6 FELID^. 



and some of my southei'n correspondents have made the same observation, 

 in reference to their districts. A gentleman residing in an inland situ- 

 ation considers that the species is there on the increase, in consequence 

 of the measures now adopted to preserve the fish in rivers, and also owing 

 to the withdrawal of rewards for otters' heads. 



The size and weight of the individuals that have come under my own 

 inspection, in a recent state, varied much. The largest one was a male, 

 killed in October, 1847, near Drunibridge, on the river Lagan, a fcAV 

 miles from Belfast, and which is preserved in the Belfast Museum. Its 

 dimensions were : — 



Feet. Inches. 



Length of head and body . . .27 



— of the head . . . . 5f 



— of the tail . . . . I 6^ 

 Girth at chest 1 6^ 



— at belly 18 



Weight, 21 lbs. Several others have been killed near the same locality. 



Mr. Ogilby was at one time of opinion that the Irish otter was spe- 

 cifically distinct from the English, and he named the former, provision- 

 ally, Lutra lioeiisis. — See Zool. Proc. for 183-4 (page 111). He does not, 

 however, now consider them distinct. 



In 1845 I compared specimens from Annan with Irish otters sent to 

 Sir William Jardine from Limerick, and found them to differ in the 

 larger size of the skull of the latter and its proportions ; but in no ex- 

 ternal characters was there any marked difference. Dr. R. Ball, who 

 states that otters are very numerous in the South of Ireland, supplied me 

 with the following note, in September, 1836 : — " I saw Lutrn Roensis in 

 the Zoological Museum, London. I have never seen an Irish otter that 

 was not like it, nor did I ever see one like the specimen placed beside it, 

 marked as the common otter, so that I am inclined to think we have not 

 the variety (it does not seem more) common in England, and perhaps 

 they have not ours." The same gentleman also remarks, that French 

 otters differ more from English than the latter do from Irish ones. In 

 April, 1850, Mr. Robert Langtry obtained a white otter at Islay, which 

 he caused to be preserved, and sent for safe keeping to the Belfast Mu- 

 seum, where it yet remains. There is not a coloured spot on any part of 

 this specimen. The stomach of a female, which was sent to a taxidernist 

 in Belfast, contained several full-grown specimens of the three-spined 

 stickle-back, and these only. 



When at Florence Court, in 1840, I was informed that Lord Belmore 

 had, for a long time, a tame otter, which was trained to catch fish. It did 

 not invariably bring them to its master's feet, although it played its part 

 in this respect very well. 



Newspaper paragraphs announcing the destruction of otters in various 

 parts of Ireland are of frequent occurrence. 



Mr. St. John, in his Wild Sports, 8zc. (chap, xii.), gives an interesting 

 account of the otter. 



The Weasel, Iltistela vuJyaris, Linn. 



I have never met with this animal in Ireland, nor do I consider that the 

 species has yet been satisfactorily proved to be native, although it may 

 be so. The stoat, which passes under the name of iceasel in this country, 

 is common throughout the island ; and from the circumstance of Temple- 

 ton having noted the Aveasel as " common," and the stoat as " rare," I am 



