72 COMMON BRITISH ANIMALS 



would start up within a few yards^, wheeling round us 

 as long as the music played, and disappearing one 

 after another when it ceased/^ The seal is the subject 

 of many folk tales on the coasts both of Scotland and 

 Ireland. The Irish on the west coast tell how the 

 fairies come out after dusk to make music for the 

 seals to dance to. Mermen and mermaids are of 

 course men and women who have been changed into 

 seals. 



Feeding as they do on fish, seals are considered 

 by fishermen to be most destructive of the food fishes 

 of our coasts, and consequently they are ruthlessly 

 killed at the annual seal hunts. 



Sea-lions are not natives of our coasts, but are of 

 interest to us because the so-called ^' fur seal" of com- 

 merce belongs to this group. They are very intelli- 

 gent creatures, differing from the true seals in having 

 external ears and hind feet directed forwards. The 

 seal pond at the Zoological Gardens affords an ex- 

 cellent opportunity for watching both the seals and 

 sea-lions at play in the water and for comparing the 

 outward forms of these two animals. 



Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. 



'' The first duty of a whale is to be big " said the 

 late Sir William Flower. Indeed the vastness of 

 these animals, even when pictures of them and 

 figures representing their measurements are placed 

 before us, is difficult to realise. 



The contrast of the mouse and the elephant as two 

 examples of the mammalian organisation is strikino-^ 



