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Show 422 ON THE STRUCTURE AND HABITS OF THE SEA-OTTER. [May 21, of one of the Kurile Islands, and succeeded in killing 9 of them. Their mode of locomotion is by a series of short springs from the hind flipper-he never saw them walk in ordinary acceptance of the term, i. e. by moving the limbs alternately. With regard to the tail-it is not cylindrical hnt flattish, being more than twice as broad as it is thick. It only tapers to a very slight extent, except at the extreme end, where it runs off sharply to a blunhsh point. Latax lutris. Dead Sea-Otter lying on deck; it exhibits the short tail, and the hind paws turned backwards, in the manner said to be natural to the animal when walking. The whiskers are not so bushy and thick as represented in the drawing. They resemble the whiskers of the Cat, but are coarser. The cry of the Sea-Otter resembles the ' meaow' of a Cat; that of the "young is almost identical, but in the adult it is somewhat deeper. "Habitat. The southern limits of the animal extend as far as Southern California and Mexico. On the Asiatic side, it occurs at the Komandorski Islands, Kamschatka, and the Kurile Islands. " Breeding. A s a rule but one is produced at birth, but occasionally two. Mr. Snow has seen two small pups with their mother, |
