EARED SEALS. 123 



of skin projecting in advance of the toes of the hind-flippers are much less elongated. 



The Southern fur-seals are also, as a rule, decidedly greyer in colour than their 



northern cousin. There is still some uncertainty as to the number of species 



belonging to this group, and their resemblance to one another is so close that it 



requires an expert to distinguish between them. 



Soutu American The South American, or Falkland Island fur-seal (0. australis) 



Fur-seals, inhabits the Galapagos Islands, and the shores and islands of South 



America southwards from Chili on the western, and from the Rio de la Plata on the 



eastern side ; being more numerous on the Falkland and South Shetland Islands 



than on the continent itself. The males attain a length of from 6 to 7 feet, while 



the females average about 5 feet ; the disproportion between the sexes being thus 



much less than in the northern sea-bear. The colour of the fur is distinctly grey. 



The habits of this species seem to be very similar to those of its 

 Habits 



northern cousin ; the old males arriving on the Falklands before the 



females, and similar contests taking place for the possession of the latter, which 



arrive in December. The cubs are born during the same month, and are able to 



swim well by February. The young males remain at sea during the greater part 



of the summer, not landing till February or March. They sojourn on land till the 



latter part of April, when they again take to the water ; but towards the end of 



June they once more visit the shore for several weeks, remaining partly on land 



and partly in the sea. When Weddell visited the South Shetlands during his 



voyage, lasting from 1818 to 1821, these seals were very numerous, and had so 



little fear of man that numbers of them were killed and skinned without disturbing 



the remainder of the party. Moseley, during the voyage of the Challenger, found, 



as already mentioned, these seals still fairly numerous on Kerguelen's Land, although, 



from the reckless way in which they were slaughtered, they appeared in imminent 



danger of total extermination. Like the sea-lions of the same regions, the southern 



fur-seals prey at times upon penguins. 



The Cape fur-seal (0. pusilla) is a very well-marked species, 

 Caxje Fur-Seal 



characterised by the straight profile of the head, the overhanging 



and sharply-pointed muzzle, the relatively long ears, and the extreme length of the 



numerous bristles depending from the upper lip. A living example, formerly 



exhibited in the London Zoological Society's Gardens, had a whitish red fur 



grizzled with blackish hairs, while the under-parts were of a reddish brown colour. 



This seal appears to be confined to South Africa, inhabiting the small islands round 



the Cape of Good Hope, as well as others some forty miles distant from Port 



Elizabeth. It probably also once inhabited Tristan da Cunha. It is still fairly 



common, but its fur is of comparatively little value, owing to the shortness of the 



hair, although that of the young animals is longer. Some years ago, from 70,000 



to 80,000 skins were annually imported from the Cape into London, but the number 



is now much reduced. In Algoa Bay as many as from 200 to 300 of these seals 



have been taken during a single night. 



New Zealand There has been much uncertainty with regard to the fur-seals 



Fur-Seal. Q f the Australian seas, but it now appears that there is but one 



species, namely, the New Zealand fur-seal (0. forsteri), of which the so-called 



cinereous fur-seal (0. cinerea), according to Mr. H. O. Forbes, is the female. This 



