PIIOCA VITULINA. 



io5 



but it was not ascertained whether the poor (fat) wanderer had lost 

 his way, or having taken a miff at society, was seeking voluntary 

 retirement from the world of seals." 



" Another Seal was killed upon the ice between Burlington and 

 Port Kent, on the 23d of February, 1846. Mr. Tabor, of Keeseville, 

 and Messrs. Morse and Field, of Peru, were crossing over in sleighs, 

 when they discovered it crawling upon the ice, and, attacking it with 

 the butt-end of their whips, they succeeded in killing it, and brought 

 it on shore at Burlington, where it was purchased by Morton Cole, 

 Esq., and presented to the University of Vermont, where its skin 

 and skeleton are now preserved." f This is followed by a detailed de- 

 scription of this specimen, which was a female, and by the remark 

 that "At the time the above-mentioned Seal was taken, the lake, with 

 the exception of a few cracks, was entirely covered with ice." 



During a recent visit to Lake Champlain I was told that a Seal had 

 been killed on the ice, near Crown Point, within four or five years, 

 but was unable to authenticate the statement. 



Dr. DeKay mentioned the occasional occurrence of this species on 

 Lake Ontario, many years ago; and during the past winter one was 

 killed on Onondaga Lake that must have reached this remote inland 

 water by way of Lake Ontario. 



I have seen many of these Seals in Long Island Sound, chiefly 

 about the Thimble Islands; and March 25, 1879, I saw one on a rock 

 in the Hudson River, near Sing Sing. 



We learn, from Mr. J. A. Allen's excellent " History of the North 

 American Pinnipeds," that the period of gestation, in this restless 

 nomad, is about nine months, and that commonly but a single young- 

 is born at a time, though they sometimes have twins. 



They breed very late, generally in June and July, and their young 

 are deposited upon the shore instead of upon the ice, as is customary 

 with many species. 



* Natural and Civil History of Vermont, 1842, p. 38. 

 f Loc. cit., Appendix, 1853, p. 13. 



