178 MUSTELAK^. 



Aberdeenshire friend if he knew of the Spotted Otter, 

 he at once answered that he supposed I meant the King 

 of the Otters ; showing that at least it is currently 

 known. My friend even knew of a rivulet where one 

 had been taken, though he himself had never seen it." 

 It is doubtless the same variety as that mentioned by 

 Desmarest, and stated by Lesson to have been found near 

 Paris. The specimen alluded to is in the Museum of 

 the Jardin des Plantes, and is of a lively yellowish brown 

 colour, whitish brown beneath ; the sides of the head, 

 the throat, and the upper parts of the neck, whitish ; 

 and the whole of the upper part of the fur irregularly 

 spotted with pure white. It is by no means rare to see 

 an Otter having a few white spots, though they are 

 rarely as much marked as the one above mentioned. It 

 appears to be a variety analogous to that which often 

 occurs in birds having a few white feathers, which at the 

 moulting period are often lost, and replaced by others of 

 ordinary colour. This variety should not be confounded 

 with albinism, which is retained for life. 



There is in the Museum of the Zoological Society of 

 London a beautiful specimen of an Irish Otter, presented 

 by Mr. Ogilby, who considers it to be a distinct species 

 from that of England. " On account of the intensity of 

 its colouring, wliich approaches nearly to black, both on 

 the upper and under surface ; of the less extent of the 

 pale colour beneath the throat, as compared with the 

 Common Otter as it exists in England ; and of some 

 difference in the size of the ears, and the proportions of 

 other parts ; Mr. Ogilby has long considered the Irish 

 Otter as constituting a distinct species ; and he feels 

 strengthened in this view of the subject by the pecu- 

 liarity of its habits and manners. It is, in fact, to a 

 considerable extent a marine animal, being found chiefly 



