422 ON THE STRUCTURE AND HABITS OF THE SEA -OTTEE. [May 21, 



of oue of the Kurile Islands, and succeeded in killing 9 of them. 

 Their mode of locomotion is by a series of short springs from the 

 hind flipper — he never saw them ivaJlc in ordinary acceptance of 

 the term, i. e. by moving the limbs alternately. With regard to 

 the tail — it is not cylindrical hvit fattish, being more than twice as 

 broad as it is thick. It only tapers to a very slight extent, except 

 at the extreme end, where it runs off sharply to a bhintish point. 



Latax lutris. 



Dead Sea-Otter lying on deck ; it exhibits the short tail, and the hind paws 

 turned backwards, in the manner said to be natural to the animal when 

 walking. 



The whiskers are not so bushy and thick as represented in the 

 drawing. They resemble the whiskers of the Cat, but are coarser. 

 The cry of the Sea-Otter resembles the 'meaow' of a Cat; that 

 of the young is almost identical, but in the adult it is somewhat 

 deeper. 



^'•Habitat. The southern limits of the animal extend as far as 

 Southern California and Mexico. On the Asiatic side, it occurs 

 at the Komaudorski Islands, Kamscbatka, and the Kurile Islands. 



" Breedinr/. As a rule but one is produced at birth, but occasion- 

 ally two. Mr. Snow has seen two small pups with their mother, 



