2282 The Zoologist — Septembeb, 1870. 



I am inclined (o think that the weights and measurements of otters 

 are frequently much exaggerated. Both my brother and I have for 

 many years been greatly interested in these animals, and numerous 

 specimens have passed through our hands : none of these equalled 

 the size of this otter ; the largest that came under the notice of the 

 late Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, during his long observations on the 

 Zoology of Ireland, being also inferior to him in dimensions. A 

 female weighing 16:^ tbs. was caught a few days afterwards: she had 

 two young ones inside her, male and female, about the size of mice. 

 This was on the 13th of May; two other old females caught the same 

 month had no sign of young in them. 



Badgers. — Still hold their ground, and are found sparingly through 

 both these counties. 



Marten Cat. — Though nearly extinct in the north of Ireland, 

 still common in some of the southern counties, especially in Kerry. 

 A female caught by myself on the 31st of March, in Wicklow, weighed 

 2 tbs. 12oz., and measured twenty-eight inches from nose to tip of 

 tail ; she had three young ones inside her, the period of gestation 

 being about half completed. As far as I am aware there is only the 

 one instance mentioned by Thompson, vol. iv. page 9, of the Mustela 

 foina being found in Ireland, the yellow-breasted variety {M. 

 Abielum) being almost invariably found. Mr. Glennon, of Wicklow 

 Street, Dublin, tells me that out of thirteen martens received by him 

 this year, not one had the white breast. 



Gray Seal (Halichaerus gryphus). — The north side of Dingle Bay, 

 and the Blasket Islands, off the coast of Kerry, are great haunts of this 

 species, which seems in that locality entirely to take the place of 

 Phoca vitulina, of which latter species I did not detect a single 

 specimen during my stay at Dingle. When the weather is at all 

 rough, Ventry Bay, from its being beautifully sheltered and at the 

 same time a good fishing-ground, is n)uch resorted to by these animals. 

 On a calm evening I have seen as many as four and five in the bay at 

 one time. The first evening I went out I was fortunate enough to 

 shoot a very fine old male : he was killed instantaneously, and sank 

 on the spot, but was washed up by the tide that night and brought to 

 me the following day, much to my satisfaction. He weighed 322 lbs., 

 and measured seven feet ten inches from the point of his nose to the 

 end of his flippers, four feet seven inches being his greatest girth. 

 His coat was of a shining and intense black, with the exception of a 

 few gray spots on his shoulders, and the back of his head, which was 



