THE ELEPUANT-SKAL. 187 



viduals it is black, silvered on the under parts. In young 

 animals it is gray, spotted irregularly with brown. The 

 dilatable sac which crowns the head is covered with short 

 brown hair. (Fig. 126.) 



The crested seal attains to the length of eight feet. 

 It haunts the open sea, and is said to visit the land chiefly 

 in April, May, and June. These animals are commonly 

 seen on large ice-islands, where they sleep without pre- 

 caution. Great numbers are found in Davis's Straits, 

 where they are stated to make two voyages a-year — in 

 September and March. They depart to bring forth 

 their young, and return in June very lean and exhausted. 

 In July they proceed again to the north, where they 

 appear to procure plenty of food, for they return in high 

 condition in September. One male is lord of many 

 females. They fight among themselves very desperately, 

 inflicting deep wounds with the clavis and teeth. Their 

 bite is indeed very formidable. The voice of this seal 

 is stated to resemble the bark and whine of a dog. 

 Great numbers of the skins of this animal are brought to 

 England, and it is one of those seals which are so valu- 

 able to the Greenlanders. 



It is the Phoca cristata of Gmelin, the Phoca leonina 

 of Fabricius. 



The Elephant-Seal. 



{Macrorhinus proboscideus) ; Bottle-nose of Pennant ; Phoque 

 a trompe of Pe'ron ; Miouroung of the Australians. 



In the genus Macrorhinus the males have the power of 

 lengthening their large moveable snout into a proboscis 

 resembling that of the tapir, through which, when ex- 

 cited, they respire violently. The teeth consist of four 

 incisors above and two below, formed like the canines : 

 the canines themselves are very large, conical, and re- 



5 5 



curved; the molars are , with simple roots far ex- 



5 — 5 

 ceeding in circumference the crowns, which are mere 

 mamillary projections (see Fig. 127). 



