TALKS WITH YOUNG OBSERVERS 307 



ill place of links. At one point the otter had 

 gone ashore and scratched a little upon the 

 ground. He had gone from pool to pool, tak- 

 ing the open rapids wherever they appeared. 



The otter is a large mink or weasel, three 

 feet or more long and very savage. It feeds 

 upon fish, which it seems to capture with ease. 

 It is said that it will track them through the 

 water as a hound tracks a fox on land. It will 

 travel a large distance under the ice, on a single 

 breath of air. Every now and then it will ex- 

 hale this air, which will form a large bubble 

 next the ice, where in a few moments it be- 

 comes purified and ready to be taken into the 

 creature's lungs again. If by any accident the 

 bubble were to be broken up and scattered, 

 the otter might drown before he could collect 

 it together again. A man who lived near the 

 creek said the presence of the otter accounted 

 for the scarcity of the fish there. 



The other day one of my farmer neighbors 

 asked me if I had seen the new bird that was 

 about. This man was an old hunter, and had 

 a sharp eye for all kinds of game, but he had 

 never before seen the bird, which was nearly as 

 large as a robin, of a dull blue or slate color 

 marked with white. 



Another neighbor, who was standing by, said 

 the bird had appeared at his house the day be- 

 fore. A cage with two canaries was hanging 



