THK HARBOR SEAL: HABITS. -,9 



sand-banks, intersected by deep but uanow channels. At ebb the sands are uncovered; ami at 

 these times, on hot days, numbers of Seals may be found basking and sunning themselves on (lie 

 hot sands, or rolling and wallowing in the shallow water along the bank. .Sometimes a herd oi' 

 lit'teen or twenty of these interesting creatures will collect on some favorite sand-spit; their chief 

 haunts are the Long-sand, near the centre of the Wash ; the Knock, along the Lincoln coast; and the 

 Dog'shead sand, near the entrance to Boston Deeps. In the first week of July, when sailing down 

 the Deeps along the edge of the Knock, we saw several Seals; some on the bank ; others with their 

 bodies bent like a bow, the head and hind feet only out of the water. They varied greatly in size, 

 also in color, hardly any two being marked alike; one had the head and face dark colored, wearing 

 the color like a mask; in others the upper parts were light gray; others looked dark above and 

 light below, and some dark altogether. . . . The female has one young one in the. year: 

 and as these banks are covered at flood, the cub, when born, must make an early acquaintance with 

 the water. In most of the Phocidm the young one is at first covered with a sort of wool, the second 

 or hairy dress being gradually acquired; and until this is the case it does not go into the water. 

 This, however, does not appear to be the case with the common Seal, for Mr. L. Lloyd says (I be- 

 lieve in his 'Game Birds and Wild Fowl of Norway and Sweden,' but I have not the book to refer 

 to) that the cub of the common species, whilst still in its mother's womb, casts this wooly covering; 

 and when ushered into the world has acquired its second or proper dress. 1 If this is the case, it 

 fully accounts for the cub being able to bear immersion from the hour of its birth. The Seal, if 

 lying undisturbed and at rest, can remain for hours without coming to the, surface." 2 



I am informed by competent observers that on the coast of Maine they assemble in a similar 

 manner on sand bars, but take to the water before they can be closely approached. 



Mr. Kumlien (in his MS. notes) observes: "The so-called 'Fresh-water Seal' of the whalemen 

 is one of the- rarer species in the waters of Cumberland Sound. They are mostly met with far up 

 in the fjords, and in the fresh -water streams and ponds, where they go after salmon. They are 

 rather difficult to capture, as at the season when they are commonly met with they have so little 

 blubber that they sink when shot. . . . The adult males often engage in severe eomliats 

 with each other. I have seen skins so scratched that they were nearly worthless. In fact, the 

 Mskimo consider a 'Kassiarsoak' (a very large 'Kassigiak') as having an almost worthless skin, 

 and seldom use it except for their skin tents. The skins of the young, on the contrary, are a great 

 acquisition." He further states that they do not make an excavation beneath the snow for the 

 reception of the young, like Plioca f<r,ti,da, "but bring forth later in the season on the bare ice, fully 

 exposed." 



Under the name "Leopard Seal," Captain Scammon has given a very good account of the habits 

 of this species as observed by him on the Pacific coast of North America. lie speaks of it as dis- 

 playing no little sagacity, and considerable boldness, although exceedingly wary. He says it is 

 "found about outlying rocks, islands, and points, on sand-reefs made bare at low tide, and is 

 frequently met with in harbors among shipping, and up rivers more than a hundred miles from the 

 sea. We have often observed them," he continues, "close to the vessel when under way, and 

 likewise when at anchor, appearing to emerge deliberately from the depths below, sometimes only 

 showing their heads, at other times exposing half of their bodies, but the instant any move was 

 made on board, they would vanish like an apparition under water, and frequently that would lie 



'A statement to this effect is also made by Mr. Carroll, but Mr. Robert Brown atlinn-s on the authority of ( 'aptain 

 McDonald, that in tin- \\YMi-ni Isles of .Scotland the young are "born pure white, with curly hair, like tin 1 yimnu of 

 l'agoiiii/8 fcetidux, lint within three days of its birth begins to take dark colors on the snout and tips of the llippi-rs.' 1 

 Proc. Zotil. Soc. Loud., !;, p. 413. 



"CouuEAUX, JOHN, in /iiolojjisl, -M !-., vol. vii, 1872, pp. 3203, 3 



