lO Coward, Some Notes on the Mmmnals of Lundy. 



' as large as a young horse.' " His use of the name " grey 

 seal," coupled with the scientific name of the Common 

 Seal, shows that, like Chanter, he was not aware that the 

 larger species might occur, but unless "Ponto" was an 

 island myth, like the Great Auk which was reported from 

 Lundy, an animal " as large as a young horse," must have 

 been Halichanis grypiis (Fabr.). 



It is possible that the Common Seal occurs on the 

 Lundy coast, but neither Chanter nor Page tell us by 

 whom it has been identified. We saw three Seals, two 

 basking on rocks immediately below the old fog-signal 

 battery, and the third swimming near the same rocks, and 

 on the same day others were observed at the north end 

 of the island. One Seal remained on a stack until the 

 rising tide washed over it, and we were able to examine 

 it closely with our glasses ; there was no doubt about the 

 species, it was too large for a Common Seal, and had the 

 flattened head and long snout of the Grey Seal, Halichoerus 

 grypus. The second, though a smaller animal, was of the 

 same species, and the third, which we only saw imperfectly, 

 was, as it was with the others, probably a Grey. The 

 Grey Seal is the Seal of the Scilly Islands ; there is a 

 colony on the Pembroke coast, and it is more of a cave 

 and rock haunting species than the Common Seal. The 

 caves of Lundy are suitable breeding haunts for this big 

 Seal. 



It is not easy to estimate the size of any animal, but 

 we thought that the Seal on the stack would measure 

 about 8 feet in length. When we first noticed it, it had 

 evidently recently left the water, and looked very dark, 

 but light markings appeared as its coat dried. It was 

 mottled with blue-black and grey on the back, and was 

 much lighter on the belly, which it exposed fully to view 

 when it rolled over and dozed, lying on its back. Its 



