Abnormal Habits of certain Animals. 191 



observed, the fisher and mink are partly terrestrial and partly 

 aquatic. The latter is said to swim like an otter, and its 

 toes being webbed give it advantages in this respect, and, 

 r/ith the inordinate growth of hair on them in winter, afford 

 louble facilities for progressing easily on snow and in 

 water. But it clearly obtains its staple subsistence, like 

 Dther polecats and martens, by feeding on mice and land ani- 

 mals ; therefore it may be a question whether its piscatory 

 habits have not been acquired through some failure in the 

 numbers of the former. At all events, examples of a similar 

 description, or any 'deviations from what appear to be the 

 established laws of natural objects, deserve especial attention, 

 as pointing towards the solution of important questions per- 

 taining to the origin of species. We have seen that the lynx 

 is said to capture fish ; domesticated cats are very fond of fish, 

 and instances are recorded of their hunting after them in brooks ; 

 jays have been seen acting the part of kingfishers; and I 

 have frequently seen pigeons, rooks, and jackdaws, like gulls, 

 picking up food from the surface of water* How far the 

 acquired habit might entirely supersede the natural ways of 

 the animal, and on that account bring about modifications in 

 its structure and outward appearance through generations of 

 individuals, remains to be shown when sufficient data have 

 been collated. 



The purple sandpiper spends the winter on the seaside 

 in vast numbers ; although common to the eastern portion of 

 North America and also Europe, there is not, according to 

 Baird, any difference between specimens ; perhaps, as with 

 the spotted tringa, there is a pretty constant interchange of 

 individuals during the equinoctial and other gales. We must 

 agree with Mr. Darwin, f that established and regular currents 

 of the sea or the atmosphere should not be considered altogether 



* See "Wanderings in India," p. 46; and "Nat. Hist., etc., of Nile 

 Valley and Malta," p. 33. 



t " Origin of Species," p. 364. 



