SanDom lotcB on latural |btori). 



Vol. II. PROVIDENCE, DECEMBER 1, 1885. 



Entered, at the Providence Post-Offiee as Second-Class Matter. 



No. 12. 



!]|anbom "f oigs on f atiiral f iston|. 



A Monthly Devoted to the Distribution of Use- 

 ful Knowledge Concerning the Various De- 

 partments OF Zoology, Mineralogy, and 

 Botany. 50 Cents a Year. 

 Address all communications to 



SOUTHWICK & JENCKS, 

 358 Westminster St., Providence, K. 1., U.S. A. 



Special Notice. 



Having been for more than a year, unable 

 to use my eyes for any close work, and 

 with no prospect of recovering their use for 

 many months to come, I sold, on Oct. 30, 

 1885, my interest in the firm of Southwick 

 & Jencks to my partner James M. South- 

 wick. With many thanks for patronage in 

 the past I would ask a continuance of the 

 same to him in the future. 



Fred. T. Jencks. 



Harbor Seal. 

 Phoca vitulina, Linn. 



This animal, the onl^' representative of the 

 family commonly found on the eastern coast 

 of the United States, presenting so great va- 

 riety in size and color, is known in different 

 localities by different names. From its 

 abundance in ba^'s and harbors it is often 

 called the Bay or Harbor Seal, and being 

 not infrequently found in fresh water, it is 

 known, especially further north, as the 

 River Seal. 



The geographical distribution of this 

 animal is extended. In America it is found 

 along the Atlantic coast from Greenland to 

 the Carolinas, and along the Pacific from 

 Behring Strait to Southern California. It 

 is not restricted to the New World, however, 

 but is along the Scandinavian peninsula 

 the commonest species, and extends its 

 range further south, being occasionally met 

 with in the Mediterranean. It is an animal 

 that not infrequently ascends rivers, and is 

 even found up the St. Lawrence as far as 

 the Great Lakes, and has been taken in 



Lake Champlain. On the New England 

 coast seals are commonl}' observed on the 

 low islands, at the mouths of rivers or in 

 sheltered bays, where they can sometimes 

 be counted by the score as they lie basking 

 in the sun, or quarelliug with one another. 

 On surprising such a colony, with a splash, 

 all have disappeared, though their heads 

 can soon be seen as they come to the 

 surface for air, or to examine more closely 

 the object of their fright. They now often 

 utter a quick bark or gutteral whine, which, 

 together with their canine-like head, has 

 given rise to the name which is sometimes 

 applied to them, Sea Dog. 



In our bay the seal is found throughout the 

 year, though more abundantly seen during 

 the winter months. About two years since 

 a specimen was killed at Riverside, the 

 skeleton being now deposited in the museum 

 of Brown University. A mounted specimen, 

 also captured in the bay, is to be seen in 

 the cabinet of the Franklin Society. 



Few mammals present greater variation 

 in color than the present. Specimens range 

 from a uniform yellowish-brown to uniform 

 dark brown, and sometimes nearly black, 

 and are spotted with blotches lighter or 

 darker than the underlying shade. The 

 more common coloring, however, is brown- 

 ish-yellow with darker spots and patches, 

 the lips and eye-lids being lighter rusty 

 yellow. The males, which exceed the 

 females in size, sometimes measure six feet 

 in length. The young at birth are a uni- 

 form soiled or yellowish-white, changing to 

 the ordinary darker shades at the first molt, 

 this occuring before, or within three or four 

 days. 



An interesting account is given of one 

 which was born in the gardens of the Zoo- 

 logical Society of London. Iramediateh' 

 after its birth it, by rolling and turning 

 about, completely divested itself of its outer 

 covering of fur and hair, which formed a 

 mat upon which it rested for several hours. 



The rutting season is supposed, from re- 

 ports madeb}' the Newfoundland fishermen, 

 to be in September, the young one from 



