S48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ON THE WINTER BREEDING OF THE OTTER. 



By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 



In 'The Zoologist' for 1877, p. 172, in reply to some 

 interesting observations, by Mr. A. H. Cocks, on the breeding 

 of the Otter (torn. cit. p. 100), you were good enough to insert a 

 note of mine in which I endeavoured to show that, so far at least 

 as the county of Norfolk is concerned, the Otter almost invariably 

 breeds in winter. Eleven years have since elapsed, and as 

 several other instances have come to my knowledge in which 

 I could fix the age of young Otters with certainty within a few 

 days, I should like to supplement my previous remarks with this 

 additional experience. I will not trouble you with details in those 

 cases for which I can personally vouch, but may state that in every 

 instance I have full particulars, and where there was any difficulty 

 in fixing the date of birth with some degree of certainty I have 

 omitted the case altogether. I am quite convinced the vague 

 statement that the Otter produces from three to five young ones 

 in the month of April or May cannot be substantiated, and where 

 young Otters are seen with their parents in the latter month it is 

 more than probable they are three months old. One instance 

 only has come under my own observation in which it could be 

 proved that young ones were produced between the months of 

 February and October. 



The first entry in my note-book upon which I can fully rely 

 was made on December 9th, 1851, and since that date I have 

 notes of six litters of young Otters born in January, six in 

 February, one in April, three in October, and seven in December ; 

 these I will number one to twenty-three inclusive. 



I have also notes of old bitch Otters which were giving suck 

 at the time they were killed, as follows : — One in January, one in 

 February, one in October, and three in November ; thus I may 

 say that in twenty-nine instances all, with a single exception, 

 gave birth to, or suckled, young between the months of October 

 and February, both inclusive. Of the April litter there can be 

 no doubt, as the young were found in the lair on April 11th, 1879, 

 and could not have been more than a week old. 



Referring once more to Mr. A. H. Cocks's paper (Zool. 1877, 

 p. 100), I showed (p. 173) that in at least six out of the ten 



