NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK—BAKER. 465 
which are thrown to them as food. On land they are clumsy and 
awkward, pulling themselves along by their flippers, which resemble 
a fish’s fin rather than the limbs of a mammal, which they really are. 
When they wish to rest they seek some shelving spot on the gravel 
that surrounds the pool or perhaps crawl into the house of piled 
bowlders which may be seen at the lower end of their inclosure, where 
there is a plank floor and shelves on which they may lie in quiet. 
Under the cliff at the southern limit of the park are found some 
near relatives of the sea lions. Here is a fur seal from the Pribilof 
Islands, the animal to which we are indebted for the sealskin used 
for articles of apparel. It was only recently that it was found 
possible to keep these creatures in captivity. This one was taken 
from its mother and reared on a nursing bottle like a baby. For a 
long time it would not eat the fish which was given it, but now 
it has become accustomed to that diet. It is one of the most grace- 
ful creatures imaginable when swimming in a tank of sufficient 
size to show its evolutions; but, like the sea lion, it progresses with 
some difficulty on land. The fur seal spends the winter in the open 
ocean, but betakes itself to certain definite localities on the shore 
during the summer and autumn for the purpose of rearing its young. 
When the time for this migration comes the seals, in vast schools, 
swim swiftly, unswervingly, often hundreds of miles, to their breeding 
place, showing that ‘‘homing” instinct so puzzling to uaturalists. 
_ Next are several harbor seals from the coast of Maine, intelligent 
looking little animals, with faces astonishingly human in appearance. 
One can easily conceive that the fable of the mermaids or mermen 
might arise from an indistinct view of these creatures through fog 
or mist. 
- In separate inclosures above the beaver pen are found the otters, 
animals that, like the seal, feed upon fish, and swim to catch them 
with great rapidity and ease. Unlike the seals and sea lions, they 
have well-developed and perfect limbs and are active and agile upon 
land, but when swimming in the water they look very much like small 
harbor seals. They are very playful and may often be seen swimming 
about balancing a small stone or pebble on their heads. Where the 
ground is suitable they make slides, down which they coast into the 
water, and they also do this in winter on the ice and snow. They 
have a curious habit of always wetting their food before eating it. 
In captivity otters become very tame and readily come to the call 
of their keeper, or indeed of any visitor. They are so active that it 
is very difficult to photograph them. They have a strong antipathy 
to dogs and the sight of one puts them immediately in arage. Though 
comparatively small, they are quite strong, and a full-grown otter has 
been known to killa dog by seizing it a the nose, dragging it into the 
73176°—sm 191430 
