NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 
quence of its webbed feet and comparatively slender 
body, this otter is specially adapted for an aquatic 
life. It can swim and dive with the greatest of 
ease and grace, and is exceedingly swift and agile 
in the water, turning and doubling in an amazing 
manner when in pursuit of fish, which are 
hunted down in couples, or parties composed of 
the parents and immature young, Two to three 
seem to be the average number of cubs at a birth. 
One, which my taxidermist dissected, contained 
two embryos. 
The Spotted-necked Otter is usually found along 
the banks of the permanently flowing rivers, and in 
ponds which do not dry up during times of drought. 
It is nocturnal by habit, but, like its clawless and 
webless cousin, it ventures forth in secluded 
localities early in the afternoons and on cloudy 
days. Occasionally in Natal I have seen pairs of 
them basking in the sun on the river bank during 
the winter months. The instant they were ob- 
served they tumbled headlong into the water and 
vanished, probably to reappear under cover of the 
rushes and reeds on the opposite bank. The diet 
of this otter consists largely of fish ; but fresh-water 
crabs form no inconsiderable proportion of its 
food. Like the other species, it preys on a variety 
of creatures, including the Monitor Lizard, frogs, 
water-tortoises, aquatic birds, their young, and eggs. 
I have never seen these otters except in the 
immediate neighbourhood of water, into which they 
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