MAMMALS. 



23 



the last I could hear of in Forfar was killed at Auldbar by Mr 

 Smart, about 1858 or 1859. 



From Kincardineshire I found some difficulty in obtaining infor- 

 mation in 1881. Mr. Mowat, however, gamekeeper at Ury, stated 

 that they were fairly abundant about 1843, but he had never heard 

 of any between 1863 and 1869 upon the adjoining property. As 

 many as three, however, he himself secured on Ury in 1843 in one 

 morning; but only one was got between 1849 and 1853. In 1851 a 

 Polecat attacked one of his ferrets and nearly killed it. 



Lutra vulgaris, ^r.r/. Otter. 



Common, and widely distributed both by the seashores and inland. 

 Vermin lists rarely include Otters in their columns, and indeed if 

 many are obtained their pelts are usually sold to furriers or private 

 parties. 



The old Statistical Account gives, as frequented by the Otter, the 

 following parishes, but for abundant reasons not necessary to repeat 

 here again, these notices cannot be held as satisfying as regards its 

 former distribution. There is, as will be observed, great unanimity 

 in the records of the old Statistical Account in the parishes reported 

 upon. These are : Weem (xii. p. 134), Monzie (xv. p. 244), Killin 

 (xvii. p. 372), Dowally (xx. p. 472). 



The Otter appears to be scarcest in the eastern portions of the 

 country, and does not seem to be often met with at the inland 

 localities, at least not very generally. It is found occasionally upon 

 the Luther Water which runs through the hamlet of Auchenblae 

 (J. M.'s lists and correspondence). But older accounts speak of it as 

 inhabiting " the steep rocks by the shores of Kincardine and Forfar 

 and the caves which are their special haunts." 



I only speak generally of its well-known and much wider dis- 

 persal at the present time, adhering only to positive records and 

 absolutely known distribution, prefacing such by the simple adjec- 

 tive "almost universal." 



As already said, we cannot gauge its comparative abundance 

 from the returns of vermin paid for at the different estates offices, 

 as can be done, at least to some extent, as regards the Wild Cat, 

 Marten, and Polecat. 



The Breadalbane lists — 1891-1901 — give the total of only 

 twenty-six paid for, but how many were killed at the same locality, 

 or how many by the same hand, I have no present means of know- 

 ing. And if they came to be investigated it is very possible that 



