THE NIGHT SIDE OF NATURE 101 



engrossed did the combatants become that I ap- 

 proached, and, taking the part of the lesser, shot its 

 aggressor. 



And now a word as to the food of the otter. That 

 it destroys fish I am not about to deny. But this 

 liking for fish has become such a stereotyped fact (?) 

 in natural history that it is glibly repeated, parrot- 

 like, and so continues until most readers have come 

 to accept it. The otter destroys but few fish, using 

 the word in its popular acceptation. What it 

 destroys are for food, and not out of love of killing. 

 The greater part of its diet consists of fresh-water 

 crayfish, thousands of which it destroys, and it is 

 for these that long journeys are so frequently made. 

 This does not apply to the pairing season; the 

 wanderings have then another end. Many miles in 

 a night are traversed in search of these crustaceans, 

 the beds of mountain and moorland streams being 

 tracked to their source, and almost every stone on 

 the way examined. Upon two occasions at least 

 I have found the remains of a moor-hen after an 

 otter's meal. 



