HABITS. 705 



parts of the Bothnian Gulf. He says the female has its young 

 about the end of February on the ice, but also says that they 

 breed on the rocks when there is opportunity. The young does 

 not at first enter the water, unless forced into it by the break- 

 ing up of the ice, the female suckling it upon the ice. During the 

 first eight days after its birth it is wholly white, but after this 

 the hair begins to fall, first on the head and fore feet, which at 

 the end of fourteen days are blackish gray. As the Gray Seal 

 cannot continue under the ice in winter without frequently 

 coming to the surface for air, it has therein various small 

 breathing-holes, which are so small at the top that it can only 

 thrust its head through or even merely the nose, but they are 

 wider below and perfectly round, being easily made so by the 

 fore feet. They also have larger openings through which they 

 ascend to the surface to repose, or, during the breeding sea- 

 son, to suckle the young. When the ice breaks up, before the 

 young are strong enough to go south, as sometimes happens, 

 and while they are still congregated in large herds at the breed- 

 ing-places, they seek out the largest and soundest pieces of ice, 

 on which they and their young can remain in greatest safety. 

 At such times they all wish to get on the same piece, where 

 perchance there may not be room for all; they therefore begin 

 to fight with each other, biting and bullying, so that after the 

 strife one may see large wounds on their bodies. It is worthy 

 of remark that the Gray Seals and the Wikare or Harbor Seals 

 do not associate together. 



The Gray Seals, he continues, begin to lose their old hair 

 about the 25th of March, which they rub off against the 

 ice. At about this time the old Gray Seals with their young, 

 which are no longer suckled, return to the East Sea. The Gray 

 Seals stay in winter in the Gulf of Bothnia, probably because 

 they find there thick ice which is not so liable to be broken up 

 by strong winds as in other seas ; consequently they can there 

 bring their young into the world with greater safety. The 

 only migration noticeable appears to support this opinion, for 

 it takes place as soon as the young are large enough to 

 obtain their own food. It is also noteworthy that the young 

 of the Gray Seal know how to take a straight line for the East 

 Sea, going so directly as to cross stony ground or a point of 

 land, if it lies in their way ; consequently the return often costs 

 them their life. * 



*Konigl. Sclawed. Akad. der Wissen., xix Band, 1759, pp. 172-174. 

 Misc. Pub. No. 12- 



