EARLESS SEALS. 



*37 



Distribution. 



young when first born are yellowish white, and are peculiar in that they shed their 

 woolly coat either on the day of birth or very shortly afterwards. 



The common seal has a much wider distribution than the grey 

 seal, occurring not only in the North Atlantic but also in the North 

 Pacific, and extending on the shores of both oceans to the Arctic regions, and thus 

 being doubtless circumpolar. In the Atlantic it is found, though rarely, as far 

 southwards as the Mediterranean, and on the American side as far as New Jersey. 

 In the Pacific its southern limits appear to be marked on the Asiatic side by 

 Kamschatka, and on the American by Southern California. It is, moreover, by 

 no means confined to the coasts, but ascends some of the larger tidal rivers to a 

 considerable distance from their mouths ; and it has been known to pass up the St. 

 Lawrence to the Great Lakes. In the North Atlantic this seal is strictly littoral 

 in its habits, and always avoids the ice of the open seas. It is very common in 

 Spitzbergen and Greenland ; the number of individuals belonging to this species 



THE COMMON SEAL. 



and the ringed seal captured annually some years ago in the Danish settlements 

 in Greenland being, according to Dr. Robert Brown, upwards of 700,000. In the 

 British Islands, according to the authors of Bell's British Quadrupeds, this seal 

 " is found all round the coast in suitable places, but is much less abundant than it 

 formerly was, and has been quite banished from many places where it was formerly 

 well known. It is common on many parts of the Irish coast, and is very abundant 

 among the Scotch islands, especially in Shetland and Orkney. In Wales and 

 Cornwall it is well known, but is now very rarely seen on the shores of the 

 southern and eastern counties of England." Not many years ago one of them 

 was observed on the beach at Brighton. 



The common seal does not make any seasonal migrations, but is 

 found in the same haunts throughout the year. It prefers sheltered 

 sounds and bays, with shallow water and an abundant supply of fish, to more 

 exposed positions ; and leaves the water at every tide to rest on the rocks or beach, 

 almost invariably selecting such rocks as are separated from the mainland. The 

 young are born in the latter part of May or June, and take to the water at an early 



Habits. 



