FEB. OTTERS— MALLARDS — SWANS. 189 



the pools near the sea. The keeper is pretty sure 

 of catching them by putting traps at the places 

 where they leave the water on their way up the 

 stream after fishing. Whilst going down the otter 

 seldom leaves the water at all ; but unintermitt- 

 ingly fishes his way to the sea : coming up, he takes 

 the land at all the rapids and strong streams. Two 

 rather singular and yet similar things happened to 

 me one day whilst I was wild-fowl shooting. I shot 

 at a mallard, a considerable distance from me, and 

 evidently struck him, as, after flying some distance 

 to the windward, he pitched in a grass field : but, 

 on my approach, he rose again and went at a great 

 height down wind towards the sea. I happened to 

 keep my glass on him, and when he was about a 

 quarter of a mile off I saw him turn over in the air 

 and fall. On coming up to the place I found the 

 bird quite alive, but with his wing broken close to 

 the body. The shot must have struck the bone 

 without breaking it. The singular part of the 

 affair was that the bird could battle against strong 

 wind for at least a quarter of a mile without the 

 injured bone giving way. In the evening we went 

 to wait at a pool for ducks. Just as it got dark 

 a rushing noise was heard, and a pair of swans 

 skimmed rapidly over the old keeper's head, and 

 pitched in the water, making a monstrous wave. 



