The Haunts and Habits of the British Otter. 13 



my life . . . though I have been looking out for 

 him for over forty years." It may be this paucity 

 of experience that makes him describe the Otter 

 as " amphibious," in which error, however, he but 

 follows Gilbert White, who never saw one alive. 



Nevertheless, I fancy there are few waters in 

 the British Isles that are not at some time 

 haunted by Otters. They will even work canals 

 and rivers running through populous towns^ and 

 wherever there are rocky cliffs and caves upon the 

 seashore there will Otters be found, especially 

 during the winter months. 



When the bitch Otter is about to lay down her 

 young, she looks out for a snug and secure retreat 

 in close proximity to an abundant food supply, 

 whether this be in a narrow muddy rivulet abound- 

 ing with young eels and d^p in the recesses of a 

 forest, or in a dry drain among water meadows 

 populated by frogs, or high up a mountain burn 

 in a cairn of stones, hard by which there is good 

 store of fresh- water Crustacea and small fish fry, 

 with perhaps the chance of a few young rabbits, 

 upon which to nourish herself and her cubs, until 

 they shall be old enough to be taught to fish for 

 themselves. The locality of this breeding couch 

 will depend upon the nature of the country which 

 the Otter inhabits; but I think, so far as evidence 

 is available, that more bitches move up-stream in 



