A Collecting Trip on the Abary. 367 
mont. A large nest of helpless young ones was 
discovered under a large clump of grass by the water- 
side, and one of them was taken out and made to 
squeak in order to attract the old beasts. About a 
dozen of these appeared around the boat, and the 
steering paddle was several times bitten by them under 
the water. Two were shot, but the shots were not 
immediately fatal ; and the brutes careered madly about, 
staining the water with their blood, until at last they 
took refuge in some thick bush where the chase had to 
be abandoned. When the nest was visited at the end of 
the chase, it was found deserted, the otters having been 
devoted enough to carry off their helpless young, in 
spite of the man who was waiting close to the nest to 
get a shot. One of the approaches from the water had 
been unnoticed in the hurry ; and evidently the brutes 
had taken advantage of the opportunity. My regret at 
leaving the scene empty-handed was decidedly keen ; for 
the otters were of immense size for their kind. We rowed 
about for a long time in a desultory sort of way, hoping 
against hope to find a wounded one by the waterside ; 
but we had to content ourselves with a white boatbill 
(Cancroma cochlearia), a vicissi duck and a few plovers. 
It was disappointing also to find that all the boatbills 
were in immature plumage. Not a single specimen was 
crested with the remarkable, long, black plumes that give 
so striking an aspeft to the bird. In place of these, 
there was a bluish-black tuft of down, both on the white 
birds and on the younger reddish-brown specimens. 
The plovers noticed were also all of them young, and of 
small size ; doubtless the larger and older birds had 
already gone further south in their migration. 
