62 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



often bave severe battles on tlie ice-floes when tLey meet. Tliey use the 

 fore llippcrs, inst«';i<l of the teeth, in fiji^htinfj. 



In Cuinl»('rlaii(l tliey hoftin -working' noithwanl as fast as the floe 

 edge of the ice breaks up, airiviniL; in the vicinity of Annanactook about 

 the hatter days of June. In autumn they move southward as fast as 

 tlic ice makes across the sound, always keepin;,^ in open water. They 

 are seldom found in the smaller fjords or bays, but delij,dit in wide ex- 

 panses of water. They dive 'to great depths after their food, which is 

 almost entirely Crustacea, mollusks, and even clams of considerable size. 

 This seal lias a habit of turning a summersault when about to «live, 

 especially Avhen tired at; this peculiarity, which is not sha-red by any 

 other species that I have seen, is a characteristic by which it may be 

 distinguished at a considerable distance. During May and June they 

 crawl out ui)on an ice-floe, to bask and sleep; at such times they are 

 easily approached by the Eskimo in their kyacks and killed. An adult 

 will often measure ten feet between the two extremes. The color is 

 variable ; the tawniness more or less clouded with lighter or darker mark- 

 ings irregularily disi>ersc(l. By July some of them become almost 

 jmked. At this season their stomachs contained nothing but stones; 

 some of them nearly of a quarter ]>oun(l weight. They seem to eat noth- 

 ing during the entire time of shedding, probably six weeks. Certain it 

 is tlu y lose all their blub])er, and by the middle of July have nothing 

 but " whitehorse," a tough, white, somewhat cartilaginous substance, in 

 place of blubber. At this season they sink when shot. Some specimens 

 were ])rocured that had scarcely any teeth at all, and in many adults 

 the teeth can almost be plucked out with the fingers. The young are 

 bdiii upon ]»icc('s of lloating ice, without any covering of snow. The 

 season of )>rocrcation is during the fore i)art of ]May. After the young 

 have shed their first woolly coat (which they do m a few <lays), they 

 have a very beautiful steel-blue Imir, but generally so clouded over with 

 irr#gul;iily dispersed jjalclics of white that its beauty is spoiled. 



A IVjL'tus was i)rocured near the ^Middlicjuacktwack Islands A]»iil 28. 



Its extr<Mne length was four feet seven inches. 



IiK'hes. 



Length of liead S._^ 



AVidih of nui/zle 4. 5 



AN'idtli of lore fiii>j)er 4. 3 



Length oi' fore tlii>i)er to end of nails 7J',,- 



Greatest expanse of hind llijtper J.'.. 3 



Length of hind Hipper IL* 



From end of nose to eye .".. li 



Distance between eyes 3. 50 



