called my attention to the remains of 

 a large jack which he found lying on the 

 steps of my old boat-house. This old boat- 

 house is hardly ever used now, and is in a 

 secluded part of the garden. The remains 

 in question consisted of the head and part of 

 the tail of what must have been at least a 

 6 Ib. fish ; all the rest was apparently eaten 

 away by some creature. The fish was quite 

 fresh, and even bleeding a little, and could 

 not have long been there. We came to the 

 conclusion that it was the work of an otter 

 for many reasons. In the first place, no other 

 creature except a cat would have eaten such 

 raw fish ; but apart from the fact that no cat 

 could have caught or mastered so large a fish, 

 the only entrance to this boat-house, the door 

 being shut, was from the water, whilst the 

 step on which the remains lay was submerged 

 with water about an inch or more ; a cat would 



