GENERAL NOTES. 8 I 



counties and Scotland, where otters are still plentiful. Fishermen 

 dislike the otter because he is a wasteful animal; he kills many 

 more fish than he can eat, merely taking a tit-bit out of the 

 shoulder the " otter's bite " and leaving the rest of the carcase. 

 He is nocturnal in his habits, and is hunted in the summer at 

 earliest dawn by hounds of a particular breed. The men are, of 

 course, on foot. The excitement of running, wading, and swim- 

 ming makes otter-hunting a sport to which I am very partial. 



3 This is " poetical licence." 



4 It is very rarely that fish die because the surface is covered 

 with ice, even though it be so for many weeks, unless the water be 

 very shallow and of limited extent. Fish have been known to live 

 after being positively embedded in ice for some time. 



6 No birds will carry to and fro. The ordinary carrier-pigeon, 

 when taken from a place to which it has been accustomed to a 

 distance, and let loose, will fly back to such place, and of course 

 carry any letter which may be tied to it. When a pigeon is cast 

 off in a strange place, it soars high, wheeling in circles, and then 

 makes straight off for its home. 



The hawks used in falconry are : 



1. The gyr-falcon ; the best and largest are obtained from 



Norway and Iceland. 



2. The peregrine, very rare in England now. 



3. The hobby, a plucky and elegant little bird. 



4. The merlin, a small but bold hawk. 



5. The goshawk, and 



6. The sparrowhawk. 



Both the latter are " short-winged n hawks, and very little used. 

 The raven, the blood-red rook, and the French pye, are, of course, 

 not hawks at all. 



