CHAPTER IV 



FLBSH-EA.TINa MAMMALS OF THE SEA 



Seals. 



In these fin-footed mammals the limbs are strangely 

 chang-ed to serve the needs of their surroundings. 

 The flippers have five digits, of which the first and 

 the fifth are the longest. The group includes the 

 walrus, the seals, and sea-lions. Of these only two 

 seals, the grey seal and the common seal, are now 

 inhabitants of British seas. The walrus, morse, or 

 sea-horse must formerly have visited our shores as 

 his bones are found in the peat of the Cambridge- 

 shire fens, but he is now only found in polar seas. 

 He is a huge beast 10 feet to 15 feet long with large 

 tusks. His food consists of molluscs ; of these, oysters, 

 we learn from his interview with ^^the Carpenter," in 

 ^ Alice in Wonderland/ are peculiarly agreeable to 



him. 



Like the sea-lion's, his hind flippers point towards 

 the head while the seal's hind flippers are turned in 

 the reverse direction. 



The grey seal lives on the shores of Scotland, 

 Ireland, Scilly, and the rocky coast of Cornwall. 



