Note 9 — Chapter XII
Reading edition
I may mention, that I one day observed a cormorant playing with a fish which it had caught. Eight times successively the bird let its prey go, then dived after it, and although in deep water, brought it each time to the surface. In the Zoological Gardens I have seen the otter treat a fish in the same manner, much as a cat does a mouse. I do not know of any other instance where dame Nature appears so wilfully cruel.