The Mammals of the Edinburgh or Forth Area. 393 



examined, was shot beside a ditch in a plantation at Gosford, 

 East Lothian. In 1902 one frequented Harper-rig reservoir, 

 and it, or another, was seen at Cockburn, near Balerno, about 

 the same time. A young one, a month old, was captured 

 alive at Dunipace, Stirlingshire, on 1st April 1904 (Harvie- 

 Brown). While staying at Aberfoyle in April 1902, I found 

 a pair of Otters frequenting a deep lochan near the village, 

 and had several excellent opportunities of studying their 

 habits. About sunset they would appear in the water and 

 engage in wild play, rolling and splashing together for a 

 quarter of an hour on end. On one occasion, having reached 

 unobserved a spot at which they were accustomed to land, I 

 stood perfectly still, and waited. Presently one of them was 

 seen approaching rapidly, swimming on the surface and 

 beneath it alternately. A few seconds more and it shot on 

 to the margin of the pond within a couple of yards of my 

 feet, and commenced fu fifing and spitting like an enraged cat. 

 Suddenly, in somersault fashion, it plunged into the water, 

 reappearing about a dozen yards off. Disappearing again, 

 it landed in front of me a second time, repeated the scolding, 

 and took another '' header " backwards. Having gone 

 through this performance a third time, it went off to another 

 part of the lochan, and I lost sight of it in the growing 

 darkness. 



Badger {Meles meles (L.) ). 



The oldest local record of this animal I have met with is 

 contained in Sibbald's History of Fife and Kinross, published 

 in 1710. It is as follows : — " In Benartie are foxes and 

 badgers, which the heritors hunt at certain times." A 

 number of Fifeshire records will be found in Mr Harvie- 

 Brown's paper on the Badger in the Zoologist for 1882. 



Some years ago I saw in the Chambers Institute, Peebles, 

 two specimens, obtained on Portmore estate in 1859. As 

 regards the animal in East Lothian, I have little to add to 

 what I wrote in my first paper. In 1893 I was shown a 

 stuffed specimen, which had been killed at Deuchrie in the 

 Lammermoors about 1875, and I was assured they still 

 existed on that farm. At Presmennan, some ten years ago, 



