xxvii. 7 SEALS 693 



The Phocidae are the modern seals, found in all seas and fully aquatic, 

 the hind limbs being attached to the tail. They come ashore only for 

 short periods in isolated places to breed, and can only just drag them- 

 selves along the beaches. Many seals migrate for long distances to 



Fig. 464. Sea-lion, Eumetopias. (From a drawing belonging to 

 the Zoological Society.) 



particular breeding-places, such as the Pribilof Islands in the case of 

 the fur seals (Callorhinus). The males, arriving first, fight furiously 

 with each other, the victors then collecting harems of twenty or more 

 females, who give birth to their young and are soon afterwards 

 impregnated again. The bulls remain on shore without feeding, guard- 

 ing the family, while the females return to suckle the young at each 

 tide for a period of about three weeks. 



