THE MARINE CARNIVORA 205 



brown, with a tendency to lighter coloration on the belly, and 

 more distinctness of spots and splotches on the flanks and flippers. 

 In the adult animals, when the fur has dried in the sun, there is 

 a uniform silvery-gray sheen, which justifies the animal's title of 

 gray seal. When this is seen, however, against the light or from 

 underneath it becomes a deep umber-brown. In some individuals, 

 however, the spots and streaks of the original markings are more 

 distinct than in others. 



The breeding-time of the gray seal is very different from that 

 of the common seal. Breeding would seem to take place in 

 February, and the birth of the young in the autumn — September, 

 October, and November. The young of the gray seal is generally 

 born in caverns or sheltered crannies, and not on open rocks or 

 beaches. It is this species that chiefly frequents the celebrated 

 seal caves of Achill Island off the west coast of Ireland. The 

 large-eyed, lemon-coloured cubs (seldom more than one at a 

 birth) take to the water with seeming reluctance, and apparently 

 have to be taught to swim by their mothers. They do not 

 finally adopt a water life until about six or seven weeks after 

 birth, by which time they have shed the first woolly covering. 

 This want of precocity in the young (which, however, may be a 

 more generalised feature in the gray seal) makes the species 

 much more liable to extermination by man. The mother seal is 

 constantly with her ofi^spring during this period of cave-dwelling, 

 and will fiercely attack any one who may attempt to capture her 

 cub, but her efforts, of course, are futile against rifles and clubs. 

 The mother seal remains out of the water with her cub during 

 the first few weeks after its birth, but when she resumes her life 

 in the sea she generally comes on shore to suckle the cub every 

 high tide. Whilst the cub is left on shore amongst the boulders, 

 in some sheltered retreat or cavern, it is very silent, and its 

 lemon-white colour, broken only by the large black eye, is 

 curiously protective, as it resembles the whitened boulders that 

 lie about in all directions, spotted by occasional dark purple 

 anemones or drilled with round holes. 



Gray seals are ordinarily very noisy, and make a regular 



