Bibliographical Notices. 357 



paddled it about ; this foot was white, and Harvey said he did it to 

 " toll" or entice the fish ; but whether it was for that specific rea- 

 son, or merely a motion of impatience, I could not exactly decide. 

 The whole proceeding struck me as remarkable, more especially as 

 they said he had never been taught anything of the kind. — Vol. i. 

 p. 191. 



Newfoundland Seals. — There are four seals known on the coast: — 



1 . The bay- seal, (this I believe is the Phoca vitulina of Linnseus,) 

 as its name denotes, is confined to the bays and inlets, living on the 

 coast all the year round, and frequenting the mouths of the rivers 

 and harbours. It is 'the smallest of the four, and prettily marked 

 with irregular spots of small size. From what I have heard I am 

 led to suspect that it breeds in the autumn. 



2. The harp-seal. (P. groenlandica, Miiller) is so named from the 

 old male animal having, in addition to a number of spots, a broad 

 curved line of connected blotches proceeding from each shoulder and 

 meeting on the back above the tail, forming a figure something like 

 an ancient harp or lyre. The female has not this harp, neither has 

 the male till after his second year. The young when born are co- 

 vered with white fur, they are then called "white-coats;" at about five 

 or six weeks old they shed this white coat, and a smooth spotted 

 skin appears. When twelve months old the males are still scarcely 

 to be distinguished from the females. The next season the male 

 has assumed his harp. The harp-seals herd together, at least during 

 the breeding-season, and probably at other times. They are not seen 

 on the coast of Newfoundland at other times, and probably come 

 from the north to the ice-fields on the northern shores of the island 

 for the purpose of bringing forth their young. The mothers leave 

 their young on the ice, and fish about the neighbourhood for their 

 own subsistence, returning occasionally to give suck. We did not 

 absolutely see one suckling her young one, but found milk in the 

 mouths and stomachs of one or two young ones that were brought 

 on board ; and it was of a thick creamy consistence and of a yellow- 

 ish white colour. Meanwhile the males are congregated together in 

 the open pools of water, sporting about. The young ones increase 

 in size very rapidly from their birth, and are fattest at about three 

 weeks old, at which time they are almost half the bulk of the old 

 ones. From that time the fat diminishes slightly, although the bulk 

 of the internal body increases. 



3. The hooded-seals (Stemmatopus cristatus •, F. Cuvier) are larger 

 than the harps. Their skin is of a lighter gray colour, with many 

 dark irregularly shaped spots and blotches of considerable size. The 

 male is distinguished from the female by the singular hood or bag of 

 soft flesh on his nose. When attacked or alarmed they inflate this 

 hood so as to cover the face and eyes, and it resists seal-shot. The 

 young of this species is not provided with the thick woolly coat of 

 the young harp-seal ; or if they have it, it is shed very shortly after 

 birth. They have whitish bellies and dark gray backs, which when 

 wet have a bluish tinge. The hooded-seals do not form such large 

 herds as the harps, and the male and female seem to keep more to- 



