The Breeding Groujtds of the Grey Seal 



the glass that several of the baby seals had their own 

 particular pool of water, sometimes of small proportions 

 and only a foot or two deep, in which they lay and 

 wallowed. When approached and inspected, they dived 

 and lay, not without effort on account of their buoyancy, 

 with their heads a few inches below the surface, looking 

 closely at us through the water with wide-open eyes. 

 Their power of endurance was, naturally, much less than 

 that of their parents, and after a short period they would 

 emerge and quaintly attempt to scare one by blowing 

 water through their nostrils. One or two individuals, the 

 babies of the tribe, were un^ible to move from where 

 they lay, with their cast hair scattered round them. They 

 rolled over on their backs, staring angrily at us and 

 uttering moaning cries. Sometimes a couple were lying 

 in close proximity to each other, and in such cases it 

 usually happened that one of the seals turned upon the 

 other, imagining that its snarling was directed against 

 itself. 



It seems to be the case that the seal, when under 

 water, rarely, if ever, closes its eyes, and this may account 

 for the fact that in the majority of the youngsters exa- 

 mined the eyes were watery, aind looked as though the 

 owner was suffering from a cold in the head. The eyes 

 of some were of great beauty, of a deep black colour. It 

 was interesting to notice how widely the young grey seals 

 varied in their colouring. In two individuals of the same 

 age one was, perhaps, of a dappled grey, while the other 

 was of a dappled dun. 



No remains of fish were to be seen near any of the 

 young seals, pointing to the fact that they are nourished 

 entirely by their mothers for the first month or two of 

 their existence. 



One young seal, perhaps six weeks of age, was lying 

 dozing in the sun near a pool of water. On being dis- 

 turbed, he made determinedly for the pool, nor could he 



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