SYNOPSIS OF PINNIPEDS. 381 



Family PHOCID^E. 



SEALS. 



The seals proper, or the hair-seals, have no external ears, are short 

 necked, rather thick-bodied, and have the hind limbs 

 permanently directed backward and useless for terres- Hair-seais. 

 trial locomotion. They vary greatly in size, from the common harbor- 

 seal only 4 to 5 feet in length, and weighing about 150 pounds, to the 

 gigantic sea-elephant or elephant-seal, which attains a length of more 

 than 20 feet, and a weight of probably over 2,000 pounds. 



The seals, unlike the walruses and eared-seals, are of almost world- 

 wide distribution, being found on the coasts of nearly 

 all countries, except within the tropics; they also as- Z?^''^^'''', I'^^i ^^^^^ 

 cend many of the larger rivers for long distances, and e woi . 

 occur in some of the inland seas, as the Caspian and others in Asia. 

 Their pelage is harsh and destitute of under fur, and hence the com- 

 mercial value of their skins is comparatively small. Seals, however, 

 being excessively fat, are extensively hunted for their oil, of which some 

 of the species yield a large amount, possessing qualities which render it 

 a valuable commodity. 



Seals, as a rule, are not polygamous, and resort to the land or ico 

 fields to bring forth their young, according to the spe- 

 cies. They are also more or less migratory, passing to '^ '*^' 

 warmer latitudes in winter, and returning to their breeding stations in 

 summer. 



The seals vary much in the structure of the teeth and in the conforma- 

 tion of the skull, in consequence of which differences 

 they are commonly separated into three subfamilies, ^ '*™' '^^' 

 namely, (1) the Phocince, embracing nearly all the seals of the iSTorthern 

 Hemisphere, of wlucli the common harbor-seal is a good example; (2) 

 the Gystophorhinw, including the hooded-seal of the North Atlantic 

 and the sea-elephants ; (3) the Ogmorhinincv, confined to the southern 

 and antarctic seas. 



I. -Subfamily PHOCIN.^. 



I.— Genus PHOCA LINN. 



1. Harbor Seal, PJioca vitidina Linn. 



Rabitat: Coasts of the North Atlantic from Kew Jersey and the 

 Mediterranean northward to the Arctic regions, coasts of the North 

 Pacific from southern California and Japan northward to the Ai'ctic 

 regions. 



This species was formerly much more numerous than at present along 

 the coasts of both continents, particularly southward. Though not 

 eminently gregarious, it was not uncommon to find a considerable 

 number associated together at its more favorite littoral resorts. Owing 

 to the difficulty of capturing this species and its comparative scarcity 

 and small size, it has never been of much commercial imxwrtance. 



2. Ringed Seal, PhocafoetidaVfibT. 



Habitat: North Atlantic, from the coasts of Labrador and Finland 

 northward, Bering Sea and the Arctic seas generally. 



