THE LEOPARD SEAL 259 



specimen did not permit a dissection of the last-named portion. Thie clitoris is small 

 and surrounded laterally and posteriorly by a low pad, presumably the homologue of 

 the labia minora; pigmentation of the integument begins about the level of this organ. 



BIONOMICS 

 HABITS AND FOOD 



Outside the breeding season Hydnirga appears to spend most of its time feeding, or 

 sleeping off its meals on shore or on pieces of ice. A most striking characteristic is 

 the solitariness of its life ; even if more than one be present on a beach the observer 

 receives a strong impression of each seal being independent of the others and exhibiting 

 the most complete indifference to them, in this contrasting very conspicuously with many 

 other Pinnipedes. In water or on the ice it is much the same, and ordinarily these seals 

 occur widely scattered. In thirty or forty miles steaming in open pack one may meet 

 only three or four. The ten recorded in one day by Worsley (MS.) is quite an ex- 

 ceptionally high number. It is only in the rutting season that they have been observed 

 to take any interest in one another. 



Although like most other Pinnipedes this species tries to retreat when approached by 

 man, it is more resentful of molestation than the other southern species, particularly in 

 the water. Pouting (1922) describes how he irritated a leopard seal to such an extent 

 that it pursued him over the snow until he was able to call in the assistance of E. A. 

 Wilson who collected the specimen thus offered to hfm. Its reaction to interference in 

 the water has earned it, in South Georgia, a reputation for ferocity which is scarcely 

 justified. 



In the Falklands, reports occur from time to time of Hydnirga "attacking boats" or 

 even leaping into them and attacking the occupants, but since it is extremely likely that 

 the humans concerned took the first step by assaulting the seal the greatest caution 

 must be observed in accepting such evidence. 



Shackleton (1920) writes that "a huge sea leopard climbed on to a floe and attacked 

 one of the men"; since it is known that other seals are seized in this manner it may be 

 that the leopard seal mistook the man on the ice for a Pinnipede (see p. 260). 



A Falkland Island report that a sheep dog has been killed by one of these animals is 

 of course entirely credible, but one can hardly on that account support the thesis that 

 Hydnirga is an evil creature. It seems probable that there is a good deal of fighting 

 among these seals. Tooth marks on the skulls are to be found from time to time, some 

 of them very severe, and broken teeth are fairly common, particularly in the large 

 females, but whether these are due to accident, combat or courtship cannot be stated. 



The leopard seal has no natural enemies except perhaps the killer whale; Wilson 

 (1907) mentions a seal which had been badly torn, and my specimen, no. 666, had on 

 the neck two large old scars which had the appearance of marks left by the killer whale. 



The skull of the young female no. 661 had the right frontal and maxilla damaged to 

 such an extent that a large fragment composed of parts of these two bones is detached 



