NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM. far 
of water, in which it was shortly found drowned, to the great 
astonishment of its captors who took it for a fish. 
Sir Cuthbert Sharp mentions it as occurring at Hartlepool, in 
his history of that place, and the Rev. H. B. Tristram informs 
us that it is occasionally seen at the Black Hall Rocks, near 
Castle Eden; these are no doubt stragglers from the Tees 
settlement. 
2. HALICHAERUS, Wilsson (Scand. Faun, I. 377.) 
1. H. erypus, Nilsson (Sc. F. I. 377, t. 34, f.1, 2). Grey Seat, 
Bell (Brit. Quad. 284). 
H. griseus, Nilsson and Horns (Isis 1824, 810). H. gryphus, 
R. Ball (Trans. Roy. Ir. Acad. xviii., 1, 2, 3). 









































Fig. 1. Halicherus Grypus. Adult gravid female, after drawings by John Hancock, Esq. 
This fine Seal is still tolerably abundant around the Fern Is- 
lands, notwithstanding the great destruction of it, which was 
carried on many years ago, before the inhabitants of the Islands 
were protected by Archdeacon Thorp. ) 
We have never visited the Fern Islands without seeing two or 
three individuals of this species which would raise themselves out 
of the water to watch our movements, especially if their curiosity 
were excited by whistling or other noises. 
This species was formerly confounded with Phoca barbata, a 
species to which all large Seals were at one time referred by 
English writers, but which is now suspected not to occur on 
the British shores. 
