120 THE OTTER. 



Seeing the intruder, the animal turned, and for 

 fully ten seconds stared hard, as though on the 

 point of showing fight ; then he set off at his best 

 speed down the icy incline. Naturally the boy 

 pursued, keeping close up to him, and could have 

 killed him with his stick had he been so disposed. 

 The otter's manner of progress was very peculiar, 

 for, bounding awkwardly a few paces, he would 

 suddenly fling himself on his chest and belly, his 

 forepaws tucked limply under him, and giving 

 himself the necessary impulse with his hind-legs, 

 would slide quite a considerable distance, not 

 troubling to get up till he had actually come to 

 a standstill. Though the ground was in good con- 

 dition for tobogganing, he made but poor progress, 

 and seemed too much dismayed to be capable even 

 of selecting the favourable down-grades ; in fact, 

 one is inclined to think the poor animal was 

 dazzled by the whiteness of the snow, as the 

 sun was shining brilliantly. Finally, however, 

 he reached deep heather, and diving through the 

 frozen crust as he would have dived into water, 

 he disappeared from view, making his way out of 

 the danger-zone among the roots of the heather. 



When the boy recounted his curious experience 

 that night by the kitchen-fire of the shepherd of 

 that locality, the man was much interested, saying 

 that he himself when quite a boy, over forty years 

 previously, had tracked an otter one winter up the 

 same burn, and that it had left the burn to make 

 its way across the watershed at the very point the 

 boy described ! 



WINTER. HABITS. 



During long spells of frost otters are very apt 

 to become out of condition, but this applies only 



